Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/242401 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2021: Climate Economics
Publisher: 
ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Kiel, Hamburg
Abstract: 
Does the number of future anticipated children affect educational investment in parents-to-be? In theory, anticipated children can affect the returns to education, the resources available for family consumption, and the incentives for pre-marital investment. Changes in the eligibility criteria for second-child permits during the one-child policy in China provide province-, time- and group-specific variation in the cost of having a second child. I first show that second-child permits have a strong positive effect on the likelihood of having a second child. I then investigate changes in the eligibility rules when individuals are about the finish middle school. I find that fulfilling an eligibility criterion at secondary school age increases the likelihood of enrolling in senior middle school. The effect is concentrated among those planning with only one child when not eligible, indicating that anticipating another child increases educational investment. The estimates are more precise for men who do not seem to suffer from a child penalty in the labor market and usually have a higher income than their wives, suggesting that the high costs of raising children can be a reason for increased educational investment.
Subjects: 
Fertility
Schooling Investment
Family Planning
China
JEL: 
I25
I26
J13
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

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