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The effect of a sibling’s gender on earnings and family formation

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  • Peter, Noemi
  • Lundborg, Petter
  • Mikkelsen, Sara
  • Webbink, Dinand
Abstract
We examine how the gender of a sibling affects labor market outcomes and family formation. Identification is complicated by parental preferences: if parents prefer certain sex compositions over others, children’ s gender affects not only the outcomes of other children but also the existence of potential additional children. We employ two empirical strategies that both address this problem. First, we use a large sample of singletons to estimate whether first-borns are affected by the gender of their second-born sibling. Second, we look at a sample of dizygotic (i.e. non-identical) twins. We find that a same-sex sibling increases men’s earnings and family formation outcomes (marriage and fertility), as compared to an opposite-sex sibling. The results for women are similar but the effects are smaller in magnitude and less robust. We argue that the income result for men could be driven by competition between brothers, as we find that men with brothers choose higher paying occupations. For women, we find suggestive evidence that the income premium may come partly from lower unemployment, which could be due to shared job search networks. The effects on family formation might stem from differential parental treatment for men, and from competition between sisters for women.

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  • Peter, Noemi & Lundborg, Petter & Mikkelsen, Sara & Webbink, Dinand, 2018. "The effect of a sibling’s gender on earnings and family formation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 61-78.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:54:y:2018:i:c:p:61-78
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2018.06.006
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    3. Golsteyn, Bart H.H. & Magnée, Cécile A.J., 2020. "Does sibling gender affect personality traits?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Daniel Fellman & Richard Bränström & Agneta Herlitz, 2021. "Revisiting a basic question: does growing up in either female or male environment affect sex differences in academic strengths and occupational choices?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Yuli Ye & Qinying He & Qiang Li & Lian An, 2024. "The brother's penalty: Boy preference and girls' health in rural China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1748-1771, August.
    6. Delprato, Marcos, 2022. "Educational gender gap in sub-Saharan Africa: Does the estimation method matter? A comparison using a sample of opposite sex twins," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Karin Hoisl & Hans Christian Kongsted & Myriam Mariani, 2023. "Lost Marie Curies: Parental Impact on the Probability of Becoming an Inventor," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1714-1738, March.
    8. Collins, Matthew, 2022. "Sibling Gender, Inheritance Customs and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Matrilineal and Patrilineal Societies," Working Papers 2022:5, Lund University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sibling gender; Sex composition; Twins; Income; Fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J00 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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