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The effect of family size on education: new evidence from China's one-child policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2019

Laura M. Argys  and
Susan L. Averett
Laura M. Argys
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, 80204, USA Institute for Research in Labor-IZA, Bonn, Germany
Susan L. Averett*
Affiliation:
Institute for Research in Labor-IZA, Bonn, Germany Department of Economics, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: Averetts@lafayette.edu
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Abstract

Economists theorize that the inverse relationship between income and family size reflects a trade-off between child quality and quantity. Testing this hypothesis requires addressing the simultaneity of the quality and quantity decisions. The unanticipated birth of twins and sex composition of the first two children have been used as the exogenous variation in family size with mixed results. We exploit the One-Child Policy (OCP) in China, which exogenously reduced fertility, and examine how the OCP affected the education of Chinese migrants to the USA. Using the American Community Survey and a difference-in-differences strategy, we find higher levels of education for Chinese migrants born after the OCP compared with their counterparts from other East Asian countries. This finding provides additional support for the existence of a quality-quantity trade-off.

Keywords

Chinaeducationmigrantsone-child-policy

JEL classification

I20: General F22: International Migration J13: Fertility • Family Planning • Child Care • Children • Youth
Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Demographic Economics , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 21 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain 2019 

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