Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/ifauwp/2017_016.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Birth Order and Child Health

Author

Listed:
  • Björkegren, Evelina

    (Uppsala University, UCLS)

  • Svaleryd, Helena

    (Uppsala University, Linneaeus University, UCLS, UCFS)

Abstract
Previous research has shown that birth order affects outcomes such as educational achievements, IQ and earnings. The mechanisms behind these effects are, however, still largely unknown. In this paper, we examine birth-order effects on health, and whether health at young age could be a transmission channel for birth-order effects observed later in life. Our results show that firstborns have worse health at birth. This disadvantage is reversed in early age and later-born siblings are more likely to be hospitalized for injuries and avoidable conditions, which could be related to less parental attention. In adolescence and as young adults, younger siblings are more likely to be of poor mental health and to be admitted to hospital for alcohol induced health conditions. We also critically test for reverse causality by estimating fertility responses to the health of existing children. We conclude that the effects on health are not severely biased; however, the large negative birth-order effects on infant mortality are partly due to endogenous fertility responses. Overall our results suggest that birth order effects are due to differential parental investment because parents’ time and resources are limited.

Suggested Citation

  • Björkegren, Evelina & Svaleryd, Helena, 2017. "Birth Order and Child Health," Working Paper Series 2017:16, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2017_016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ifau.se/globalassets/pdf/se/2017/wp2017-16-birth_order_and_child_health.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2005. "The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Children's Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 669-700.
    2. Monfardini, Chiara & See, Sarah Grace, 2012. "Birth Order and Child Outcomes: Does Maternal Quality Time Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 6825, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2011. "Older and Wiser? Birth Order and IQ of Young Men," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 57(1), pages 103-120, March.
    4. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J. & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2016. "Healthy(?), wealthy, and wise: Birth order and adult health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 27-45.
    5. Sanni Breining & Joseph Doyle & David N. Figlio & Krzysztof Karbownik & Jeffrey Roth, 2020. "Birth Order and Delinquency: Evidence from Denmark and Florida," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 95-142.
    6. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    7. Susan Averett & Laura Argys & Daniel Rees, 2011. "Older siblings and adolescent risky behavior: does parenting play a role?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(3), pages 957-978, July.
    8. Anne Ardila Brenøe & Ramona Molitor, 2015. "Birth Order and Health of Newborns: What Can We Learn from Danish Registry Data?," Working Papers 161, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    9. V. Hotz & Juan Pantano, 2015. "Strategic parenting, birth order, and school performance," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 911-936, October.
    10. Case, Anne & Fertig, Angela & Paxson, Christina, 2005. "The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 365-389, March.
    11. Sandra E Black & Sanni Breining & David N Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Jeffrey Roth & Marianne Simonsen, 2021. "Sibling Spillovers [Endowments at birth and parents’ investment in children]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 101-128.
      • Sandra E. Black & Sanni Breining & David N. Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Jeffrey Roth & Marianne Simonsen & Helena Skyt Nielsen, 2017. "Sibling Spillovers," CESifo Working Paper Series 6348, CESifo.
      • Sandra E. Black & Sanni Breining & David N. Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Jeffrey Roth & Marianne Simonsen, 2017. "Sibling Spillovers," NBER Working Papers 23062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Lindahl, Mikael & Lundberg, Evelina & Palme, Mårten & Simeonova, Emilia, 2016. "Parental Influences on Health and Longevity: Lessons from a Large Sample of Adoptees," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2016:3, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    13. James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring.
    14. Anne Ardila Brenoee & Ramona Molitor, 2015. "Birth Order and Health of Newborns: What Can We Learn from Danish Registry Data?," CINCH Working Paper Series 1513, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Oct 2015.
    15. Laura M. Argys & Daniel I. Rees & Susan L. Averett & Benjama Witoonchart, 2006. "Birth Order and Risky Adolescent Behavior," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(2), pages 215-233, April.
    16. Bijur, Polly E. & Golding, Jean & Kurzon, Matthew, 1988. "Childhood accidents, family size and birth order," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 26(8), pages 839-843, January.
    17. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile & Phongsack Manivong & Leslie L. Roos, 2010. "Child Health and Young Adult Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    18. Jee-Yeon K. Lehmann & Ana Nuevo-Chiquero & Marian Vidal-Fernandez, 2018. "The Early Origins of Birth Order Differences in Children’s Outcomes and Parental Behavior," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 53(1), pages 123-156.
    19. Joseph Price, 2008. "Parent-Child Quality Time: Does Birth Order Matter?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(1).
    20. Barclay, Kieron & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2014. "Birth order and physical fitness in early adulthood: Evidence from Swedish military conscription data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 141-148.
