On November 10,2023, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development successfully hosted the first session of the Fall 2023 Reading Club. The keynote speaker for this event was Phd candidate XuCheng Xiao from Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development.

The article presented in this event is genetic endowments linked to educational attainment strongly and robustly predict wealth at retirement. The estimated relationship is not fully explained by flexibly controlling for education and labor income. Therefore, investigate a host of additional mechanisms that could account for the gene-wealth gradient, including inheritances, mortality, risk preferences, portfolio decisions, beliefs about the probabilities of macroeconomic events, and planning horizons. They provide evidence that genetic endowments related to human capital accumulation are associated with wealth not only through educational attainment and labor income but also through a facility with complex financial decision-making. 

Source：Daniel Barth et al. , GENETIC ENDOWMENTS AND WEALTH INEQUALITY [ Journal of Political Economy, 2020, vol. 128, no. 4]

（By Xiao Xucheng）