Volume 27, Number 4 (Fall) 1992
Corcoran, Mary, Roger Gordon, Deborah Laren, and Gary Solon. 1992. "The Association Between Men's Economic Status and Their Family and Community Origins." Journal of Human Resources 27(4):575-601.
This study uses intergenerational data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to investigate the relationship between men's economic status and the characteristics of the families and communities in which they grew up. It is distinguished from most previous studies by its emphasis on community influences and on influences from poverty and welfare use. Also, our parental characteristics data are more comprehensive and accurate than those of many earlier studies.
We find substantial disadvantages in economics status for black men, men from lower-income families, and men from more welfare-dependent families or communities. Otherwise, we do not find strong evidence of community influences. This, however, might be due to the grossness of the geographic detail at which our community variables are measured.
All four authors are at the University of Michigan. Corcoran is a professor of political science, public policy, and social work. Gordon is a professor of economics. Laren is a research associate at the Institute fro Social Research. Solon is an associate professor of economics and public policy. This research was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation to the Institute of Public Policy Studies at the University of Michigan and by an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship awarded to Solon. The authors thank Martha Hill and Michael Ponza for generously sharing their computer programs for parent-child pairs, Michael Nolte for preparing a parent-child tape for the authors' use, and Robert Wood for research assistance. The authors are grateful to John Bound, Charles Brown, Greg Duncan, Patricia Gurin, Martha Hill, and the referees for their advice.
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