Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46081 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5153
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Do parents invest more or less in their high ability children? We provide new evidence on this question by comparing observed ability differences and observed investment differences between siblings in the NLSY. To overcome endogeneity issues we use sibling differences in handedness as an instrument for cognitive ability differences, since handedness is a strong determinant of cognitive ability. We find that parents invest more in high ability children, with a one standard deviation increase in child cognitive ability increasing parental investments by approximately one-third of a standard deviation. Consequently, differences in child cognitive ability are enhanced by differential parental investments. This finding has important implications for education policy.
Subjects: 
children
cognitive ability
parental investment
handedness
JEL: 
D13
J1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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