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Left behind by birth month

Author

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  • Solli, Ingeborg

    (University of Stavanger)

Abstract

Utilizing comprehensive administrative from Norway I investigate birth month effects on school performance at age 16, educational achievement at age 19 and 25 and earnings at age 30. I demonstrate that the oldest children in class have a substantially higher 10th grade GPA than their younger peers. The birth month differences are similar across gender, but stronger for less advantaged children. The birth month effects are robust to controlling for sibling fixed effects. On longer term outcomes, I find that the youngest children in class have a significantly lower probability of having completed high school at age 19, are less likely to enroll into college by age 25, and have substantially lower earnings at age 30. The effects on educational achievement and earnings are more pronounced for boys and for less advantaged children.

Suggested Citation

  • Solli, Ingeborg, 2012. "Left behind by birth month," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2012/8, University of Stavanger.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:stavef:2012_008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Suziedelyte, Agne & Zhu, Anna, 2015. "Does early schooling narrow outcome gaps for advantaged and disadvantaged children?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 76-88.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Birth date effect; Relative age effect;

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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