Geography of the Family

We study the residential choice of siblings who are altruistic towards their parents. If some sibling moves further away, he or she can shift some of the burden of taking care of the parents to his or her siblings. Thus, siblings have a strategic incentive to move away that only children do not have. Siblings locate further away from parents that only children do not have. Siblings locate further away from parents than only children do, and, for some preferences, asymmetric location patterns emerge. These theoretical predictions are also confirmed by empirical data.