Working Paper: NBER ID: w18279
Authors: Jason Fletcher; Nicole L. Hair; Barbara L. Wolfe
Abstract: Using a sample of sibling pairs from the PSID-CDS, we examine the effects of sibling health status on early educational outcomes. We find that sibling developmental disability and externalizing behavior ar associated with reductions in math and language achievement Estimated spillovers for developmental disability are large and robust to both a rich set of family-level controls and a fixed effects analysis that exploits the availability of in-sample cousins. Our results suggest the importance of siblings in the determination of children's human capital as well as the potential for typically uncounted benefits to improving children's health through family multiplier effects
Keywords: Sibling spillover effects; Developmental disabilities; Externalizing behavior; Educational outcomes; Human capital accumulation
JEL Codes: I12; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| sibling health status (I14) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| having a sibling with a developmental disability (J12) | math achievement (C02) |
| having a sibling with a developmental disability (J12) | language achievement (I24) |
| sibling externalizing behaviors (C92) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| sibling externalizing behaviors (C92) | math achievement (C02) |
| sibling externalizing behaviors (C92) | language achievement (I24) |
| sibling characteristics (C92) | spillover effects on educational outcomes (I24) |