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Is there really a trade-off? Family Size and Investment in Child Quality in India

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  • Mehtabul Azam

    () (Oklahoma State University)

  • Chan Hang Saing

    () (Cambodia Development Resource Institute)

Abstract

We address the relationship between number of children and investment in child quality, known as Quantity-Quality (Q-Q) trade-off, for India. Using a number of investment and outcome measures, we find that the OLS estimates suggest presence of Q-Q trade-offs in 9 out of 10 measures considered. Using the gender of the first-born child as an instrument, the trade-offs in all measures disappear. Given the concerns about the exogeneity of the instrument, we apply Oster (2016) bounds to assess sensitivity of OLS estimates to omitted variables. We find robust trade-off estimates in only 3 measures---enrollment, years of schooling, and height-for-age. However, we find more robust trade-offs in rural areas. Trade- offs appear in ever enrolled, private school attendance, expenditure on education and private coaching in addition to the trade-offs in the 3 measures for all India sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehtabul Azam & Chan Hang Saing, 2017. "Is there really a trade-off? Family Size and Investment in Child Quality in India," Economics Working Paper Series 1712, Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:okl:wpaper:1712
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    Cited by:

    1. Marc Klemp & Jacob Weisdorf, 2019. "Fecundity, Fertility and The Formation of Human Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(618), pages 925-960.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Quantity-Quality trade-off; Investment; Educational Outcomes; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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