Working Paper: NBER ID: w25898
Authors: Silvia H. Barcellos; Leandro S. Carvalho; Patrick Turley
Abstract: This paper studies distributional effects of education on health. In 1972, England, Scotland, and Wales raised their minimum school-leaving age from 15 to 16 for students born after 9/1/1957. Using a regression discontinuity design and objective health measures for 0.27 million individuals, we find that education reduced body size and increased blood pressure in middle age. The reduction in body size was concentrated at the upper tail of the distribution with a 7.5 percentage point reduction in obesity. The increase in blood pressure was concentrated at the lower tail of the distribution with no effect on stage 2 hypertension.
Keywords: Education; Health; Regression Discontinuity; Distributional Effects
JEL Codes: I10; I20
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Education (I29) | Body Size (L25) |
| Education (I29) | Blood Pressure (E31) |
| Education (I29) | 90th Percentile Body Size Reduction (C24) |
| Education (I29) | Health Outcomes (I14) |