New Evidence of the Causal Effect of Family Size on Child Quality in a Developing Country
利用巴西双胞胎数据估计家庭规模对儿童劳动和教育的影响，发现家庭规模增大会增加儿童劳动参与、降低教育成果，且贫困家庭的信贷和时间约束可能是原因。
This paper presents new evidence of the causal effect of family size on child quality in a developing-country context. We estimate the impact of family size on child labor and educational outcomes among Brazilian children and young adults by exploring the exogenous variation of family size driven by the presence of twins in the family. Using the Brazilian Census data for 1991, we find that the exogenous increase in family size is positively related to labor force participation for boys and girls and to household chores for young women. We also find negative effects on educational outcomes for boys and girls and negative impacts on human capital formation for young female adults. Moreover, we obtain suggestive evidence that credit and time constraints faced by poor families may explain the findings.