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Changes in compulsory schooling and the causal effect of education on health: Evidence from Germany

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  • Kemptner, Daniel
  • Jürges, Hendrik
  • Reinhold, Steffen

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the causal effect of years of schooling on health and health-related behavior in West Germany. We apply an instrumental variables approach using as natural experiments several changes in compulsory schooling laws between 1949 and 1969. These law changes generate exogenous variation in years of schooling both across states and over time. We find evidence for a strong and significant causal effect of years of schooling on long-term illness for men but not for women. Moreover, we provide somewhat weaker evidence of a causal effect of education on the likelihood of having weight problems for both sexes. On the other hand, we find little evidence for a causal effect of education on smoking behavior. Overall, our estimates suggest significant non-monetary returns to education with respect to health outcomes but not necessarily with respect to health-related behavior.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 30 (2011)
Issue (Month): 2 (March)
Pages: 340-354

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Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:30:y:2011:i:2:p:340-354

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505560

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Keywords: School reform Health Obesity Smoking Instrumental variables;

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References

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  1. Hendrik Jürges, 2009. "The effect of compulsory schooling on health - evidence from biomarkers," MEA discussion paper series 09183, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
  2. Steffen Reinhold & Hendrik Jürges, 2010. "Secondary school fees and the causal effect of schooling on health behavior," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(8), pages 994-1001, August.
  3. Philip Oreopoulos, 2006. "Estimating Average and Local Average Treatment Effects of Education when Compulsory Schooling Laws Really Matter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 152-175, March.
  4. Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2007. "The Impact of Length of the School Year on Student Performance and Earnings: Evidence From the German Short School Years," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1216-1242, October.
  5. Hendrik Jürges & Kerstin Schneider, 2011. "Why Young Boys Stumble: Early Tracking, Age and Gender Bias in the German School System," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(4), pages 371-394, November.
  6. Becker, Gary S & Mulligan, Casey B, 1997. "The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(3), pages 729-58, August.
  7. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2005. "Sex differences in morbidity and mortality," Demography, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 189-214, May.
  8. Jorn-Steffen Pischke & Till von Wachter, 2005. "Zero Returns to Compulsory Schooling In Germany: Evidence and Interpretation," NBER Working Papers 11414, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  9. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2001. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," NBER Working Papers 8344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  11. Carneiro, P & Crawford, C & Goodman, A, 2007. "The Impact of Early Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills on Later Outcomes," Open Access publications from University College London http://discovery.ucl.ac.u, University College London.
  12. Kenkel, D.S., 1988. "Health Behavior, Health Knowledge, And Schooling," Papers 10-88-3, Pennsylvania State - Department of Economics.
  13. Steffen Reinhold, 2009. "Does Schooling Affect Health Behavior? Evidence from Educational Expansion in Western Germany," MEA discussion paper series 09186, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
  14. Christian Dustmann, 2004. "Parental background, secondary school track choice, and wages," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(2), pages 209-230, April.
  15. Silles, Mary A., 2009. "The causal effect of education on health: Evidence from the United Kingdom," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 122-128, February.
  16. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-55, March-Apr.
  17. Cutler, David M. & Lleras-Muney, Adriana, 2010. "Understanding Differences in Health Behaviors by Education," Scholarly Articles 5344195, Harvard University Department of Economics.
  18. Rodolfo Nayga, 2000. "Schooling, health knowledge and obesity," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 32(7), pages 815-822.
  19. Steffen Reinhold & Hendrik Jürges, 2009. "Parental Income and Child Health in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 871, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  20. de Walque, Damien, 2007. "Does education affect smoking behaviors?: Evidence using the Vietnam draft as an instrument for college education," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 877-895, September.
  21. Albouy, Valerie & Lequien, Laurent, 2009. "Does compulsory education lower mortality?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 155-168, January.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. You, Kai, 2011. "Education, risk perceptions, and health behaviors," MPRA Paper 35535, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  2. John Ham & Daniela Iorio & Michelle Sovinsky, 2012. "Race, Social Class, and Bulimia Nervosa," Working Papers 2012-016, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
  3. Kamila Cygan-Rehm & Miriam Maeder, 2012. "The Effect of Education on Fertility: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 528, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  4. O'Sullivan, Vincent, 2012. "The Long Term Health Effects of Education," Papers WP429, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
  5. Giorgio Brunello & Margherita Fort & Nicole Schneeweis & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2012. "The Causal Effect of Education on Health: What is the Role of Health Behaviors?," ISER Discussion Paper 0836, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
  6. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Mäder, Miriam, 2012. "The Effect of Education on Fertility: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform," Annual Conference 2012 (Goettingen): New Approaches and Challenges for the Labor Market of the 21st Century 62037, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
  7. Hendrik Jürges, 2012. "Collateral damage: Educational attainment and labor market outcomes among German war and post-war cohorts," Schumpeter Discussion Papers sdp12003, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
  8. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Daniel Lau & Dario Pozzoli, 2012. "The Impact of Education and Occupation on Temporary and Permanent Work Incapacity," Economics Working Papers 2012-25, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus.
  9. Christina Gathmann & Hendrik Jürges & Steffen Reinhold, 2012. "Compulsory Schooling Reforms, Education and Mortality in Twentieth Century Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 3755, CESifo Group Munich.
  10. Brunello, Giorgio & Fort, Margherita & Schneeweis, Nicole & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2011. "The Causal Effect of Education on Health," Economics Series 280, Institute for Advanced Studies.
  11. James M. Poterba & Steven F. Venti & David A. Wise, 2013. "Health, Education, and the Post-Retirement Evolution of Household Assets," NBER Working Papers 18695, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  12. Goeree, Michelle S. & Ham, John C. & Iorio, Daniela, 2011. "Race, Social Class, and Bulimia Nervosa," IZA Discussion Papers 5823, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  13. Daniel Kemptner & Jan Marcus, 2011. "Spillover Effects of Maternal Education on Child's Health and Schooling," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 375, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  14. Kirdar, Murat G. & Dayioglu, Meltem & Koc, Ismet, 2012. "Does longer compulsory education equalize educational attainment by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background?," MPRA Paper 39995, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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