Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Discussion Paper Series in Economics,
Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics

No 12/2011: Is teenage motherhood contagious? Evidence from a Natural Experiment.

Karin Monstad (), Carol Propper () and Kjell G. Salvanes ()
Additional contact information
Karin Monstad: University of Bergen, Postal: Department of Economics, University of Bergen, Norway
Carol Propper: University of Bristol, Postal: Department of Economics, Bristol University, U.K.
Kjell G. Salvanes: Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Postal: NHH , Department of Economics, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway

Abstract: There is relatively little research on peer effects in teenage motherhood despite the fact that peer effects, and in particular social interaction within the family, are likely to be important. We estimate the impact of an elder sister’s teenage fertility on the teenage childbearing of their younger sister. To identify the peer effect we utilize an educational reform that impacted on the elder sister’s teenage fertility. Our main result is that within families, teen births tend to be contagious and the effect is larger where siblings are close in age and for women from low resource households.

Keywords: Teenage pregnancy; spillover effects; education.

JEL-codes: I21; J13; J24

22 pages, July 5, 2011

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