Is Parental Love Colorblind? Human Capital Accumulation within Mixed Families
In: The review of black political economy: analyzing policy prescriptions designed to reduce inequalities, Band 42, Heft 1-2, S. 57-86
ISSN: 1936-4814
Studies have shown that differences in wage-determinant skills between blacks and whites emerge during a child's infancy, highlighting the roles of parental characteristics and investment decisions. Exploring the genetics of skincolor and models of intrahousehold allocations, I present evidence that, controlling for observed and unobserved parental characteristics, light-skinned children are more likely to receive investments in formal education than their dark-skinned siblings. Conscious parental decisions regarding human capital acquisition for their children seem to contribute for the persistence of earnings differentials and socio-economic stratification in Brazil.