More Schooling, More Children: Compulsory Schooling Reforms and Fertility in Europe

44 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2011

See all articles by Margherita Fort

Margherita Fort

University of Bologna; Ifo Institute, CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute), Ifo Institute; IZA

Nicole E. Schneeweis

Johannes Kepler University Linz - Department of Economics

Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

Johannes Kepler University Linz - Department of Economics; Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) - Department of Economics & Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

We study the relationship between education and fertility, exploiting compulsory schooling reforms in Europe as source of exogenous variation in education. Using data from 8 European countries, we assess the causal effect of education on the number of biological kids and the incidence of childlessness. We find that more education causes a substantial decrease in childlessness and an increase in the average number of children per woman. Our findings are robust to a number of falsification checks and we can provide complementary empirical evidence on the mechanisms leading to these surprising results.

Keywords: education, fertility, instrumental variables

JEL Classification: I2, J13

Suggested Citation

Fort, Margherita and Schneeweis, Nicole E. and Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, More Schooling, More Children: Compulsory Schooling Reforms and Fertility in Europe (October 2011). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP8609, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1952474

Margherita Fort (Contact Author)

University of Bologna ( email )

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Ifo Institute, CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute), Ifo Institute ( email )

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Nicole E. Schneeweis

Johannes Kepler University Linz - Department of Economics ( email )

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Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

Johannes Kepler University Linz - Department of Economics ( email )

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