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Secondary Schools and Teenage Childbearing: Evidence from the School Expansion in Brazilian Municipalities

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  • Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner
  • Jesse Matheson

Abstract

This article investigates the effect that increasing secondary education opportunities have on teenage fertility in Brazil. Using a novel dataset to exploit variation from a 57 percent increase in secondary schools across 4,884 Brazilian municipalities between 1997 and 2009, the analysis shows an important role of secondary school availability on underage fertility. An increase of one school per 100 females reduces a cohort's teenage birthrate by between 0.250 and 0.563 births per 100, or a reduction of one birth for roughly every 50 to 100 students who enroll in secondary education. The results highlight the important role of access to education leading to spillovers in addition to improving educational attainment.

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  • Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner & Jesse Matheson, 2021. "Secondary Schools and Teenage Childbearing: Evidence from the School Expansion in Brazilian Municipalities," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(4), pages 1019-1037.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:35:y:2021:i:4:p:1019-1037.
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    Cited by:

    1. Garcez, Lucas N. & Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia & Pineda-Torres, Mayra, 2024. "Improvements in Schooling Opportunities and Teen Births," IZA Discussion Papers 16791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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