Most previous studies of intergenerational transmission of human capital are restricted to two generations -parents and their children. In this study we use a Swedish data set which enables us link individual measures of lifetime earnings for three generations and data on educational attainments of four generations. We investigate to what extent estimates based on income data from two generations accurately predict earnings persistence beyond two generations. We also do a similar analysis for intergenerational persistence in educational attainments. We find two-generation studies to severely under-predict intergenerational persistence in earnings and educational attainment over three and four generations.

We model team formation as a random matching process influenced by agents’ preferences for team size and gender composition. We then test if the coauthorship pattern in articles published during 1991–2002 in three top economics journals is gender neutral, exploiting variation in female presence across subfields. Controlling for author, team, and field characteristics, we find that the gender gap in the propensity to coauthor with a woman increases in the presence of women in the subfield. We also find that women single author significantly more than men. These findings allow us to reject gender neutrality in team formation in economics.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Childcare Costs and the Demand for ChildrenEvidence from a Nationwide Reform Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractExploiting the exogenous variation in childcare costs caused by a Swedish childcare reform, we are able to identify the causal effect of childcare costs on fertility in a context in which childcare enrollment is almost universal, user fees are low, and the labor force participation of mothers is very high. Anticipation of a reduction in childcare costs increased the number of first births, but only seemed to affect the timing of second births. We find a negative income effect for families with children already enrolled in child care.JEL-Code: H31, J13.

2005. The role of nectar sources for oviposition decisions of the common blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus. Á/ Oikos 109: 535 Á/538.Neural limitations on information processing have been shown to play an important role for host plant specialization in herbivorous insects. The necessity of fast and accurate decisions favors the adoption of a few high-contrast signals, which selects against the use of multiple resources. Many species face a similar problem when searching for adult food sources and the simultaneous need to fulfill both search tasks can lead to a potential conflict. Some insects use the same host plant species for both adult and larval nutrition, which makes it possible to decrease the number of search images and thus potentially increase efficiency of the choices. The aim of this study was to investigate if there is a connection between choice of nectar sources and choice of oviposition host plant. In a laboratory experiment, females of Polyommatus icarus preferred to oviposit on Lotus corniculatus plants with flowers over those without flowers. Observations of behavioral sequences also revealed that oviposition often followed immediately after nectaring. The results suggest that nectar availability could play an important role in oviposition decisions of P. icarus and can provide one explanation to why some phytophagous insects not always choose the host plant that gives the best offspring performance.