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Education and Cancer Risk

Author

Listed:
  • Leuven, Edwin

    (University of Oslo)

  • Plug, Erik

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Rønning, Marte

    (Statistics Norway)

Abstract

There exists a strong educational gradient in cancer risk, which has been documented in a wide range of populations. Yet relatively little is known about the extent to which education is causally linked to cancer incidence and mortality. This paper exploits a large social experiment where an education reform expanded compulsory schooling during the 1960s in Norway. The reform led to a discontinuous increase in educational attainment, which we exploit to estimate the effect of the reform on various cancer outcomes. Our main finding is that education has little if any impact on cancer risk. This holds for all cancer sites together as well as the most common cancer sites in isolation, with two exceptions. The compulsory school reform lowered the risk of lung cancer for men, but increased the risk of colorectal cancer for women.

Suggested Citation

  • Leuven, Edwin & Plug, Erik & Rønning, Marte, 2014. "Education and Cancer Risk," IZA Discussion Papers 7956, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7956
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    2. Govert E. Bijwaard & Mikko Myrskylä & Per Tynelius & Finn Rasmussen, 2017. "Educational gain in cause-specific mortality: accounting for confounders," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-003, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Hamad, Rita & Elser, Holly & Tran, Duy C. & Rehkopf, David H. & Goodman, Steven N., 2018. "How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 168-178.
    4. Gehrsitz, Markus & Williams, Jr., Morgan C., 2024. "The Effects of Compulsory Schooling on Health and Hospitalization over the Life Cycle," IZA Discussion Papers 17050, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Janny Liao & Ramaele Moshoeshoe & Michelle D. Holmes & S. V. Subramanian & Jan-Walter De Neve, 2025. "Effect of girls’ education on cancer awareness and screening in a natural experiment in Lesotho," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Bijwaard, Govert E. & Myrskylä, Mikko & Tynelius, Per & Rasmussen, Finn, 2017. "Educational gains in cause-specific mortality: Accounting for cognitive ability and family-level confounders using propensity score weighting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 49-56.
    7. Titus J. Galama & Adriana Lleras-Muney & Hans van Kippersluis, 2018. "The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence," NBER Working Papers 24225, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Markus Gehrsitz & Morgan C. Williams, "undated". "The Effects of Compulsory Schooling on Health and Hospitalization over the Life Cycle," Working Papers 2303, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics, revised May 2020.
    9. Thang Dang, 2018. "Do the more educated utilize more health care services? Evidence from Vietnam using a regression discontinuity design," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 277-299, September.
    10. Grytten, Jostein & Skau, Irene & Sørensen, Rune, 2020. "Who dies early? Education, mortality and causes of death in Norway," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    11. Grytten, Jostein & Skau, Irene, 2025. "Mothers’ level of education and infant health. Causal effects of the introduction of a school reform in Norway," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 386(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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