This research project will study the relationship between maternal education and infant health and fertility. Mothers with higher levels of education give birth later in life and bear healthier children than do mothers with low educational attainment. However, whether this connection is causal is heavily debated. The difficulty in assessing the existence of such a link arises because of the strong association between maternal education and other determinants of infant health and fertility. For instance, women with high educational attainment are frequently those with access to economic and social resources, which may themselves be related to infant health and fertility. To disentangle the causal effect of maternal education on fertility and infant health, the proposed research will use school age entry laws, which specify the exact date (e.g., September 1st) by which a child must turn 5 years old in order to start school. As a result of the school age entry laws, a child born one day after the school entry cutoff date will begin school a year later than a child born a day earlier. This one-year gap in education will persist throughout their school careers. Thus, these laws plausibly provide the random variation in education necessary to isolate the effect of education. To implement the research design, this project will utilize the national 1989-2004 Natality Detail Files, a census of all births in the United States. These data provide the essential details on a mother's exact date of birth and her education in addition to information on maternal and paternal demographic characteristics, maternal behaviors during pregnancy, and measures of the baby's healthiness at birth. Since these laws generate such sharp and random differences in education of individuals born within days of one another near the school entry cutoff dates, the analysis will focus on contrasts between women whose birthdates just follow and just precede these dates. This analysis will use the estimated differences in infant health, fertility, and education between these two groups to determine the extent to which maternal education is an important determinant of infant health and fertility. This research project will provide a better understanding of the possible health returns to education investment policies. Additionally, it will help gauge whether education is an effective means of reducing teenage pregnancy. ? ? ?
| McCrary, Justin; Royer, Heather (2011) The Effect of Female Education on Fertility and Infant Health: Evidence from School Entry Policies Using Exact Date of Birth. Am Econ Rev 101:158-195 |
