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Books or babies? The incapacitation effect of schooling on minority women

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  • Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna
  • Scharle, Ágota

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of an increase in the compulsory school leaving age on the teenage fertility of Roma women, a disadvantaged ethnic minority in Hungary. We use a regression discontinuity design identification strategy and show that the reform decreased the probability of teenage motherhood among Roma women by 13.4-26.0% and delayed motherhood by two years. We separate the incapacitation and human capital effects of education on fertility by exploiting a database that covers live births, miscarriages, abortions and still births, and contains information on the time of conception precise to the week. We find that longer schooling decreases the probability of getting pregnant during the school year but not during summer and Christmas breaks, which suggests that the estimated effects are generated mostly through the incapacitation channel.

Suggested Citation

  • Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Scharle, Ágota, 2020. "Books or babies? The incapacitation effect of schooling on minority women," GLO Discussion Paper Series 474, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:474
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna, 2021. "Is raising the school leaving age enough to decrease dropping out?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 985, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Compulsory school leaving age; Teenage fertility; Disadvantaged ethnic minorities; Regression discontinuity design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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