    21. Kieron Barclay & Martin Kolk, 2015. "Birth Order and Mortality: A Population-Based Cohort Study," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(2), pages 613-639, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ginja, Rita & Jans, Jenny & Karimi, Arizo, 2017. "Parental Investments in Early Life and Child Outcomes. Evidence from Swedish Parental Leave Rules," Working Papers in Economics 17/17, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    2. Wanchuan Lin & Juan Pantano & Shuqiao Sun, 2020. "Birth order and unwanted fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 413-440, April.
    3. Taghizadeh, Jonas Larsson, 2020. "Effects of school closures on displaced students and future cohorts," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Taghizadeh, Jonas Larsson, 2020. "Are students in receiving schools hurt by the closing of low-Performing schools? Effects of school closures on receiving schools in Sweden 2000–2016," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Pruckner, Gerald J. & Schneeweis, Nicole & Schober, Thomas & Zweimüller, Martina, 2021. "Birth order, parental health investment, and health in childhood," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2020. "Parental Leave Benefits, Household Labor Supply, and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 261-320.
    7. Anne Ardila Brenøe & Ramona Molitor, 2018. "Birth order and health of newborns," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 363-395, April.
    8. Björkegren, Evelina, 2018. "Neighborhoods and youth health: Everybody needs good neighbors?," Working Paper Series 2018:10, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sandra E. Black & Erik Grönqvist & Björn Öckert, 2018. "Born to Lead? The Effect of Birth Order on Noncognitive Abilities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 274-286, May.
    2. Pruckner, Gerald J. & Schneeweis, Nicole & Schober, Thomas & Zweimüller, Martina, 2021. "Birth order, parental health investment, and health in childhood," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Wanchuan Lin & Juan Pantano & Shuqiao Sun, 2020. "Birth order and unwanted fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 413-440, April.
    4. Björkegren, Evelina & Svaleryd, Helena, 2023. "Birth order and health disparities throughout the life course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    5. Lena Detlefsen & Andreas Friedl & Katharina Lima Miranda & Ulrich Schmidt & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "Are economic preferences shaped by the family context? The relation of birth order and siblings’ gender composition to economic preferences," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 1-31, August.
    6. Mats Lillehagen & Martin Arstad Isungset, 2020. "New Partner, New Order? Multipartnered Fertility and Birth Order Effects on Educational Achievement," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1625-1646, October.
    7. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J. & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2016. "Healthy(?), wealthy, and wise: Birth order and adult health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 27-45.
    8. Conzo, Pierluigi & Zotti, Roberto, 2020. "Blessed are the first: The long-term effect of birth order on trust," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    9. Handy, Christopher & Shester, Katharine, 2020. "The Effect of Birth Order on Educational Attainment among the Baby Boom Generation," MPRA Paper 102426, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Zhang, Shumeng & Guo, Naijia & Zhang, Junsen, 2023. "Reexamining the effect of birth order on cognitive and non-cognitive abilities: New evidence from China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Kim, Jun Hyung & Wang, Shaoda, 2021. "Birth Order Effects, Parenting Style, and Son Preference," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1007, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Mendolia, Silvia & Stavrunova, Olena & Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, 2024. "Birth Order Effects on Education: Insights from Low- And Middle-Income Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 17131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Houmark, Mikkel Aagaard, 2023. "First Among Equals? How Birth Order Shapes Child Development," MPRA Paper 119325, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Christopher Handy & Katharine L. Shester, 2022. "Birth order and the decline in college completion among the baby boom generation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(4), pages 1626-1643, October.
    15. Enkelejda Havari & Marco Savegnago, 2022. "The intergenerational effects of birth order on education," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 349-377, January.
    16. Detlefsen, Lena & Friedl, Andreas & Lima de Miranda, Katharina & Schmidt, Ulrich & Sutter, Matthias, 2018. "Are Economic Preferences Shaped by the Family Context? The Impact of Birth Order and Siblings' Sex Composition on Economic Preferences," IZA Discussion Papers 11949, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Anne Ardila Brenøe & Ramona Molitor, 2018. "Birth order and health of newborns," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 363-395, April.
    18. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2020. "Parental Leave Benefits, Household Labor Supply, and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 261-320.
    19. Ginja, Rita & Jans, Jenny & Karimi, Arizo, 2017. "Parental Investments in Early Life and Child Outcomes. Evidence from Swedish Parental Leave Rules," Working Papers in Economics 17/17, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    20. Leandro Carvalho, 2012. "Childhood Circumstances and the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 913-938, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    birth order; Child Health; parental behaviour; endogenous fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2017_016. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ali Ghooloo (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifagvse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.