Research on the Impact of Birth Cohort Size on Educational Achievement of Cohort Members

Easterlin’s researches show that the birth cohort size will influence individual welfare. China has experience three times of baby boom and baby bust. We’d like to explore whether the people born in these special period would have different experiences or not, especially their lifetime educational achievement. So this paper focuses on relationship between birth cohort size and Individual educational achievement.
We classify the birth cohort size into absolute birth cohort size and relative birth cohort size. Using 2005 Chinese General Social Survey data, we apply regression to test the influence of birth cohort size on educational achievement. Besides, we also apply population micro simulation to explore the educational achievement without the influence of birth cohort size.
Then we find: First, the larger one’s own birth cohort, the lower his educational achievement. Second, the relative birth cohort size has larger influence on educational welfare of cohort members than absolute birth cohort size. Third, the impact of birth cohort size on educational achievement of cohort members will be interfered and adjusted by education policies and other external factors, and also be influenced by subjectively adjustment of cohort members.