CRIEFF Discussion Paper Number 0513
O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Effects of Having a
Sibling on Geographic Mobility and Labor Market Outcomes
Helmut Rainer (University of St. Andrews) and Thomas Siedler
(University of Essex)
Abstract
In most industrialized countries, more people than ever are having to cope with
the burden of caring for elderly parents. This paper formulates a model to
explain how parental care responsibilities and family structure interact in
affecting children’s mobility characteristics. A key insight we obtain is that
the mobility of young adults crucially depends on the presence of a sibling.
Our explanation is mainly, but not exclusively, based on a sibling power
effect. Siblings compete in location and employment decisions so as to direct
parental care decisions at later stages towards their preferred outcome. Only
children are not exposed to this kind of competition. This causes an equilibrium
in which siblings not only exhibit higher mobility than only children, but also
have better labor market outcomes. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Study (SOEP) and from the American National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH),
we find strong evidence that confirms these patterns. The implications of our
results are then discussed in the context of current population trends in
Europe and the United States.
JEL Classifications
D19; J14; C13.
Keywords
Geographic Mobility, Intergenerational Relationships, Care of the Elderly,
Family Bargaining.
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