Michael GrätzAssistant professor

About me

I am still an associate professor (docent) at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University but I now mainly work as a SNSF research professor at the University of Lausanne. In the past, I worked at Bielefeld University, Germany, and at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. In 2015, I obtained my PhD in Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute (EUI).

My research is committed to a theory-driven, interdisciplinary, empirically rigorous analysis of inequalities in education, occupation, income, wealth, and health. My current research focuses on the development of novel measures of inequality of opportunity. I am leading an SNSF/ERC Starting Grant project (2023–2028) on this topic.

Every summer, I teach a course on causal analysis with observational data at the Summer School in Social Science Methods in Lugano. Registration is currently open and more information is available here:

https://www.usi.ch/en/education/lifelong-learning/summer-winter-school/ssm/causal-analysis-with-observational-data

For the most recent information please refer to my homepage:

https://people.unil.ch/michaelgratz/

PUBLICATIONS

2025.

Grätz, Michael, and Sonia Petrini. 2025. The Role of Polygenic Indices in Inequality of Opportunity. PNAS Nexus, DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf140.

Grätz, Michael, and Marieke Heers. 2025. Tracking in Context: Variation in the Effects of Reforms in the Age at Tracking on Educational Mobility. Social Science Research, 129, DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103188.

Grätz, Michael, Felix C. Tropf, Fartein A. Torvik, Ole A. Andreassen, and Torkild H. Lyngstad. No Evidence of Positive Causal Effects of Maternal and Paternal Age at First Birth on Children’s Test Scores at Age 10 Years. Nature Human Behaviour, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02108-6.

2024.

Grätz, Michael, and Juho Härkönen. The Effect of Parental Separation on Educational Achievement: An Instrumental Variable Analysis. Social Science Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2024.103040.

Grätz, Michael, Florence Lebert and Oliver Lipps. The Impact of Coronavirus-Related School Closures on Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Perceived Risk of School Failure in Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Sociology, 50, 381-400. https://doi.org/10.26034/cm.sjs.2024.6165

Grätz, Michael, and Øyvind N. Wiborg. Parental Ages and the Intergenerational Transmission of Education: Evidence from the United States, Germany, and Norway. European Societies, DOI: 10.1080/14616696.2024.2310011.

2023.

Grätz, Michael. Does Schooling Affect Socioeconomic Inequalities in Educational Attainment? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Germany. Sociological Science, 10, 880–902. DOI: 10.15195/v10.a31.

Grätz, Michael. The Effects of Female Education on Child Education: A Prospective Analysis. European Societies, DOI: 10.1080/14616696.2023.2275591.

Grätz, Michael. Empirical Approaches to Measuring Equality of Opportunity. In: Handbook of Equality of Opportunity, edited by Mitja Sardoc. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-52269-2_83-1.

2022.

Wiborg, Øyvind N., and Michael Grätz. Parents’ Income and Wealth Matter More for Children with Low than High Academic Performance: Evidence from Comparisons Between and Within Families in Egalitarian Norway. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2022.100692.

Kratz, Fabian, Bettina Pettinger, and Michael Grätz. At Which Age Is Education the Great Equalizer? A Counterfactual Mediation Analysis of the Direct Effects of Social Origin over the Life Course. European Sociological Review, DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcac018.

Grätz, Michael, and Martin Kolk. Sibling Similarity in Income: A Life Course Perspective. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2022.100688.

Baier, Tina, Volker Lang, Michael Grätz, Kieron J. Barclay, Dalton Conley, Christoper T. Dawes, Thomas Laidley, and Torkild H. Lyngstad. Genetic Influences on Educational Achievement in Cross-National Perspective. European Sociological Review, DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcac014.

Grätz, Michael. When Less Conditioning Provides Better Estimates: Overcontrol and Endogenous Selection Biases in Research on Intergenerational Mobility. Quality & Quantity, DOI: 10.1007/s11135-021-01310-8.

Grätz, Michael. Does Increasing the Minimum School Leaving Age Affect the Intergenerational Transmission of Education? Evidence from Four European Countries. European Sociological Review, DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcab065.

2021.

Grätz, Michael, Volker Lang, and Martin Diewald. The Effects of Parenting on Early Adolescents’ Noncognitive Skills: Evidence from a Sample of Twins in Germany. Acta Sociologica, DOI: 10.1177/00016993211051958.

