title: Compulsory schooling reforms, education and mortality in twentieth century Europe.
abstract: Education yields substantial non-monetary benefits, but the size of these gains is still debated. Previous studies report causal effects of education and compulsory schooling on mortality ranging anywhere from zero to large and negative. Using data from 18 compulsory schooling reforms implemented in Europe during the twentieth century, we quantify the average mortality gain and explore its dispersion across gender, time and countries. We find that more education yields small mortality reductions in the short- and long-run for men. In contrast, women seem to experience no mortality reductions from compulsory schooling reforms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Heidelberg, Bergheimer Str. 20, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: christina.gathmann@awi.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gathmann
authors.affiliation: Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Germany.
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jürges
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reinhold
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D004493:Education / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004522:Educational Status; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D064890:Social Determinants of Health
keywords: Compulsory schooling; Education; Europe; Mortality