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The plateauing of c...
The plateauing of cognitive ability among top earners
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- Keuschnigg, Marc (author)
- Linköpings universitet,Institutet för analytisk sociologi, IAS,Filosofiska fakulteten,Institute of Sociology, Leipzig University, Germany
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- van de Rijt, Arnout (author)
- Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute , Italy; Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
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- Bol, Thijs (author)
- Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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(creator_code:org_t)
- 2023-01-28
- 2023
- English.
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In: European Sociological Review. - : Oxford University Press. - 0266-7215 .- 1468-2672. ; 39:5, s. 820-833
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Abstract
Subject headings
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- Are the best-paying jobs with the highest prestige done by individuals of great intelligence? Past studies find job success to increase with cognitive ability, but do not examine how, conversely, ability varies with job success. Stratification theories suggest that social background and cumulative advantage dominate cognitive ability as determinants of high occupational success. This leads us to hypothesize that among the relatively successful, average ability is concave in income and prestige. We draw on Swedish register data containing measures of cognitive ability and labour-market success for 59,000 men who took a compulsory military conscription test. Strikingly, we find that the relationship between ability and wage is strong overall, yet above €60,000 per year ability plateaus at a modest level of +1 standard deviation. The top 1 per cent even score slightly worse on cognitive ability than those in the income strata right below them. We observe a similar but less pronounced plateauing of ability at high occupational prestige.
Subject headings
- SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)
- SOCIAL SCIENCES -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)
Publication and Content Type
- ref (subject category)
- art (subject category)
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