O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Effects of Having a Sibling on Geographic Mobility and Labour Market Outcomes

C-Tier
Journal: Economica
Year: 2009
Volume: 76
Issue: 303
Pages: 528-556

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper formulates a model to explain how parental care responsibilities and family structure interact in affecting children's mobility characteristics. Our main result is that the mobility of young adults crucially depends on the presence of a sibling. Siblings compete in location and employment decisions to direct parental care decisions towards their preferred outcome. Only children are not exposed to this kind of competition. This causes an equilibrium in which siblings exhibit higher mobility than only children, and also have better labour market outcomes. Using data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel, we find evidence that confirms these patterns.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:econom:v:76:y:2009:i:303:p:528-556
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29