Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/33423 
Year of Publication: 
2005
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 1789
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Whether siblings of specific birth order perform differently has been a longstanding open empirical question. We use the family tree structure of the PSID to examine two claims found in the literature: whether being early in the birth order implies a distinct educational advantage, and whether there exists, within large families, a pattern of falling then rising attainment with respect to birth order, to the point where it becomes best to be last-born. Drawing from OLS and family fixed effects estimations, we find that being first-born confers a significant educational advantage that persists when considering earnings; being last-born confers none.
Subjects: 
birth order
family size
education
JEL: 
I2
J1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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