This dissertation is a study of the intergenerational decision to invest in those factors which support the formation of human capital. It is comprised of three papers, each of which discuss a different aspect of the problem. The context is the decline in investment in children in America based on measurements of child welfare: does this represent a shift in the willingness of Americans to invest in the next generation, or is something else responsible?;The first chapter establishes the theoretical aspects of the decision, both from a neoclassical and an institutional perspective. It points to the possibility that a shift in preferences has caused individuals to think more of their own needs and wants and less on the needs of the next and future generations. It indicates the seriousness of the long term consequences to the aggregate economy if Americans decide to withdraw their support for economic and institutional factors which aid the next generation to become economically viable.;The second chapter presents a dynamic mathematical model of the effects of changes in the subjective rate of impatience on aggregate economic growth. It uses optimal control theory and the phase diagram to suggest possible growth paths for the American economy for given rates of subjective impatience. It shows how per capita capital to labor ratios would fall over time if children do not receive necessary factor supplies for human capital formation, and concludes that such a drop would reduce the standard of living for Americans over time.;The third chapter is an empirical analysis of how family background components affect the odds that their children might become involved in drug and alcohol use, criminal activity, sexual activity and/or antisocial behavior. Each of these risky behaviors is regressed in turn on elements of family social capital to measure the probability that a specified cohort will have difficulties with these risky behaviors depending upon the level present of the specified family capital characteristics.
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