Working Paper: NBER ID: w24341
Authors: Ofer Malamud; Andreea Mitrut; Cristian Popeleches
Abstract: This paper examines a schooling expansion in Romania which increased educational attainment for successive cohorts born between 1945 and 1950. We use a regression discontinuity design at the day level based on school entry cutoff dates to estimate impacts on mortality with 1994-2016 Vital Statistics data and self-reported health with 2011 Census data. We find that the schooling reform led to significant increases in years of schooling and changes in labor market outcomes but did not affect mortality or self-reported health. These estimates provide new evidence for the causal relationship between education and mortality outside of high-income countries and at lower margins of educational attainment.
Keywords: Education; Mortality; Health; Schooling Expansion; Romania
JEL Codes: I10; I12; I15; I25; I26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Schooling expansion (I21) | Years of schooling (I21) |
| Years of schooling (I21) | Mortality rates (I12) |
| Years of schooling (I21) | Self-reported health (I10) |
| Schooling expansion (I21) | Mortality rates (I12) |
| Schooling expansion (I21) | Self-reported health (I10) |