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O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers in College Enrollment

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  • Joshua Goodman
  • Michael Hurwitz
  • Christine Mulhern
  • Jonathan Smith
Abstract
We study within-family spillovers in college enrollment to show college-going behavior is transmissible between peers. Because siblings’ test scores are weakly correlated, we exploit college-specific admissions thresholds that directly affect older but not younger siblings’ college options. Older siblings’ admissibility substantially increases their own four-year college enrollment rate and quality of college attended. Their improved college choices in turn raise younger siblings’ college enrollment rate and quality of college chosen, particularly for families with low predicted probabilities of college enrollment. Some younger siblings follow their older sibling to the same campus but many upgrade by choosing other colleges. The observed spillovers are not well-explained by price, income, proximity or legacy effects, but are most consistent with older siblings transmitting otherwise unavailable information about the college experience and its potential returns. The importance of such personally salient information may partly explain persistent differences in college-going rates by income, geography and other characteristics that define a community.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Christine Mulhern & Jonathan Smith, 2019. "O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers in College Enrollment," NBER Working Papers 26502, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26502
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    Cited by:

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    3. Falk, Armin & Kosse, Fabian & Pinger, Pia, 2020. "Mentoring and Schooling Decisions: Causal Evidence," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 247, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    4. Christopher Neilson & Adam Altmejd & Andres Barrios-Fernandez & Marin Drlje & Dejan Kovac, 2019. "Siblings' Effects on College and Major Choices: Evidence from Chile, Croatia and Sweden," Working Papers 633, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    5. Assaad, Ragui & Aydemir, Abdurrahman B. & Dayioglu-Tayfur, Meltem & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2023. "Wage Returns to Human Capital Resulting from an Extra Year of Primary School: Evidence from Egypt," IZA Discussion Papers 16037, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. García, Gustavo Antonio & Ramírez-Hassan, Andrés & Saravia, Estefanía & Vargas, Raquel & Duque, Juan Fernando & Londoño, Daniel, 2022. "Impacto del programa de subsidios en el transporte escolar en Medellín (Colombia) como herramientas para reducir la exclusión social," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12013, Inter-American Development Bank.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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