Several studies have estimated the intergenerational spillover effects of education on a range of child outcomes e.g. birth outcomes (Currie and Moretti, 2003), education (Black, Devereux, and Salvanes, 2005; Oreopoulos et. al, 2006), and test scores (Rosenzweig and Wolpin, 1994) among others. Yet there is very little research on intra-household education spillovers other than those flowing from parents’ education to children’s outcomes. This study attempts to fill this gap in the existing literature by investigating spillovers from education on the human capital production of younger siblings. I analyze the impact of an improvement in the quality of school attended by an older sibling on the learning and educational achievement of younger siblings in the U.S.

The quality of the school attended by an older sibling is an important input into his/her human capital, and therefore has the potential to meaningfully impact the learning of younger siblings. Younger siblings may benefit from interaction with an older sibling with higher human capital. They might get more frequent and better help on homework. There can be role model effects, gains in information, and reduction in psychic costs associated with navigating more advanced grades in school. An improvement in school quality for an older sibling may lead to a potential reallocation of household production among siblings, and reduction in time spent interacting with the older sibling that may adversely impact the learning of younger siblings. Given the multiple channels through which the older sibling's school quality can impact younger siblings, the net impact is unclear and must be empirically determined.

This study uses the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district (CMS) lottery as an exogenous shock to the quality of schools attended by applicant children to analyze spillover effects on their younger siblings. In 2002, CMS implemented an open enrollment public school choice program in which slots at oversubscribed schools were assigned by random lottery. Deming (2011) documents gains on several measures of school quality for lottery winners, including average peer test scores, average peer behavioral outcomes, and teacher quality. I will use this randomized variation in school quality to study impacts on younger siblings' test scores and grade completion. The North Carolina data also includes data on absences and suspensions which will be analyzed to determine whether younger siblings' effort and behavioral outcomes are affected.

By analyzing within-family spillover effects of school quality, this study attempts to improve our understanding of the inputs into human capital production and how family context interacts with schooling to create learning. If the project yields results of beneficial spillovers from the quality of school attended by an older sibling on younger sibling learning, these findings would suggest a significant role of public schools in reinforcing social inequalities. This would also suggest, however, that the potential for remediation through public schools, if effectively tapped, is immense because we can positively impact students directly and have important beneficial externalities on the students’ younger siblings.

*This project is funded by a research grant through the Spencer Foundation