@techreport{Lehmann2012Explaining,
abstract = {The critical role of prenatal and early childhood conditions on adult outcomes has been the focus of a rich body of research. In this paper, we examine various pre- and postnatal investments as possible sources behind the birth order effect - significant differences in the educational and labor market outcomes across children of varying birth orders. Taking advantage of a rich set of information on in utero and early childhood conditions in the Children of the NLSY79, we find that, within the same household, siblings of higher birth order experience a lower reduction in cigarette usage during pregnancy, are breastfed less often, and experience less cognitive stimulation and emotional support at ages 0 to 1. Next, we test for the presence of birth order effects in early cognitive and non-cognitive test scores and examine whether these differences can be explained by variations in prenatal and early childhood investments. Although there exists a significant negative relationship between birth order and early cognitive/non-cognitive test scores, the size and the significance of the negative birth order effects in test scores and educational attainment are robust to controlling for variations in early childhood factors.},
address = {Bonn},
author = {Jee-Yeon K. Lehmann and Ana Nuevo-Chiquero and Marian Vidal-Fern\'{a}ndez},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {J10; J13; I24; 330; birth order; early test scores; parental investment; prenatal investment; postnatal investment; early childhood investment; fetal origins hypothesis; cognitive outcomes; non-cognitive outcomes; Schwangerschaft; Kinderbetreuung; Fr\"{u}hkindliche Bildung; Kinder; Kognition; USA},
language = {eng},
number = {6755},
publisher = {IZA},
title = {Explaining the birth order effect: The role of prenatal and early childhood investments},
type = {Discussion Paper series, Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/62496},
year = {2012}
}
