The causal effect of paternal unemployment on children's personality

Arbeitspapier

Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that paternal unemployment has a surprisingly positive causal effect on the "Big 5" personality traits of children aged 17 to 25. In particular, our results from longitudinal value-added models for personality suggest that paternal unemployment makes children significantly more conscientious and less neurotic. Our results are robust to different estimation methods and to selection on unobservables. Furthermore, these effects are stronger for girls and for children whose mothers are employed.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research ; No. 795

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search ; Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models
• Subject: personality traits ; unemployment ; household behavior ; SOEP

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Angelini, Viola ; Bertoni, Marco ; Corazzini, Luca
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/121904
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET