Estimating the Impact of Education on Political Participation: Evidence from Monozygotic Twins in the United States, Denmark and Sweden

Peter Thisted Dinesen; Christopher Dawes; Magnus Johanneson; Robert Klemmensen; Patrik Magnusson; Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard; Inge Petersen; Sven Oskarsson

doi:10.1007/s11109-015-9328-2

Estimating the Impact of Education on Political Participation: Evidence from Monozygotic Twins in the United States, Denmark and Sweden

Peter Thisted Dinesen, Christopher Dawes, Magnus Johanneson, Robert Klemmensen, Patrik Magnusson, Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard, Inge Petersen, Sven Oskarsson

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study we provide new evidence on the much-discussed effect of education on political participation by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and participation within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs we are able to circumvent traditional sources of confounding of the relationship rooted in genes and early life family environment because MZ twins share both. The results of within-twin pair analyses based on surveys from the United States, Denmark and Sweden show that while the relationship between education and political participation is highly confounded by genes and/or familial environment in all three countries, a positive impact remains of years of education in the US and of high school completion in Denmark. No effect is found in Sweden. Robustness checks suggest that the observed effect is not confounded by within-twin pair differences in prenatal environment nor differential treatment during childhood, and, if anything, that it most likely constitutes a lower bound estimate.

Original language	English
Journal	Political Behavior
Volume	38
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	579-601
ISSN	0190-9320
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-015-9328-2
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2016

Keywords

Faculty of Social Sciences
education
political participation
co-twin control design
monozygotic twins

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10.1007/s11109-015-9328-2

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title = "Estimating the Impact of Education on Political Participation: Evidence from Monozygotic Twins in the United States, Denmark and Sweden",

abstract = "In this study we provide new evidence on the much-discussed effect of education on political participation by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and participation within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs we are able to circumvent traditional sources of confounding of the relationship rooted in genes and early life family environment because MZ twins share both. The results of within-twin pair analyses based on surveys from the United States, Denmark and Sweden show that while the relationship between education and political participation is highly confounded by genes and/or familial environment in all three countries, a positive impact remains of years of education in the US and of high school completion in Denmark. No effect is found in Sweden. Robustness checks suggest that the observed effect is not confounded by within-twin pair differences in prenatal environment nor differential treatment during childhood, and, if anything, that it most likely constitutes a lower bound estimate.",

keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, education, political participation, co-twin control design, monozygotic twins",

author = "Dinesen, {Peter Thisted} and Christopher Dawes and Magnus Johanneson and Robert Klemmensen and Patrik Magnusson and N{\o}rgaard, {Asbj{\o}rn Sonne} and Inge Petersen and Sven Oskarsson",

year = "2016",

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doi = "10.1007/s11109-015-9328-2",

language = "English",

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journal = "Political Behavior",

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T1 - Estimating the Impact of Education on Political Participation

T2 - Evidence from Monozygotic Twins in the United States, Denmark and Sweden

AU - Dinesen, Peter Thisted

AU - Dawes, Christopher

AU - Johanneson, Magnus

AU - Klemmensen, Robert

AU - Magnusson, Patrik

AU - Nørgaard, Asbjørn Sonne

AU - Petersen, Inge

AU - Oskarsson, Sven

PY - 2016/9/1

Y1 - 2016/9/1

N2 - In this study we provide new evidence on the much-discussed effect of education on political participation by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and participation within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs we are able to circumvent traditional sources of confounding of the relationship rooted in genes and early life family environment because MZ twins share both. The results of within-twin pair analyses based on surveys from the United States, Denmark and Sweden show that while the relationship between education and political participation is highly confounded by genes and/or familial environment in all three countries, a positive impact remains of years of education in the US and of high school completion in Denmark. No effect is found in Sweden. Robustness checks suggest that the observed effect is not confounded by within-twin pair differences in prenatal environment nor differential treatment during childhood, and, if anything, that it most likely constitutes a lower bound estimate.

AB - In this study we provide new evidence on the much-discussed effect of education on political participation by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and participation within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs we are able to circumvent traditional sources of confounding of the relationship rooted in genes and early life family environment because MZ twins share both. The results of within-twin pair analyses based on surveys from the United States, Denmark and Sweden show that while the relationship between education and political participation is highly confounded by genes and/or familial environment in all three countries, a positive impact remains of years of education in the US and of high school completion in Denmark. No effect is found in Sweden. Robustness checks suggest that the observed effect is not confounded by within-twin pair differences in prenatal environment nor differential treatment during childhood, and, if anything, that it most likely constitutes a lower bound estimate.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - education

KW - political participation

KW - co-twin control design

KW - monozygotic twins

U2 - 10.1007/s11109-015-9328-2

DO - 10.1007/s11109-015-9328-2

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0190-9320

VL - 38

SP - 579

EP - 601

JO - Political Behavior

JF - Political Behavior

IS - 3

ER -

Estimating the Impact of Education on Political Participation: Evidence from Monozygotic Twins in the United States, Denmark and Sweden

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Keywords

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