Grätz, Michael, Kieron J. Barclay, Torkild H. Lyngstad, Øyvind N. Wiborg, Jani Erola, Aleksi Karhula, Patrick Präg, Thomas Laidley, and Dalton Conley. Sibling Similarity in Education across and within Societies. Demography, 58, 1011–1037. DOI: 10.1215/00703370-9164021.

Grätz, Michael. Does Regime Change Affect Intergenerational Mobility? Evidence from German Reunification. European Sociological Review, 37, 465–481. DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcaa061.

Grätz, Michael, and Oliver Lipps. Large Loss in Studying Time during School Closures in Switzerland in 2020. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 71, 100554. DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2020.100554.

2020.

Grätz, Michael, and Øyvind N. Wiborg. Reinforcing at the Top or Compensating at the Bottom? Family Background and Academic Performance in Germany, Norway, and the United States. European Sociological Review, 36, 381–394. DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcz069.

2018.

Grätz, Michael. Competition in the Family: Inequality between Siblings and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage. Sociological Science, 5, 246–269. DOI: 10.15195/v5.a.

2017.

Grätz, Michael. Does Separation Really Lead Fathers and Mothers to be Less Involved in their Children’s Lives? European Sociological Review, 33, 551–562. DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcx058.

Grätz, Michael, and Fabrizio Bernardi. 2017. Parental Responses to Disadvantageous Life Events: The Month of Birth Penalty in England. In Jani Erola and Elina Kilpi-Jakonen (Eds.), Social Inequality across the Generations: The Role of Resource Compensation and Multiplication in Resource Accumulation. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar.

2016.

Grätz, Michael, and Florencia Torche. 2016. Compensation or Reinforcement? The Stratification of Parental Responses to Children’s Early Ability. Demography, 53, 1883–1904. DOI: 10.1007/s13524-016-0527-1.

Grätz, Michael, and Reinhard Pollak. 2016. Legacies of the Past: Social Origin, Educational Attainment and Labour-Market Outcomes in Germany. In Fabrizio Bernardi and Gabriele Ballarino (Eds.), Education, Occupation and Social Origin: A Comparative Analysis of the Transmission of Socio-Economic Inequalities. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar.

2015.

Grätz, Michael.  When Growing Up without a Parent Does Not Hurt: Parental Separation and the Compensatory Effect of Social Origin. European Sociological Review, 31, 546–557. DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcv057.

Bernardi, Fabrizio, and Michael Grätz. Making Up for an Unlucky Month of Birth in School: Causal Evidence on the Compensatory Advantage of Family Background in England. Sociological Science, 2, 235–251. DOI: 10.15195/v2.a12.

SELECTED WORK IN PROGRESS

1. Does an Educational Reform Moderate the Relationship between Genes and Life Chances? Evidence from the United Kingdom (with Alicia Garcia-Sierra). Revise and Resubmit. Preprint available here: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/4×375

2. Compensatory or Boosting Advantage? Analyzing Parental Influence in a Selective Education System (with Rita Schmutz). Revise and Resubmit. Preprint available here: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/jvny8.

3. Liberal and Radical Equality of Opportunity (with Alicia Garcia-Sierra). Under Review. Preprint available here: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/t2ucp.

4. Liberal and Radical Equality of Opportunity in Sweden (with Kieron J. Barclay). Under Review. Preprint available here: https://su.figshare.com/articles/preprint/Liberal_and_Radical_Equality_of_Opportunity_in_Sweden/27908073?file=50811048

5. Socioeconomic and Gender Differences in the Impact of Family Size on Child Education (with Antonina Zhelenkova). Under Review.

6. Which Factors Affecting School Outcomes Consider School Children Fair? (with Claudia Diehl and Thomas Hinz). Pre-Registration available here: https://osf.io/7dka3

7. Genes, Skills, and Inequality of Opportunity (with Alicia Garci-Sierra and Sonia Petrini)

8. The Variation in Liberal and Radical Inequality of Opportunity across Countries (with Guillaume Bornet)

9. Global Inequality of Opportunity in Education Increased During the 20th Century (with Mobarak Hossain and Martina Beretta)

10. Tracing Inequality of Opportunity across Cohorts (with Alicia Garcia-Sierra)