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We investigate the impact of son preferences in India on gender inequalities in education. We distinguish the impact of preferential treatment of boys from the impact of gender-biased fertility strategies (gender-specific fertility stopping rules and sex-selective abortions). Results show strong impacts of gender-biased fertility strategies on education differences between girls and boys. Preferential treatment of boys has a more limited impact on gender differences. Further, results suggest that gender-biased fertility strategies create gender inequalities in education both because girls and boys end up in systematically different families and because of gender-inequalities in pecuniary investment within families. The extra advantage of the eldest son within the family is small. D13, I20, J16, O15

We investigate within-family inequalities in human capital accumulation in India. We consider both indicators of the child's current stock of human capital and of investment into their continued human capital accumulation, distinguishing between time investments and pecuniary investment into school quality. We develop a theoretical framework that demonstrates how credit constraints and opportunity cost of child time matter differently for time investments and pecuniary investments into human capital. We employ a within family model using sibship fixed effects, and find mostly negative birth order effects, i.e. earlier born children are better off. This is more in line with previous results from developed countries rather than from developing countries. However, for time investments, which are influenced by the opportunity cost of child time, birth order effects are more in line with what has previously been found in developing countries. Hence, we demonstrate that patterns of birth order effects differ by measure of human capital. JEL:D13, I20, J16, O15 An earlier version of this report was published May 2017: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/52351

In this paper we investigate birth order and gender effects on the development of children’s human capital in India. We investigate both indicators of the child’s current stock of human capital and of investment into their continued human capital accumulation, distinguishing between time investments and pecuniary investment into school quality. Our results show that in India, birth order effects are mostly negative. More specifically, birth order effects are negative for indicators of children's accumulated human capital stock and for indicators of pecuniary investments into school quality. These results are more in line with previous results from developed countries than from developing countries. However, for time investments, which are influenced by the opportunity cost of child time, birth order effects are positive. Gender aspects are also important. Girls are disadvantaged within families, and oldest son preferences can explain much of the within-household inequalities which we observe. JEL:D13, I20, J16, O15 A later version of this report was published December 2018: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/58462