published as 'Parental Separation and Children's Educational Attainment: A Siblings Analysis on Swedish Register Data' in: Economica, 2006, 73 (292), 605-624
This article analyzes whether the commonly found negative relationship between parental
separation in childhood and educational outcomes is causal or mainly due to selection. We
use data on about 100,000 Swedish full biological siblings, born in 1951-64, and perform
cross-section and sibling-difference estimations. Outcomes are measured as educational
attainment in 1996. Our cross-section analysis show the expected negative and significant
relationship, while the relationship is not significant, though precisely estimated, in the siblingdifference
analysis. This finding was robust to the sensitivity tests performed and is
consistent with selection, rather than causation, being the explanation for the negative
relationship.
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