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Research on how children are affected by their sibship size, i.e., their number of siblings, faces a serious hurdle because sibship size is endogenous in the model. The current “gold standard” method to solve this is to use (parity-specific) twin births as instrumental variables. The purpose of this chapter is twofold. Firstly, it introduces instrumental variable methods in general. Secondly, it a
This paper deals with the home-leaving of young adults in Gothenburg, Sweden, in the period 1915–1943. We used individual-level panel data from population registers and poll-tax records, taking a competing risk design for the analysis of the determinants of leaving home to marry, or for non-familial living. We found a transitional, marriage-driven pattern of leaving home that neither fits the old
This special issue contains a collection of papers that study how children are affected by their sibship size, using anthropometric data. The varied results provide a wealth of new knowledge and show that this influence is context-specific. In this paper I discuss the methodological challenges that we will encounter continuing research on resource dilution in families. The most important challenge
This paper considers whether short-term variation in exposure to disease early in life, as measured by a variety of mortality rates, has an effect on the height of young adults. Height information for men born in southern Sweden, 1814–1948, and included in the Scanian Economic Demographic Database (SEDD), was obtained from records of medical inspections carried out as part of Sweden’s system of un
Background: There is still much to learn about the explanation for the often-found negative association between sibship size and different child outcomes. A plausible explanation is resource competition between siblings in larger families, as suggested by the resource dilution hypothesis. Objective: This study contributes to our understanding of these mechanisms by investigating the association be
The study explores the long-term trends in socioeconomic differences in height among young adult men. We linked information from conscript inspections to a longitudinal demographic database of five parishes in Southern Sweden. Detailed information on the occupation and landholding was used to investigate the differences in height. Even if there is indication of a reduction in the magnitude of the
In vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) data often exhibit baselines or low-amplitude signal variations resulting from residual water, imperfectly suppressed lipids, low-amplitude metabolites not considered for fitting, and other features not represented in a basis set. While multitudinous approaches exist to model these baselines in 1H-MR spectral analysis, many continue to lack sIn vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) data often exhibit baselines or low-amplitude signal variations resulting from residual water, imperfectly suppressed lipids, low-amplitude metabolites not considered for fitting, and other features not represented in a basis set. While multitudinous approaches exist to model these baselines in 1H-MR spectral analysis, many continue to lack s
This study investigates regional differences in height in Sweden during the twentieth century using data from universal conscript inspections (for men). We find substantive differences (2-3 cm) in height between the counties. Men in the southern, southeastern and northernmost parts of Sweden were shorter. Men in the Stockholm and Göteborg regions were taller and we find no “urban penalty” in heigh
Christer Lundh, professor in Economic History at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, turns 65 in April 2017. This is the age of retirement in the Swedish public’s mind. It has really only been the age for retirement in Sweden since 1967, and since 1994 has been an option rather than a rule (Johannisson and Philp 2015). Given the usual short and slow-changing historical memory of people (includin
Socioeconomic differences in adult mortality are found consistently in high-income countries today. Previous studies have shown that there were, in contrast, no such differences before the twentieth century. The importance of infectious diseases as causes of death and lack of knowledge on how to prevent or cure diseases have been suggested as explanations for this. We investigate the differences i
Intentional vocabulary learning through tasks with an explicit vocabulary focus is essential for L2 learning (e.g., Laufer, 2005; Nation, 2007, 2022; Schmitt & Schmitt, 2020). Yet, research suggests that in EFL classrooms in Sweden, there tends to be a reliance on incidental learning of vocabulary rather than intentional learning (D. Bergström, 2023). Studies(Eriksson, 2023; Warnby, 2023) also
We investigate the behaviors used by households to economize on their spending on food using data from a budget survey of urban households in sweden in 1913-1914. Higher-income households bought higher quality varieties of both luxury and staple foods. But changing the composition of the diet was a much more important way to adjust spending on food than changing the quality of the foods bought. Hi
This dissertation consists of an introduction, four research papers and one paper describing the data I collected for the studies and how I conducted the study. I collected information on men from conscript inspection lists and linked this to a sample of men in the Scanian Economic Demographic Database (SEDD) born between 1797 and 1950. The four research papers analyze influences on height and wei
