Inherited Status Advantages: The Effect of the United States Presidency on Candidates and Their Children’s Mortality

• In Event: 212 - Section on Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Life Course and Intergenerational Perspectives on Inequality

Abstract

The intergenerational transmission of advantage is a core concern for sociologists. Gaps in literature on intergenerational inequality remain, however—confounding often cannot be satisfactorily ruled out; the investigation of material advantage is privileged over symbolic advantage; and little research has been done on whether inherited advantage yields superior benefits to achieved advantage. In order to begin addressing these gaps, this study employs a regression discontinuity analysis to estimate the causal effect of becoming President of the United States on mortality. I find evidence that candidates who just barely won their first presidential election live no longer than those who just barely lost their first election. On the other hand, there does seem to be a significant effect on candidates’ children. Children of presidents who won a close election are likely to live longer than children of candidates who lost a close election. Becoming president thus gives a longevity boost to one’s children but not to oneself. It appears that a status advantage can indeed be passed down from parent to child, and in fact, children might be able to reap even more benefit from inherited symbolic advantages than those who actually achieved the advantages. The results from this specific case suggests that further research should compare the benefits of inherited versus achieved advantage in other contexts.

Author

• Matthew Stimpson, University of California-Berkeley