The relative importance of genes and shared environmental influences on stratification outcomes has recently received much attention in the literature. We focus on education and the gene-environmental interplay. Specifically, we investigate whether—as proposed by the Scarr-Rowe hypothesis—genetic influences are more important in advantaged families. We argue that the social stratification of family environments affects children's chances to actualize their genetic potential. We hypothesize that advantaged families provide more child-specific inputs, which enhance genetic expression, whereas the rearing environments of children in disadvantaged families are less adapted to children's individual abilities, leading to a suppression of genetic potential. We test this relationship in Germany, which represents an interesting case due to its highly selective schooling system characterized by early tracking and the broad coverage of part-time schools. We use novel data from the TwinLife panel, a population-register–based sample of twins and their families. Results of ACE-variance decompositions support the Scarr-Rowe hypothesis: Shared environmental influences on education matter only in disadvantaged families, whereas genetic influences are more important in advantaged families. Our findings support the growing literature on the importance of the gene-environmental interplay and emphasize the role of the family environment as a trigger of differential genetic expression.

中文翻译：

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环境和遗传对教育的影响的社会分层：使用基于寄存器的双样本的新证据

基因的相对重要性和共同的环境影响对分层结果的影响最近在文献中引起了广泛关注。我们专注于教育和基因与环境的相互作用。具体来说，我们调查了如Scarr-Rowe假说所提出的那样，遗传影响对有优势家庭是否更重要。我们认为家庭环境的社会分层会影响儿童实现其遗传潜能的机会。我们假设有优势的家庭提供更多的特定于儿童的输入，从而增强了基因表达，而处于不利地位的家庭中儿童的抚养环境则不太适应儿童的个人能力，从而抑制了遗传潜力。我们在德国测试了这种关系，这是一个有趣的案例，因为它具有高度的选择性教育系统，其特点是尽早追踪和覆盖非全日制学校。我们使用来自TwinLife面板的新颖数据，该数据是基于人口登记的双胞胎及其家人的样本。ACE-方差分解的结果支持Scarr-Rowe假说：共享环境影响仅对处境不利家庭的教育至关重要，而遗传影响对处境不利家庭更为重要。我们的发现支持有关基因与环境相互作用的重要性的日益增长的文献，并强调了家庭环境作为差异基因表达的触发因素的作用。基于人口登记的双胞胎及其家人的样本。ACE-方差分解的结果支持Scarr-Rowe假说：共享的环境影响仅对处境不利的家庭的教育产生影响，而遗传影响对处境不利的家庭更为重要。我们的发现支持有关基因与环境相互作用的重要性的日益增长的文献，并强调了家庭环境作为差异基因表达的触发因素的作用。基于人口登记的双胞胎及其家人的样本。ACE-方差分解的结果支持Scarr-Rowe假说：共享的环境影响仅对处境不利的家庭的教育产生影响，而遗传影响对处境不利的家庭更为重要。我们的发现支持有关基因与环境相互作用的重要性的日益增长的文献，并强调了家庭环境作为差异基因表达的触发因素的作用。