This paper examines the e ffect of birth order on educational attainment and child labour in Lesotho. Using family fixed eff ects models, I find robust negative birth order eff ects on educational attainment and child labour. The birth order e ffects on educational attainment are in sharp contrast with the evidence from many other developing countries such as Ecuador and Kenya, but are consistent with the evidence from developed countries. I further find that these birth order eff ects are pronounced in large families, and families with first-born girls, which suggests presence of girls’ education bias. Turning to potential pathways of these eff ects, I find that they are not propagated through family wealth, but mainly through birth-spacing. These results are robust to diff erent sample restrictions.
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