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The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Composition on Children's Education

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Author Info
Black, Sandra E. () (UCLA, NBER and IZA Bonn)
Devereux, Paul J. (UCLA and IZA Bonn)
Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics, Statistics Norway and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

Among the perceived inputs in the "production" of child quality is family size; there is an extensive theoretical literature that postulates a tradeoff between child quantity and quality within a family. However, there is little causal evidence that speaks to this theory. Our analysis is able to overcome many limitations of the previous literature by using a rich dataset that contains information on the entire population of Norway over an extended period of time and allows us to match adult children to their parents and siblings. In addition, we use exogenous variation in family size induced by the birth of twins to isolate causation. Like most previous studies, we find a negative correlation between family size and children’s educational attainment. However, when we include indicators for birth order, the effect of family size becomes negligible. This finding is robust to the use of twin births as an instrument for family size. In addition, we find that birth order has a significant and large effect on children’s education; children born later in the family obtain less education. These findings suggest the need to revisit economic models of fertility and child "production", focusing not only on differences across families but differences within families as well.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1269.

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Length: 51 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2004
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1269

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Related research
Keywords: birth order; family size;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Jaisri Gangadharan & Joshua Rosenbloom & Joyce Jacobson & James Wishart Pearre III, 1996. "The Effects of Child-Bearing on Married Women's Labor Supply and Earnings: Using Twin Births as a Natural Experiment," NBER Working Papers 5647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Olivier Deschenes, 2002. "Estimating the Effects of Family Background on the Return to Schooling," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series 10-02, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Bronars, Stephen G & Grogger, Jeff, 1994. "The Economic Consequences of Unwed Motherhood: Using Twin Births as a Natural Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1141-56, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Angrist, Joshua D & Evans, William N, 1998. "Children and Their Parents' Labor Supply: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Family Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 450-77, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2004. "The Demand for Sons: Evidence from Divorce, Fertility, and Shotgun Marriage," NBER Working Papers 10281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Goux, Dominique & Maurin, Eric, 2005. "The effect of overcrowded housing on children's performance at school," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 797-819, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1980. "Testing the Quantity-Quality Fertility Model: The Use of Twins as a Natural Experiment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 227-40, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Hanushek, Eric A, 1992. "The Trade-Off between Child Quantity and Quality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 84-117, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Butcher, Kristin F & Case, Anne, 1994. "The Effect of Sibling Sex Composition on Women's Education and Earnings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(3), pages 531-63, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Kessler, Daniel, 1991. "Birth Order, Family Size, and Achievement: Family Structure and Wage Determination," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(4), pages 413-26, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Behrman, Jere R & Taubman, Paul, 1986. "Birth Order, Schooling, and Earnings," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages S121-45, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2004. "Child Mental Health and Human Capital Accumulation: The Case of ADHD," NBER Working Papers 10435, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Gary S. Becker & James S. Duesenberry & Bernard Okun, 1960. "An Economic Analysis of Fertility," NBER Chapters, in: Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries, pages 225-256 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bruce Sacerdote, 2004. "What Happens When We Randomly Assign Children to Families?," NBER Working Papers 10894, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Orbeta, Aniceto Jr. C., 2006. "Children and Household Savings in the Philippines," Discussion Papers DP 2006-14, Philippine Institute for Development Studies. [Downloadable!]
  3. Bauer, Philipp & Riphahn, Regina T., 2004. "Heterogeneity in the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: Evidence from Switzerland on Natives and Second Generation Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 1354, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy & Analia Schlosser, 2005. "New Evidence on the Causal Link Between the Quantity and Quality of Children," NBER Working Papers 11835, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Jasmin Kantarevic & Stéphane Mechoulan, 2005. "Birth Order, Educational Attainment and Earnings: An Investigation Using the PSID," IZA Discussion Papers 1789, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Vegard Skirbekk, 2008. "Fertility trends by social status," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 18(5), pages 145-180, March. [Downloadable!]
  7. Meng, Xin & Qian, Nancy, 2006. "The Long Run Health and Economic Consequences of Famine on Survivors: Evidence from China's Great Famine," CEPR Discussion Papers 5989, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Gerald Makepeace & Sarmistha Pal, 2006. "Understanding the Effects of Siblings on Child Mortality: Evidence from India," Economics and Finance Discussion Papers 06-24, Economics and Finance Section, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Xin Meng & Nancy Qian, 2009. "The Long Term Consequences of Famine on Survivors: Evidence from a Unique Natural Experiment using China's Great Famine," NBER Working Papers 14917, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Baez, Javier E., 2008. "Does More Mean Better? Sibling Sex Composition and the Link between Family Size and Children’s Quality," IZA Discussion Papers 3472, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Mahler, Philippe & Winkelmann, Rainer, 2004. "Single Motherhood and (Un)Equal Educational Opportunities: Evidence for Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 1391, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Orbeta, Aniceto Jr. C., 2005. "Number of Children and their Education in Philippine Households," Discussion Papers DP 2005-21, Philippine Institute for Development Studies. [Downloadable!]
  13. Filmer, Deon & Friedman, Jed & Schady, Norbert, 2008. "Development, modernization, and son preference in fertility decisions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4716, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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