Working Paper: NBER ID: w23062
Authors: Sandra E. Black; Sanni Breining; David N. Figlio; Jonathan Guryan; Krzysztof Karbownik; Helena Skyt Nielsen; Jeffrey Roth; Marianne Simonsen
Abstract: It is notoriously difficult to identify peer effects within the family, because of the common shocks and reflection problems. We make use of a novel identification strategy and unique data in order to gain some purchase on this problem. We employ data from the universe of children born in Florida between 1994 and 2002 and in Denmark between 1990 and 2001, which we match to school and medical records. To address the identification problem, we examine the effects of having a sibling with a disability. Utilizing three-plus-child families, we employ a differences-in-differences research design which makes use of the fact that birth order influences the amount of time which a child spends in early childhood with their siblings, disabled or not. We observe consistent\nevidence in both locations that the second child in a family is differentially affected when the third child is disabled. We also provide evidence which suggests that the sibling spillovers are working at least in part through the relative exposure to parental time and financial resources.
Keywords: Sibling spillovers; Disability; Educational outcomes; Differences-in-differences
JEL Codes: I0; J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Having a disabled sibling (J14) | Educational outcomes of older siblings (I24) |
| Third child is disabled (J14) | Second-born children score lower on standardized tests (I21) |
| Having a disabled sibling (J14) | Differential exposure to parental time and financial resources (I24) |
| Differential exposure to parental time and financial resources (I24) | Educational outcomes of older siblings (I24) |