Effects of adult mortality rate on educational attainment: empirical analysis using cross-country panel data

Previous empirical studies have not paid enough attention to the effect of adult mortality rate, which is defined as the probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60, on differences in educational attainment among countries. We hypothesise that the adult mortality rate negatively affects educational attainment because a lower probability of surviving after retirement discourages human capital accumulation in the youth. We conducted an empirical analysis using cross-country panel data of OECD countries, with a sample in which retirement was more common. We compared the results with those of non-OECD countries. We found that adult mortality rate had a significantly negative effect on educational attainment for OECD countries, but we could not find significant results for non-OECD countries. A lower adult mortality rate could increase educational attainment in countries where retirement at old age is common. The empirical results also showed that income per capita and fertility do not significantly influence educational attainment in OECD countries; rather, parents’ educational attainment and accessibility to education influence educational attainment in OECD and non-OECD countries.