Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
We analyse whether traditional sharing norms within kinship networks affect education decisions of poor black households in KwaZulu-Natal. Theory predicts that the size of the kinship network ambiguously impacts on the incentive to invest in human capital (due to opposing 'empathy' and 'free-rider' effects). Our empirical analysis, based on a range of different estimators, suggests the latter effect dominates: forced solidarity within the network discourages investments in human capital.