Title: Nature and Nurture in the Educational Gender Gap: Evidence from Twin Testosterone Transfer in China

Speaker: Xue Sen, Associate Professor at the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Jinan University, Deputy Director of the Social Survey Center of Jinan University, Associate Editor of Journal of Population Economics. He also serves as Deputy Director of the Artificial Intelligence and Flexible Employment Committee of the Labor Economic Association, and Member of the Migration and Urbanization Committee of the Population Association of China. His papers have been published in international journals such as Journal of Development Economics and Journal of Population Economics.

Abstract: This paper investigates whether prenatal biological endowments affect education and contribute to gender differences in educational attainment. Building on the Twin Testosterone Transfer hypothesis, we exploit the sex composition of twin pairs as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in prenatal testosterone exposure. Using nationally representative data from China, we employ a difference-in-differences approach that compares opposite-sex and same-sex twins relative to closely spaced singletons to disentangle prenatal hormonal effects from postnatal socialization. We find a positive effect of prenatal testosterone exposure on education for both men and women. Heterogeneity analyses further suggest that this prenatal effect is not fixed, but varies with postnatal environments.

Date & time: 17 April 2026, 14:00-16:00

Venue: B336, Zhixin Building, Central Campus, Shandong University