Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272572 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15945
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper estimates family spillovers in high school major choice in Sweden, where admission to oversubscribed majors is determined based on GPA. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find large sibling and intergenerational spillovers that depend on the gender mix of a dyad. Same-gender siblings copy one another, while younger brothers recoil from older sister's choices. Fathers and mothers influence sons, but not their daughters, except when a mother majors in the male-dominated program of Engineering. Back of the envelope calculations reveal these within family spillovers have sizable implications for the gender composition of majors.
Subjects: 
intergenerational spillovers
sibling spillovers
high school majors
gender composition of majors
JEL: 
I21
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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