Lessons from the Bell Curve
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10177239 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James J Heckman (0000-0002-0399-662X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1091-1120 |
| Publication date | 1995-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3808 • E-ISSN: 1537-534X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/262014 |
| OpenAlex | W1971173307 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 54 |
| References cited | 15 |
This paper examines the argument presented in The Bell Curve. A central argument is that one factor--g--accounts for correlation across test scores and performance in society. Another central argument is that g cannot be manipulated. These arguments are combined to claim that social policies designed to improve social performance cannot be effective. A reanalysis of the evidence contradicts this story. The factors that explain wages receive different weights than the factors that explain test scores. More than g is required to explain either. Other factors besides g contribute to social performance and they can be manipulated. Copyright 1995 by University of Chicago Press
Argument (complex analysis · Econometrics · Economics · Positive economics · Test (biology · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology
The Wages of Sinistrality
The Assignment of Workers to Tasks with Endogenous Supply of Skills
The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement
Persistence and Fadeout in the Impacts of Child and Adolescent Interventions
The Labor Market Returns to Cognitive and Noncognitive Ability
The economics, technology, and neuroscience of human capability formation
Heritability in the genomics era — concepts and misconceptions
Chapter 12 Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation
Schools, Skills, and Synapses
The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market
Policies to foster human capital
Chapter 48 Race and gender in the labor market
The Technology of Skill Formation
A Different Land of Opportunity
Jack-of-all-subjects? The association between individual grade variance and educational attainment
Exploring the Hypothetical Impact of Genetic Engineering on Ethnicity
Downgrading Estimates Controlling for a Key Confounder
Estimating ethnic discrimination in the labour market using experimental data
The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior
IQ, Academic Performance, Environment, and Earnings
Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School
Numeracy and the Impact of High Food Prices in Industrializing Britain, 1780–1850
Dual pathways of intergenerational influence over multiple generations
Changes in the Black-White Gap in Achievement Test Scores
Verbal Ability and Socioeconomic Success
Functional or futile
Differential Test Performance in the American Educational System
Interpreting Trends in Intergenerational Mobility
Gender, Confidence, and the Mismeasure of Intelligence, Competitiveness and Literacy
The American Family in Black & White
Interpreting estimates of heritability – A note on the twin decomposition
Schooling, intelligence, and income
The Bell Curve Revisited
Employment chances of immigrants and their children in Germany
Young children’s cognitive achievement
Pay for performance for prenatal care and newborn health
The formation and evolution of childhood skill acquisition
Withdrawn
Modelling adult skills in OECD countries
School Resources and Student Outcomes
Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Functioning Across the Life Course
The Evidence on Credit Constraints in Post‐Secondary Schooling
Efectos de la asistencia temprana a centros de cuidado y educativos en el desarrollo infantil
Desarrollo infantil en Uruguay
The role of IQ and education in predicting later labor market outcomes
Class inequality and meritocracy
Detecting Discrimination
Data Watch
Mental Retirement
School Resources and Student Outcomes
The Black/White Skill Gap in Early Childhood
Does Church Attendance Really Increase Schooling
The Legacy of Disadvantage
Cognitive abilities and self-rated health
Human Cognitive Abilities
"General Intelligence," Objectively Determined and Measured
The Great Compression
Social Background and School Continuation Decisions
The bell curve
Race and Culture
Teaching thinking skills
Recent trends in the process of stratification
Irrational Behavior and Economic Theory
Family socialization and the IQ test performance of traditionally and transracially adopted Black children
Topics in Regression Analysis
Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings
The Promise of Public Sector-Sponsored Training Programs
| Unique citing works | 54 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,8 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2026 (31) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 52 |