TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Gielen, Anne C.
AU  - Zwiers, Esmée
        TI  - Biology and the Gender Gap in Educational Performance: The Role of Prenatal Testosterone in Test Scores
        PY  - 2018/Nov/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 11936
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp11936
        AB  - This paper explores the contribution of biological factors in explaining gender differences in educational performance, with a particular focus on the role of prenatal testosterone. We exploit the fact that prenatal testosterone is hypothesized to transfer in-utero from a male twin to his twin sibling causing exogenous variation in exposure to prenatal testosterone in twins. By using Dutch administrative data and controlling for potential socialization effects, we find that girls with a twin brother score 7% of a standard deviation lower on math compared to girls with a twin sister. Adherence to traditional gender norms can explain this finding, implying that our results are not just driven by biology but materialize depending on environmental factors.

        KW  - gender performance gap
KW  - twins
KW  - prenatals tesosterone
        ER  -