He's a Chip Off the Old Block – The Persistency of Occupational Choices Among Generations

45 Pages Posted: 13 Jun 2013 Last revised: 14 Jun 2013

See all articles by Bodo Knoll

Bodo Knoll

University of Hohenheim

Nadine Riedel

Oxford University CBT; University of Hohenheim

Eva Schlenker

University of Hohenheim

Date Written: May 28, 2013

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess if parents exert an influence on the occupation choices of their children. Using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP), we find a high persistency of occupational decisions across fathers and children using nested and conditional logit models. To separate effects related to genetic factors (nature) and parental education or role models (nurture), we determine the persistency separately for children who grew up with their biological fathers and for those who did not. Our results suggest that especially nurture plays a decisive role in explaining the choice of one's occupation.

Keywords: Occupational choice, SOEP, parental educational investment

JEL Classification: J24, J62

Suggested Citation

Knoll, Bodo and Riedel, Nadine and Schlenker, Eva, He's a Chip Off the Old Block – The Persistency of Occupational Choices Among Generations (May 28, 2013). SOEPpaper No. 561, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2277894 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2277894

Bodo Knoll (Contact Author)

University of Hohenheim ( email )

Stuttgart
Germany

Nadine Riedel

Oxford University CBT ( email )

Park End Street
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 1HP
United Kingdom

University of Hohenheim ( email )

Stuttgart
Germany

Eva Schlenker

University of Hohenheim ( email )

Stuttgart
Germany

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
50
Abstract Views
812
PlumX Metrics