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The more the merrier? The effect of family size and birth order on children's education
Date Issued
2005-05
Date Available
2008-07-09T12:00:26Z
Abstract
There is an extensive theoretical literature that postulates a trade-off between child quantity and quality within a family. However, there is little causal evidence that speaks to this theory. Using a rich data set on the entire population of Norway over an extended period of time, we examine the effects of family size and birth order on the educational attainment of children. We find a negative correlation between family size and children's education, but when we include indicators for birth order or use twin births as an instrument, family size effects become negligible. In addition, higher birth order has a significant and large negative effect on children's education. We also study adult earnings, employment, and teenage childbearing and find strong evidence for birth order effects with these outcomes, particularly among women. 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.
Sponsorship
The National Science Foundation; The California Center for Population Research; The Norwegian Research Council
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
MIT Press Journals, Massachusets Institute
Journal
Quarterly Journal of Economics
Volume
120
Issue
2
Start Page
669
End Page
700
Copyright (Published Version)
Copyright 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Subject – LCSH
Family size
Birth order
Educational attainment--Norway
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0033-5533
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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