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High school dropout and teen childbearing

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  • Marcotte, Dave E.

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between high school dropout and teen childbearing is complicated because both are affected by a variety of difficult to control factors. In this paper, I use panel data on aggregate dropout and fertility rates by age for all fifty states to develop insight by instrumenting for dropout using information on state policies on mandatory high school graduation exams. I then make use of these exit exam instruments in tandem with an instrument used previously in the literature to identify the impact of education on various outcomes: Compulsory schooling laws. Because these instruments operate at different margins, comparing effects provides insight into whether local average treatment effects are informative about average treatment effects relevant for a broader population than those complying with either instrument. The findings suggest that the elasticity of teen pregnancy with respect to high school dropout is 0.082 overall, with larger effects for black teens.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcotte, Dave E., 2013. "High school dropout and teen childbearing," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 258-268.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:34:y:2013:i:c:p:258-268
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.01.002
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    2. Grönqvist, Hans & Hall, Caroline, 2013. "Education policy and early fertility: Lessons from an expansion of upper secondary schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 13-33.
    3. Abrahamsen, Signe A. & Ginja, Rita & Riise, Julie, 2021. "School Health Programs: Education, Health, and Welfare Dependency of Young Adults," IZA Discussion Papers 14546, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Edwards, Ben & Yu, Maggie, 2018. "The influence of child care on the behavior problems of children of teenage mothers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 96-104.
    5. Carneiro. Juliana & Koppensteiner, Martin Foureaux & Menezes, Livia, 2024. "The Effect of Transitory Health Shocks on Schooling Outcomes : The case of dengue fever in Brazil," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1488, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    6. Hoque, Nurzamal & Mahanta, Ratul & Sarkar, Dipanwita, 2022. "Does free education reduce early school dropouts? Evidence from a legislative reform in India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 657-665.
    7. Juliana Carneiro & Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner & Lıvia Menezes, 2023. "The Effect of Dengue Fever on Schooling Outcomes," School of Economics Discussion Papers 1423, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    8. Enrico Ripamonti & Stefano Barberis, 2018. "The Effect of Cultural Capital on High School Dropout: An Investigation in the Italian Provinces," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 1257-1279, October.
    9. Poh Lin Tan, 2017. "The impact of school entry laws on female education and teenage fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 503-536, April.
    10. Polson, Chester, 2018. "TAKS-ing students? Texas exit exam effects on human capital formation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 129-150.
    11. Vivo, Sigrid & McCoy, Sandra I. & López-Peña, Paula & Muñoz, Rodrigo & Larrieu, Monica I. & Celhay, Pablo, 2017. "How accurate is our misinformation? A randomized comparison of four survey interview methods to measure risk behavior among young adults in the Dominican Republic," Development Engineering, Elsevier, vol. 2(C), pages 53-67.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    High school dropout; High school exit exams; Teen pregnancy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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