Ea Hoppe Blaabæk
Researcher at the ROCKWOOL Foundation Research Unit
Primary research interests:
› Social stratification & inequality of opportunity
› Children's reading and educational achievements
› Intergenerational transmissions
› Inequality & health shocks
› Applied microeconometrics
Current project
Social Background and the Long-Term Consequences of Individual and Family Exposure to Injuries and Accidents
We use administrative records to study (a) how injuries affect children's educational outcomes and criminal records and (b) spillover effect of injuries within families. In a recent paper published in JAMA Pediatrics (paper), we find that the association between concussions (mTBI) and crime is reduced to zero when controlling for family background via sibling fixed effects. In a related paper, we test if concussions affect children's academic performance, and similarly find no evidence of an effect (paper). The project is funded by The ROCKWOOL Foundation (PI: Lars Højsgaard Andersen and Peter Fallesen).
Previous projects
Postdoc at University of Copenhagen, Department of Sociology (2021-2024)
Based on unique registry data on library loans for the entire Danish population, I studied cultural stratification and inequality in library use. In an in-progress study, I and co-authors use detailed information on the genre and author of books to study elite literary tastes (paper). Preliminary results indicate that while there is stratification by education and wealth, there is little stratification by income and occupation. We argue that this reflects that education and wealth are more prominent stratifying dimensions in Denmark. In another in-progress study (paper), I use information on the rollout of a library book giveaway program to study whether municipalities can "nudge" parents to increase loan of children's books. Preliminary results suggest that the program did not affect loans of children's books, which reflects that families' reading practices are too embedded to be easily nudged. Further, I combine registry data with a new database on literary awards and reviews in national Danish newspaper to study the impact of cultural intermediaries in shaping cultural consumption (paper). The project is funded by Spar Nord Fonden (PI: Mads Meier Jæger).
PhD Fellow at University of Copenhagen, Department of Sociology
In my Ph.D. project (2018-2021), I used quantitative methods to study how family and social background shape inequality in children's reading and how this feeds into educational inequalities. For example, I used Danish library registry data to study inequality in the amount and age appropriateness of children's books families borrow (paper), and how high SES parents were more likely to compensate for school and library COVID-19 closures by increasing their takeout of online E-books from libraries (paper). Based on U.S. survey data, I showed how unequal cultural inputs at home lead to growing inequality in children's reading (paper) and that children's educational achievements improve when children read (paper). Project funded by the Velux Foundations (PI: Mads Meier Jæger).