Volume 35, Number 2 (Spring) 2000
Altonji, Joseph G., and Thomas A. Dunn. 2000. "An Intergenerational Model of Wages, Hours, and Earnings." Journal of Human Resources 35(2): 221-258.
We develop a model in which a set of unobserved parental and sibling factors drives wages and work preferences. These factors lead to similarities within families in wages, work hours, and earnings. We estimate the model using data on parents and sibling wage factors influence the wages of both sons and daughters. We also find strong similarities in work hours that run along gender lines and are due primarily to linkages in preferences. The effect of wages on earnings is direct rather than through a labor supply response.
Joseph G. Altonji is a professor of economics and an associate director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. Thomas A. Dunn is an assistant professor of economics and a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University. This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics under contract number J-9-J-7-0094. It was originally titled "Family Background, Labor Market Outcomes, and Race and Sex Differences in Youth Employment Outcomes." Opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the U.S. Department of Labor. Research support from the Institute for Policy research, Northwestern University, is also gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank James Spletzer, three anonymous referees; participants in the EMRU Labour Conference, Loughborough, United Kingdom; and participants in seminars at RAND, NBER, Syracuse University, and the Institute for Research on Poverty for helpful comments on an earlier draft for this paper. Alex Idichandy, Michele Borsetti, and Yasuyo Abe provided skillful research assistance. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in June 2000 through May 2003 from the authors.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X