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First Law is that siblings' genetic relatedness varies randomly (with a mean of 50%). We use molecular genetic data to compute the genetic relatedness of ~80,000 sib pairs. We then compare the pairs' genetic relatedness to their similarity on 15 socioeconomic outcomes to estimate the relative importance of genetic (i.e., heritability) and family environmental influences on each outcome. We find evidence of sizeable genetic influences on many outcomes, including cognitive performance, fertility, risk tolerance, smoking, and subjective wellbeing, and of more limited genetic influences on educational attainment and income.
