First Among Equals? How Birth Order Shapes Child Development

Mikkel Aagaard Houmark

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: I study how birth order affects children’s academic achievement, personality, and well-being in elementary school. Earlier-born children not only perform better in reading and mathematics throughout elementary school, but they are also more conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable, and report higher well-being. Reading ability and conscientiousness – crucial skills for success – appear particularly sensitive to the early childhood environment. These effects are remarkably stable across different groups. I also provide new evidence on the quantity-quality trade-off by showing that family size has a negative effect on earlierborn siblings which enlarges the birth order effect by disproportionately affecting younger siblings.

Keywords: Skill Formation; Parental Investments; Early Childhood; Sensitive Period; Personality; Academic Achievement; Well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 I31 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-12-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:119325

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