The effect of compulsory schooling on health-evidence from biomarkers

Jürges, Hendrik ; Kruk, Eberhard ; Reinhold, Steffen

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URL:	https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/2375
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-23756
Document Type:	Working paper
Year of publication:	2009
The title of a journal, publication series:	MEA Discussion Papers
Volume:	183
Place of publication:	Mannheim
Publication language:	English
Institution:	School of Law and Economics > Sonstige - Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaft und Volkswirtschaftslehre
MADOC publication series:	Veröffentlichungen des MEA (Mannheim Research Institute For the Economics of Aging) > MEA Discussion Papers
Subject:	300 Social sciences, sociology, anthropology
Classification:	JEL: I20 I12 ,
Subject headings (SWD):	Großbritannien , Gesundheitsverhalten , Gesundheitsvorsorge , Bildungsniveau , Biomarker
Keywords (English):	Health, Compulsory schooling , Biomarkers , Regression discontinuity
Abstract:	Using data from the Health Survey for England and the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, we estimate the causal effect of schooling on health. Identification comes from two nation wide increases in British compulsory school leaving age in 1947 and 1973, respectively. Our study complements earlier studies exploiting compulsory schooling laws as source of exogenous variation in schooling by using biomarkers as measures of health outcomes in addition to self-reported measures. We find a strong positive correlation between education and health, both self-rated and measured by blood fibrinogen and C-reactive protein levels. However, we find ambiguous causal effects of schooling on women's self-rated health and insignificant causal effects of schooling on men's self-rated health and biomarker levels in both sexes.
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