The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing and Labor Market Participation in Senegal

Economic Development and Cultural Change 64(2): 369-403, January, 2016

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 Last revised: 20 Jan 2016

See all articles by Francesca Marchetta

Francesca Marchetta

Université d'Auvergne - Clermont 1 - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Developpement International (CERDI)

David E. Sahn

Cornell University

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 10, 2015

Abstract

This paper examines the role of education and family background on age at marriage, age at first birth, and age at labor market entry for young Senegalese women. We use a multiple-equation framework that allows us to account for the endogeneity that arises from the simultaneity of the four decisions that we model. Our results highlight the importance of a woman’s own education in delaying marriage, and that the relationship between her education and the timing of childbearing and of entering the labor market mainly operates through the influence of schooling decisions on the age at marriage. We show that marriage and motherhood decisions are interrelated and that the timing of first birth strongly depends on the duration of marriage. We also shed light on the composite influence of parental education and death shocks on all the outcomes we examine.

Keywords: multiple equations, duration models, unobserved heterogeneity, Senegal

JEL Classification: O12, I25, J12, J13

Suggested Citation

Marchetta, Francesca and Sahn, David E., The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing and Labor Market Participation in Senegal (January 10, 2015). Economic Development and Cultural Change 64(2): 369-403, January, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2111709 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2111709

Francesca Marchetta

Université d'Auvergne - Clermont 1 - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Developpement International (CERDI) ( email )

65 Boulevard Francois Mitterrand
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David E. Sahn (Contact Author)

Cornell University ( email )

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Ithaca, NY 14853
United States
607-255-8931 (Phone)
607-255-0178 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/des16

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