Selbstproduktivität in der frühen Kindheit – Eine empirische Analyse mit Berücksichtigung von Geschwistereffekten

Abstract

Self-productivity is a crucial feature in the process of skill formation. It means that skills developed in previous stages enhance the development of skills during later stages. This paper presents an empirical investigation of self-productivity in early childhood in Germany. The data are drawn from the mother-child questionnaire of the German Socio-Economic Panel for the birth cohorts 2002–2008. We exploit the variation of skills between siblings within one family to identify self-productivity effects for the first three years of a child’s life. Our results support the meaning of this feature directly after birth. The magnitude of self-productivity varies between skills and stages. These results emphasize the efficiency of early childhood investments against investments later in life.