Intergenerational Transmission of Politics

• In Event: Political Behavior, Geography and Socialization

Abstract

This study examines the impact of family ties on political behavior using a US-wide voter-level panel, 2010-2022. We find that the correlation between the political behaviors of parents and their children surpasses the correlation observed between individuals of the same age groups and residing in the same neighborhood. The influence of mothers on daughters and of fathers on sons is stronger than cross-gender intergenerational influences, suggesting a potentially causal relationship. We use a regression discontinuity design leveraging age-related eligibility cutoffs for voting and differences in voters' first election political climate to isolate the causal component of the political alignment between parents and children. We use the same method to explore the reciprocal influence of children on their parents and siblings' influence on each other.

Authors

• Enrico Cantoni, University of Bologna

• Vincent Pons, Harvard Business School

• Ryan D. Enos, Harvard University

• Sahil Chinoy, Harvard University

• Alice Danon

• Martin Koenen