Family background and economic status in Finland

The importance of family background for economic outcomes is analyzed, usin g a Finnish data set. The estimates for intergenerational and sibling corre lations in earnings are comparatively low. By estimating the magnitude of f amily influence conditional on parental earnings, children with poor parent s are found to have lower intergenerational. elasticities, while the siblin g resemblance is higher. Children with rich parents have higher intergenera tional elasticities and the sibling resemblance is also higher, except for daughters. The results also indicate that the largest share of the intergen erational correlation is transmitted through observed characteristics, such as education and, in particulars occupation.