I had the opportunity to present my research at the 11th Congress of Polish Economists, where I explored the role of family in shaping human capital investment and the design of education policies.

The project addresses a fundamental policy question: should higher education be publicly financed or rely more on private contributions? Given that education is a merit good affected by externalities and information frictions, individuals may underinvest relative to the social optimum.

I develop a dynastic model with heterogeneous families and altruistic parents, capturing intergenerational links in both human capital and wealth transmission. This framework allows for an analysis of how policy instruments—such as education subsidies and income-contingent loans—affect investment decisions and welfare outcomes.

The results highlight the central role of family background: both parental income and inherited wealth shape optimal education investment. Importantly, accounting for parental altruism changes policy implications, suggesting that lower education subsidies may be needed to achieve socially optimal outcomes than in models without family considerations.

The Congress provided an excellent setting for discussions on economic policy and inequality. I am grateful for the insightful feedback and look forward to developing this work further.