causal

Sibling Age Comparison Identifies Causal Effects

By comparing siblings of different ages within the same family who move from one neighborhood to another (e.g. a 7-year-old vs an 11-year-old), under a 'dosage' model where each extra year of exposure to a better environment helps, researchers find younger movers to high-mobility areas do better; this design neutralizes the confound of ambitious parents, since parental ambition would not create differential effects within the same family across siblings.

causalpending

Speaker

Raj Chetty

Evidence Quote

every extra year of exposure to an environment that might change your aspirations, that changes culture, that gives you access to better schools... And, the answer is: Yes, you see very clear evidence that if you move to the higher-upward mobility places at a younger age, kids do better.

Source

Raj Chetty on Economic MobilityEconTalk
Created: 6/13/2026, 3:35:10 AM

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