Ea Hoppe Blaabæk
Postdoc at University of Copenhagen, Department of Sociology
Primary research interests:
› Social stratification & inequality of opportunity
› Intergenerational transmissions
› Children's reading and educational achievements
› Inequality & health shocks
› Applied microeconometrics
Current project I (postdoc at UCPH)
Based on unique registry data on library loans for the entire Danish population, I study inequality in library usage and literary preferences. For example, 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, whereas e.g. income is much more actively redistributed. 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 their investments in children's learning environment. Preliminary results suggest that the program did not affect loans of children's books, which likely reflects that families' reading practices are too embedded to be easily nudged. The project is funded by Spar Nord Fonden (PI: Mads Meier Jæger).
Current project II (ROCKWOOL Foundation)
We use administrative records to study (a) how injuries affect children's educational outcomes and criminal records and (b) how injuries can have spill-over effects between family members. In an in-progress project, we test the hypothesis that concussions (mTBI) might affect children's self-control and propensity to commit crimes. We also study whether school disruptions due to minor injuries or parental absence due to injuries affect children's educational outcomes. The project is funded by The ROCKWOOL Foundation (PI: Lars Højsgaard Andersen and Peter Fallesen).
Previous project(s)
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).