The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay
Pietro Birolia b, T. J. Galamac d e, Stephanie von Hinkef g h, Hans van Kippersluisi j, Cornelius A. Rietveldi j, Kevin Thomk l
- aUniversity of Bologna
- bUniversity of Bologna, Italy
- cUniversity of Southern California
- dVU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- eUniversity of Southern California, USA
- fUniversity of Bristol
- gInstitute for Fiscal Studies, UK
- hUniversity of Bristol, UK
- iErasmus University Rotterdam
- jErasmus University Rotterdam, The
- kUniversity of Wisconsin
- lUniversity of Wisconsin, USA
Papers open inside SciRah from the original publisher or repository; SciRah never hosts them.
Abstract
Abstract We discuss how to estimate the interplay between genes (nature) and environments (nurture), with an empirical illustration of the moderating effect of school starting age on one’s genetic predisposition towards educational attainment. We argue that gene–environment (G×E) studies can be instrumental for (i) assessing treatment effect heterogeneity, (ii) testing theoretical predictions, and (iii) uncovering mechanisms, thereby improving understanding of how (policy) interventions affect population subgroups. Empirically, we find that being old-for-grade and having a higher genetic propensity for education benefits children on assessment tests as they progress through school. In this setting, families appear to increase genetic inequalities while schools seem to reduce them.