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The effect of life expectancy on education and population dynamics

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  • Matteo Cervellati
  • Uwe Sunde

Abstract

The demographic transition represents a critical turning point for population dynamics and economic development. As a consequence, the effects of life expectancy on education and population dynamics are expected to change across different stages of demographic development. This paper tests this hypothesis empirically by exploiting exogenous within-country reductions in mortality as a result of the epidemiological transition after 1940 that have been applied in recent studies on the causal effects of life expectancy for income growth. The results document a pronounced heterogeneity, and relevant non-linearities, of the effects of life expectancy on schooling and population dynamics at different stages of the demographic transition. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

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  • Matteo Cervellati & Uwe Sunde, 2015. "The effect of life expectancy on education and population dynamics," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1445-1478, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:48:y:2015:i:4:p:1445-1478
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-014-0830-x
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    2. von Gaessler, Anne Edle & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2016. "Optimal education in times of ageing: The dependency ratio in the Uzawa–Lucas growth model," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 125-142.
    3. Jeremy Greenwood & Nezih Guner & Ricardo Marto, 2021. "The Great Transition: Kuznets Facts for Family-Economists," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 33, Economie d'Avant Garde.
    4. Federico Barbiellini Amidei & Matteo Gomellini & Paolo Piselli, 2018. "The contribution of demography to Italy's economic growth: a two-hundred-year-long story," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 431, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Mercedes Gumbau Albert, 2021. "The impact of health status and human capital formation on regional performance: Empirical evidence," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 123-139, February.
    6. Trung V. Vu, 2023. "Life expectancy and human capital: New empirical evidence," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 395-412, February.
    7. Tscheuschner, Paul, 2021. "Endogenous life expectancy and R&D-based economic growth," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 01-2021, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    8. Bloom, David E. & Kuhn, Michael & Prettner, Klaus, 2018. "Health and Economic Growth," IZA Discussion Papers 11939, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Chen, Simiao & Kuhn, Michael & Prettner, Klaus & Bloom, David E. & Wang, Chen, 2021. "Macro-level efficiency of health expenditure: Estimates for 15 major economies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life expectancy; Education; Demographic transition ; Population growth; Fertility; J10; J13; N30; O10;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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