Blessed are the first: The long-term effect of birth order on trust

Pierluigi Conzo and Roberto Zotti

Economics & Human Biology, 2020, vol. 39, issue C

Abstract: Acknowledging childhood as a crucial period for the formation of social preferences, we investigate whether the order of birth predicts trust in adult life. We find that laterborns trust on average 5% less than their older siblings, independently from personality traits, family ties, risk aversion and parental inputs. Family random- and fixed-effects estimates suggest that the variation in trust is mostly explained by within- rather than between-family characteristics. The effect of birth order is mediated by education outcomes only for women, while it is moderated by mother’s education for the entire sample, thereby leading to relevant policy implications.

Keywords: Trust; Birth order; Parental investment; Personality traits; Risk aversion; Family ties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 D10 J10 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Working Paper: Blessed are the first: The long-term effect of birth order on trust (2018)
Working Paper: Blessed are the first: The long-term effect of birth order on trust (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:39:y:2020:i:c:s1570677x20301751

DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100905

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