Research Papers in Economics, Department of Economics, Stockholm University
No 2009:16:
Driving Under the Influence of Our Fathers
Randi Hjalmarsson ()
and Matthew Lindquist ()
Abstract: This paper studies intergenerational correlations in drunk
driving between fathers and their children using the Stockholm Birth
Cohort. We find strong evidence of an intergenerational drunk driving
relationship. Cohort members who have fathers with a drunk driving record
have 2.59 times higher odds of having a drunk driving conviction themselves
than cohort members with non-drunk driving fathers. We then go on to
investigate the underlying mechanisms that give rise to these correlations.
The results provide compelling evidence that at least some of this
relationship represents a behavior-specific transference from fathers to
their children. Specifically, much of the raw father-child drunk driving
relationship persists over and above controls for a number of potential
explanations, including that the relationship is: (i) a by-product of
parental alcoholism, (ii) symptomatic of a general pattern of non-law
abiding behavior, (iii) attributable to inherited ability and physical
characteristics, and (iv) accounted for by common background variables or
social factors. We then go on to show how this mechanism may change over
time. As cohort members age into adulthood, the father-child drunk driving
relationship appears to be driven by a more general behavioral transference
mechanism and can be accounted for by parental alcoholism and non-law
abiding behavior.
Keywords: alcohol; crime; drunk driving; illegal behavior; intergenerational crime; intergenerational mobility; risky behavior; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: J62; K42; (follow links to similar papers)
32 pages, September 7, 2009
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