Does Family Income Matter for Schooling Outcomes? Using Adoptees as a Natural Experiment

One would expect that family income is an important positive factor in the school attainment of children. However, evidence on this relationship is often tainted by the lack of control for parental ability, since at least a portion of ability is transferred genetically to children. This paper uses a sample of adopted children and offers genetically unbiased estimates. We further aim to correct for biases arising from unobserved parenting qualities, parents ’ emotional and material differentiation between their own ∗ This research is part of the NWO priority program on schooling, labour market performance and economic development, and a TSER program on private returns and public finance. Financial support from IZA is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Femmie Juffers,