子女出生顺序对家庭资源分配的影响--基于家庭教育投入跨期回报模型

he Impact of Birth Order on Family Resource Allocation--Based on the Household Time-discounted Economic Return Model

随着“全面两孩”政策的颁布,多子女家庭重新回归历史舞台。由于家庭资源的有限性,未成年时期兄弟姐妹之间存在着潜在竞争关系,而父母则是资源分配的主导者。家庭内部的资源分配关系短期内影响子女受教育水平,长期来看,对中国人力资本发展有着深远影响。本文利用2014年中国健康与养老追踪调查生命历程调查(CHARLS)数据,针对子女出生顺序对家庭资源分配的作用进行系统研究,并构建家庭教育投入跨期回报模型对头胎学历优势现象进行阐释。理论模型发现兄弟姐妹之间存在资源竞争关系,对一个孩子的教育投资增加会导致另一个孩子获得的教育投资减少,并且父母会选择投资出生顺序更靠前的子女。这是因为头胎距离完成教育的时间更短,可以更快地进入就业市场带来实际回报,减轻父母经济压力,而投入更小孩子的教育则需要花费更多时间和资源,等待回报的年限也相对较长。实证结果进一步验证了模型推导结论,在控制了受访者个人特征、家庭经济特征、家庭人口情况和社区虚拟变量的基础上,研究运用有序Probit模型回归发现出生顺序对受教育水平有显著的负效应,顺序靠前的孩子受教育时间普遍更长,该结论在考虑家户虚拟变量、子女数量和家庭成分后仍然稳健。这样的现象在家长受教育水平越高以及男孩身上越显著,而幼子与头胎年龄差距越大,学历水平显著提高。一些潜在机制是父母对头胎教育更严格。此外,虽然头胎有着学历优势,父母却通常偏爱更小的孩子,对他们成年后的帮助也更大,这一发现揭示了家庭中关于资源分配的微妙动态平衡。基于本文研究结论,应进一步完善教育补贴政策,以确保多子女家庭能够获得更全面的教育福利支持,同时开展有关家庭教育观念的培训活动,帮助家长理解和重视每个子女的个性化需求,促使教育资源在家庭中更加公平地分配给每个子女,为每个孩子提供健康成长的机会。

With the promulgation of the two-child policy,families with multiple children have re-emerged.Due to the limited resources within families,potential competition exists among siblings during their adoles‐cence,with parents being the primary allocators of resources.The intra-family resource allocation dynamics have a short-term impact on children’s educational levels and,in the long run,have profound implications for the development of human capital in China.This article utilizes data from the 2014 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)to systematically investigate the impact of birth order on family resource allocation.Additionally,a household time-discounted economic return model is constructed to elucidate the phenomenon of the educational advantage of the first-born.The theoretical model reveals a competitive relationship for resources among siblings,where an increase in educational investment in one child leads to a decrease in educational investment for another child.Furthermore,parents tend to invest more in children born earlier in the birth order.This preference arises because the first-born completes their education sooner,entering the job market and providing tangible returns faster,thereby alleviating economic pressure on parents.Investing in the education of younger children requires more time and resources,with a relatively longer wait for returns.Empirical results further confirm the model’s deductions.Controlling for respondent’s individual characteristics,family economic features,household demographics,and community virtual variables,the study employs an ordered Probit model regression,revealing a sig‐nificant negative effect of birth order on educational attainment.Generally,the first-born receives a longer education duration,and this conclusion remains robust after considering household virtual variables,the number of children,and family composition.This phenomenon becomes more pronounced in families where parents have higher levels of education,particularly evident in male children.Moreover,the effect is accen‐tuated with a larger age gap between the first-born and subsequent siblings,leading to higher educational levels for the younger offspring.Some potential mechanisms involve parents enforcing stricter educational standards for the first-born.Additionally,despite the educational advantage of the first-born,parents often show a preference for younger children,providing them with greater assistance in their adulthood.This finding unveils the delicate balance in the family’s dynamic resource allocation.The research conclusions have significant implications for the formulation of a more family-friendly reproductive policy and the de‐velopment of tailored educational investment plans in China.Specifically,there is a need to further refine educational subsidy policies to ensure comprehensive educational welfare support for families with multiple children.Concurrently,conducting training activities on family education perspectives can assist parents in understanding and prioritizing the individualized needs of each child,promoting a fairer distribution of educational resources within the family and fostering opportunities for the healthy growth of every child.