Family Effects in Simple Models of Education, Occupational Status, and Earnings: Findings from the Wisconsin and Kalamazoo Studies

Among fraternal pairs from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we model the effects of measured and unmeasured family background factors, mental ability, and schooling on occupational status and earnings. The models are estimated from incomplete data with corrections for measurement error, and they permit direct comparisons of within- and between-family regressions. We find no evidence that the effects of family background lead to a bias in the effect of mental ability on schooling or in the effects of schooling on occupational status or earnings. Family background does have large independent effects on ability, schooling, and, to a lesser degree, socioeconomic attainment.