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More Schooling, More Children

Author

Listed:
  • Fort, Margherita

    (Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy)

  • Schneeweis, Nicole

    (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria)

  • Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf

    (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, and Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

We study the relationship between education and fertility, exploiting compulsory schooling reforms in Europe as source of exogenous variation in education. Using data from 8 European countries, we assess the causal effect of education on the number of biological kids and the incidence of childlessness. We find that more education causes a substantial decrease in childlessness and an increase in the average number of children per woman. Our findings are robust to a number of falsification checks and we can provide complementary empirical evidence on the mechanisms leading to these surprising results.

Suggested Citation

  • Fort, Margherita & Schneeweis, Nicole & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2011. "More Schooling, More Children," Economics Series 281, Institute for Advanced Studies.
  • Handle: RePEc:ihs:ihsesp:281
    as

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    File URL: https://irihs.ihs.ac.at/id/eprint/2107
    File Function: First version, 2011
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    5. Osili, Una Okonkwo & Long, Bridget Terry, 2008. "Does female schooling reduce fertility? Evidence from Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 57-75, August.
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    7. Meltem Dayioglu & Murat G. Kirdar & Ismet Koc, 2009. "The Impact of Schooling on The Timing of Marriage and Fertility: Evidence from A Change in Compulsory Schooling Law," Working Papers 470, Economic Research Forum, revised Mar 2009.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Instrumental variables; education; fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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