Using the NLSY79 and NLSY79 Child and Young Adult Surveys, we investigate the effect of the age difference between siblings (spacing) on educational achievement. Because spacing may be endogenous, we use an instrumental variables strategy that exploits variation in spacing driven by...

More than 400,000 children in the United States are currently in foster care, many of whom are at risk for long-lasting emotional and health problems. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 provided federal funds for monthly adoption subsidies designed to promote adoptions of...

A large literature shows that religious participation is associated with various behaviors and outcomes, but researchers lack an accepted instrument for religion and have struggled to establish whether these associations are causal. Using the canonical economic model of religiosity, I develop an...