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Title: Birth Order Differences in Early Inputs and Outcomes
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Lehmann, Jee-Yeon K.
Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana
Vidal-Fernández, Marian
Birth Order Differences in Early Inputs and Outcomes
Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Houston, March 2013
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: University of Houston
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Birth Order; Breastfeeding; Educational Attainment; Home Environment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Motor and Social Development (MSD); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Racial Differences; Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We examine within-family differences in pre- and early postnatal investments as potential explanations for the “birth order effect” – significant differences in the educational and labor market outcomes across children of varying birth orders. Taking advantage of the rich 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/non-cognitive test scores and educational attainment and examine whether these differences can be explained by variations in prenatal and early childhood inputs. While we do find a significant negative relationship between birth order and early test scores as well as educational attainment, these effects are robust to controlling for variations in early childhood factors.
Bibliography Citation
Lehmann, Jee-Yeon K., Ana Nuevo-Chiquero and Marian Vidal-Fernández. "Birth Order Differences in Early Inputs and Outcomes." Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Houston, March 2013.