title: The Promises and Pitfalls of Genoeconomics*
abstract: This article reviews existing research at the intersection of genetics and economics, presents some new findings that illustrate the state of genoeconomics research, and surveys the prospects of this emerging field. Twin studies suggest that economic outcomes and preferences, once corrected for measurement error, appear to be about as heritable as many medical conditions and personality traits. Consistent with this pattern, we present new evidence on the heritability of permanent income and wealth. Turning to genetic association studies, we survey the main ways that the direct measurement of genetic variation across individuals is likely to contribute to economics, and we outline the challenges that have slowed progress in making these contributions. The most urgent problem facing researchers in this field is that most existing efforts to find associations between genetic variation and economic behavior are based on samples that are too small to ensure adequate statistical power. This has led to many false positives in the literature. We suggest a number of possible strategies to improve and remedy this problem: (a) pooling data sets, (b) using statistical techniques that exploit the greater information content of many genes considered jointly, and (c) focusing on economically relevant traits that are most proximate to known biological mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853; National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138; db468@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Benjamin
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cesarini
authors.forename: Christopher F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chabris
authors.forename: Edward L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Glaeser
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Laibson
authors.forename: Vilmundur
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Guðnason
authors.forename: Tamara B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Lenore J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Launer
authors.forename: Shaun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Purcell
authors.forename: Albert Vernon
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johannesson
authors.forename: Patrik K E
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Magnusson
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Christakis
authors.forename: Craig S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Atwood
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hebert
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Freese
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: Taissa S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grankvist
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hultman
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichtenstein
keywords: GWAS; genetics; heritability