← Search

American Economic Review Vol. 101 No. 1 2011

The Effect of Female Education on Fertility and Infant Health: Evidence from School Entry Policies Using Exact Date of Birth

Justin McCrary1; Heather Royer2

1 School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, 586 Simon Hall, Berkeley, CA 94708. · 2 Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2127 North Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.

Abstract

This paper uses age-at-school-entry policies to identify the effect of female education on fertility and infant health. We focus on sharp contrasts in schooling, fertility, and infant health between women born just before and after the school entry date. School entry policies affect female education and the quality of a woman's mate and have generally small, but possibly heterogeneous, effects on fertility and infant health. We argue that school entry policies manipulate primarily the education of young women at risk of dropping out of school.

DOI
10.1257/aer.101.1.158
Volume
101
Issue
1
Pages
158-195
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib

Cite