Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP8524
Authors: Moshe Hazan
Abstract: I argue that distinguishing between life expectancy at birth and life expectancy beyond the crucial early childhood years affects the relationship between life expectancy and schooling in a meaningful way. In particular, I show that while the change in life expectancy at birth between 1960 and 1990 is positively correlated with percentage change in schooling, the change in life expectancy at age 5 is, at best, uncorrelated with percentage change in schooling. This evidence weakens the quantitative importance of increasing life horizon beyond the early crucial childhood years for formal acquisition of human capital.
Keywords: human capital; life expectancy
JEL Codes: J24; O11
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| change in life expectancy at birth (J19) | percentage change in schooling (I21) |
| change in life expectancy at age 5 (I14) | percentage change in schooling (I21) |