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Books or babies? Incapacitation and human capital effects of extended compulsory schooling on the teenage fertility of ethnic minority women

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Adamecz-Völgyi

    (University College London and Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis)

  • Ã gota Scharle

    (Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis)

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of an increase in the compulsory school-leaving (CSL) age on the teenage fertility of Roma women, a disadvantaged ethnic minority in Hungary. We use a regression discontinuity design (RDD) identification strategy and show that raising the CSL age from 16 to 18 decreased the probability of teenage motherhood among Roma women by 6.8 percentage points and delayed early motherhood by two years. We contribute to the literature 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 to separate the incapacitation and human capital effects of education on fertility. We find that higher CSL age 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

  • Anna Adamecz-Völgyi & à gota Scharle, 2019. "Books or babies? Incapacitation and human capital effects of extended compulsory schooling on the teenage fertility of ethnic minority women," DoQSS Working Papers 19-01, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1901
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    File URL: https://repec.ucl.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1901.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    2. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2003. "Are Idle Hands the Devil's Workshop? Incapacitation, Concentration, and Juvenile Crime," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1560-1577, December.
    3. Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-209, January.
    4. Mary Silles, 2011. "The effect of schooling on teenage childbearing: evidence using changes in compulsory education laws," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 761-777, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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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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