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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
We investigate the impact of family co-residence structure and allocation of major childcare responsibility across generations on child cognitive development. Using data from China, we find that children living in multigenerational families with grandparents as the main caregiver generally perform better in cognitive tests, while children who live only with their parents and children who live only with their grandparents (the so-called left-behind children) do not show a significant difference in their cognitive performance. Moreover, we find that the effect of family environment differs between boys and girls. We also find suggestive evidence that family environment affects child cognitive development through several behavioural factors indicative of intrafamily interactions.