This paper proposes a new method for estimating the intergenerational persistence of lifetime earnings from data that contain only short sections of individual earnings histories. The approach infers lifetime earnings persistence from the persistence of short earnings averages together with...

How do taxes affect human capital accumulation? This question has been studied extensively in the context of two model classes: overlapping generations (OLG) and infinite horizon (IH) models. These embody very different assumptions about the intergenerational transmission of physical and human...

Numerous public policies are aimed at improving the earnings opportunities for children of the poor and at reducing lifetime earnings inequality. This paper investigates to what extent such policies accomplish their objectives. A quantitative theory of intergenerational mobility and lifetime...