The more the merrier? The effect of family size and birth order on children's education
The more the merrier? The effect of family size and birth order on children's education
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DOI：
10.1162/0033553053970179
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发表时间：
2005-05-01
影响因子：
13.7
通讯作者：
Salvanes, KG
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Black, SE;Devereux, PJ;Salvanes, KG
有大量的理论文献认为，家庭中的子女数量和质量之间存在权衡。然而，几乎没有因果关系的证据可以证明这一理论。使用丰富的数据集在挪威的整个人口在很长一段时间内，我们研究家庭规模和出生顺序对儿童的教育程度的影响。我们发现，家庭规模和子女教育之间存在负相关，但当我们将出生顺序的指标或使用双胞胎作为工具时，家庭规模的影响变得微不足道。此外，高出生顺序对子女的教育有着显著而巨大的负面影响。我们还研究了成年人的收入，就业和青少年生育，并发现了出生顺序对这些结果的影响的有力证据，特别是在女性中。这些研究结果表明，有必要重新审视生育率和儿童“生产”的经济模式，不仅要关注家庭之间的差异，还要关注家庭内部的差异。
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.