Life Expectancy and Education: Evidence from the Cardiovascular Revolution
41 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2015
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Life Expectancy and Education: Evidence from the Cardiovascular Revolution
Life Expectancy and Education: Evidence from the Cardiovascular Revolution
Date Written: January 19, 2015
Abstract
In this study we investigate the causal impact of increasing adult longevity on higher education. We exploit the fourth stage of the epidemiological transition, i.e. the unexpected decline of deaths from heart attack and stroke in the 1970s as a large positive health shock that affected predominantly old age mortality. Using a differences-in-differences estimation strategy we find across U.S. states that the cardiovascular revolution led to an increase in adult life expectancy by about 2 years, which caused higher education enrollment to increase by 7 percentage points, i.e. 30 percent of the observed increase from 1970 to 2000. Our findings are robust to the inclusion of state-specific health trends and a host of confounding variables. They suggest large effects of improving longevity on higher education enrollment.
Keywords: adult life expectancy, higher education, cardiovascular diseases, 2SLS strategy, differences-in-differences first-stage
JEL Classification: I15, J24, N30, O10, O40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation