The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Composition on Children&Apos;S Education
50 Pages Posted: 17 Sep 2004 Last revised: 18 Apr 2021
There are 2 versions of this paper
The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Composition on Children's Education
Date Written: September 2004
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.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Children and Their Parents' Labor Supply: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Family Size
-
Child Endowments, and the Quantity and Quality of Children
By Gary S. Becker and Nigel Tomes
-
The Demand for Sons: Evidence from Divorce, Fertility, and Shotgun Marriage
By Gordon B. Dahl and Enrico Moretti
-
Are Brothers Really Better? Sibling Sex Composition and Educational Achievement Revisited
-
By Dalton Conley and Rebecca Glauber
-
The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Composition on Children's Education
By Sandra E. Black, Paul J. Devereux, ...
-
The Effects of Sons and Daughters on Men's Labor Supply and Wages
By Shelly J. Lundberg and Elaina Rose
-
Birth Order Matters: The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Educational Attainment
By Alison L. Booth and Hiau Looi Kee
-
Birth Order Matters: The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Educational Attainment
By Alison L. Booth and Hiau Joo Kee
-
The Effects of Overcrowded Housing on Children's Performance at School
By Dominique Goux and Eric Maurin