The Effect of Opposite Sex Siblings on Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills in Early Childhood

Laura Cyron (), Guido Schwerdt and Martina Viarengo
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Guido Schwerdt: Asian Development Bank Institute

No 627, ADBI Working Papers from Asian Development Bank Institute

Abstract: We investigate the effect of having opposite sex siblings on cognitive and noncognitive skills of children in the United States at the onset of formal education. Our identification strategy rests on the assumption that, conditional on covariates, the sibling sex composition of the two firstborn children in a family is arguably exogenous. With regard to cognitive skills, learning skills, and self-control measured in kindergarten, we find that boys benefit from having a sister, while there is no effect for girls. We also find evidence for the effect fading out as early as first grade.

Keywords: sibling gender effects; gender peer effects; education; cognitive skills; noncognitive skills; early childhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J13 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11 pages
Date: 2016-12-31
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-gen, nep-neu and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The effect of opposite sex siblings on cognitive and noncognitive skills in early childhood (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0627

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