Comparison of educational performance between the only children and children in two-child families

Abstract

This paper estimates the causal effect of only-child status on educational performance among junior high school students from only-child and two-child families in China. It uses the dataset of the China Education Panel Survey 2013–14. The results show that the only children's educational outcomes are significantly low than students from two-child families. Only children's willpower and extraversion are weaker than children's from two-child families. The scale economies effect is strong and the resource dilution effect is weak when sibling size is small.