The analysis is based on wave I and wave IV of Add-Health. We exploit
the recently released variable indicating a polygenic score of
educational attainment for 1,886 individuals.
Educational attainment is measured in years of education and it is based
on self-reported educational attainment at Wave IV, where respondents
were 26-32 years old.
Neighbourhood characteristics
Neighborhood characteristics are based on contextual characteristics at
Wave I, reported as census block group level. Census blocks are defined
as “a small, usually compact area, bounded by streets and other
prominent physical features as well as certain legal boundaries.” A
block group is a cluster of census blocks within a census tract. It is
the lowest level of geography for which the Census Bureau publishes
sample data. For the 1990 Census, block groups averaged 452 housing
units, or 1,100 people.5 A typical census tract contains 4 or 5 block
groups.
The following information at the block group level (measured in Wave I)
are used in the preliminary analysis:
-
Proportion aged 25+ with college degree or more
-
Proportion related children under 18 years in families with income in
1989 below poverty level, total and by family type
-
Unemployment rate, total, by sex, by race, by Hispanic origin,
and by
Hispanic origin by sex
Empirical strategy
Our empirical strategy investigates whether there is interaction between
genetic predisposition for higher education and neighborhood
characteristics. Using OLS regression models, we estimate the following
equation:
\(\begin{equationarray} \text{EduYears}_{ij}=\alpha+\theta*X_{i}+\beta*\text{PGS}_{i}+\gamma*C_{j}+\delta*\text{PGS}_{i}*C_{j}+\varepsilon_{ij} \\ \text{College}_{ij}=\alpha+\theta*X_{i}+\beta*\text{PGS}_{i}+\gamma*C_{j}+\delta*\text{PGS}_{i}*C_{j}+\varepsilon_{ij} \\ \end{equationarray}\)