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The implications of family size and birth order for test scores and behavioral development

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  • Silles, Mary A.

Abstract

This article, using longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study, presents new evidence on the effects of family size and birth order on test scores and behavioral development at age 7, 11 and 16. Sibling size is shown to have an adverse causal effect on test scores and behavioral development. For any given family size, first-borns ultimately obtain higher test scores than middle-born or last-born children. First-borns and last-borns tend to be better behaved at school than middle-borns, though last-borns have no test score advantage.

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  • Silles, Mary A., 2010. "The implications of family size and birth order for test scores and behavioral development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 795-803, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:29:y:2010:i:5:p:795-803
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    3. Briole, Simon & Le Forner, Hélène & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2020. "Children’s socio-emotional skills: Is there a quantity–quality trade-off?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Sandra E. Black & Erik Grönqvist & Björn Öckert, 2018. "Born to Lead? The Effect of Birth Order on Noncognitive Abilities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 274-286, May.
    5. Peng, Fei & Anwar, Sajid & Kang, Lili, 2022. "Number of siblings, access to treated water and returns to education in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 526-538.
    6. Deniz Gevrek & Z Eylem Gevrek & Cahit Guven, 2015. "Benefits of Education at the Intensive Margin: Childhood Academic Performance and Adult Outcomes among American Immigrants," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 41(3), pages 298-328, June.
    7. Mats Lillehagen & Martin Arstad Isungset, 2020. "New Partner, New Order? Multipartnered Fertility and Birth Order Effects on Educational Achievement," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1625-1646, October.
    8. Mookerjee, Mehreen & Ojha, Manini & Roy, Sanket, 2023. "Family planning practices: Examining the link between contraception and child health," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Bredl, Sebastian, 2012. "Child Quality and Child Quantity: Evidence from Bolivian Household Surveys," VfS Annual Conference 2012 (Goettingen): New Approaches and Challenges for the Labor Market of the 21st Century 62065, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Heather Congdon Fors & Annika Lindskog, 2023. "Within‐family inequalities in human capital accumulation in India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 3-28, February.
    11. Kang, Lili & Peng, Fei, 2012. "Siblings, public facilities and education returns in China," MPRA Paper 38922, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Silles, Mary A., 2011. "The intergenerational effects of parental schooling on the cognitive and non-cognitive development of children," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 258-268, April.
    13. Cools, Angela & Grooms, Jared & Karbownik, Krzysztof & O'Keefe, Siobhan & Price, Joseph & Wray, Anthony, 2024. "Birth Order in the Very Long-Run: Estimating Firstborn Premiums between 1850 and 1940," IZA Discussion Papers 16953, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Vinish Shrestha & Rashesh Shrestha, 2017. "Intergenerational effect of education reform: mother's education and children's human capital in Nepal," Working Papers 2017-05, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2017.
    15. Chunhan Huang & Junyun Shi & Xiaodong Zeng, 2023. "Personality Traits, Student-Teacher Relationships and Boys’ Academic Crisis in China: Evidence From the Least Developed Regions," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    16. Kieron J. Barclay & Martin Hällsten & Mikko Myrskylä, 2016. "Birth order and college major in Sweden," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2016-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

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