Brother Correlations in Earnings in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden Compared to the United States

31 Pages Posted: 25 Jun 2000 Last revised: 16 Apr 2023

See all articles by Anders Bjorklund

Anders Bjorklund

Stockholm University; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Tor Eriksson

Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business Economics

Markus Jantti

Stockholm University

Eva Osterbacka

Åbo Akademi University

Oddbjorn Raaum

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research

Abstract

The correlation in economic status among siblings is a useful "omnibus measure" of the overall impact of family and community factors on adult economic status. In this study we compare brother correlations in long-run (permanent) earnings between the United States, on one hand, and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) on the other. Our base case results, based on very similar sample criteria and definitions for all countries, show that this correlation is above 0.40 in the United States and in the range 0.15-0.28 in the Nordic countries. Even though these results turn out to be somewhat sensitive to some assumptions that have to be made, we conclude that the family and community factors are more important determinants of long-run earnings in the United States than in the Nordic countries.

Keywords: earnings inequality, Intergenerational mobility, long-run earnings

JEL Classification: D1, D3, J62

Suggested Citation

Bjorklund, Anders and Eriksson, Tor and Jantti, Markus and Osterbacka, Eva and Raaum, Oddbjørn, Brother Correlations in Earnings in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden Compared to the United States. IZA Discussion Paper No. 158, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=233910 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.233910

Anders Bjorklund (Contact Author)

Stockholm University ( email )

Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)
S-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
+46 8 163452 (Phone)
+46 8 154670 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Tor Eriksson

Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business Economics ( email )

Fuglesangs Allé 4
Aarhus, 8210
Denmark
45 87164978 (Phone)

Markus Jantti

Stockholm University ( email )

Swedish Institute for Social Research
Stockholm, SE-10691
Sweden
+468162645 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.abo.fi/~mjantti/

Eva Osterbacka

Åbo Akademi University

Piispankatu 16
Abo, Turku FIN-20500
Finland

Oddbjørn Raaum

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research ( email )

Gaustadalleen 21
N-0317 Oslo
Norway

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