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  3. Journal of Economic Perspectives
  4. Fall 2011
  5. Genes, Eyeglasses, and Social Policy

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

Genes, Eyeglasses, and Social Policy

  • Charles F. Manski
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 25, no. 4, Fall 2011
(pp. 83–94)
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Abstract

Someone reading empirical research relating human genetics to personal outcomes must be careful to distinguish two types of work: An old literature on heritability attempts to decompose cross-sectional variation in observed outcomes into unobservable genetic and environmental components. A new literature measures specific genes and uses them as observed covariates when predicting outcomes. I will discuss these two types of work in terms of how they may inform social policy. I will argue that research on heritability is fundamentally uninformative for policy analysis, but make a cautious argument that research using genes as covariates is potentially informative.

Citation

Manski, Charles F. 2011. "Genes, Eyeglasses, and Social Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives 25 (4): 83–94. DOI: 10.1257/jep.25.4.83

JEL Classification

  • D78 Positive Analysis of Policy-Making and Implementation
  • A12 Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines