The nineteenth-century American family experienced tremendous demographic, economic, and institutional changes. By … using birth order effects as a proxy for family environment, and linked census data on men born between 1835 and 1910, we … study how the family's role in human capital production evolved over this period. We find firstborn premiums for …

social preferences. We find that second born children are typically less patient, less risk averse, and more trusting …. However, siblings' sex composition interacts importantly with birth order effects. Second born children are more risk taking …

first child raised fertility and increased the probability that the family was living without a father. We find that for our … associated with lower fertility, particularly for natives. Thus, by the 2008-2013 period, any apparent son preference in … fertility decisions appears to have been outweighed by factors such as cost concerns in raising girls or increased female …

household outcomes. We find that in cities with a larger kindergarten exposure, families significantly reduced fertility, with …. Households reduced fertility because kindergarten attendance increased returns to education, but it also led to higher … opportunity costs for raising children. Indeed, we show that children exposed to kindergartens were less likely to work during …

asymmetric equilibrium featuring household specialization can arise. Examples where the asymmetric equilibrium is welfare …

. While there was no change in the overall fertility rate, marital fertility declined, and there was an increase in nonmarital … relative prospects of men may reduce their marriage-market value and affect marital and fertility behavior. …

between siblings' earnings reflect shared community and family background. These earnings relationships capture important …

We study the consequences of mothers' and fathers' job loss for parents, families, and children. Rich Swedish register … affected in terms of parental health, labor market outcomes and separations. Limited effects on family disposable income … with universal health care and free education is likely to be protective for children. …

tend to be well off themselves. We investigate the role of family background in determining children's wealth accumulation … in one type of family versus another. Our findings show that family background matters significantly for children …Strong intergenerational associations in wealth have fueled a longstanding debate over why children of wealthy parents …