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Does male education affect fertility? Evidence from Mali

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  • Godefroy, Raphael
  • Lewis, Joshua

Abstract

This paper studies how school access affects men’s fertility decisions. To separately identify the male response, we adopt a regression discontinuity approach that exploits the timing of a major expansion in school access in Mali and the country’s large gender gap in the age of marriage. Increased school access for boys led to large subsequent decreases in fertility by age 25. The effects appear to be driven by delayed marriage entry and urbanization. The study shows how failing to account for the impact of male education on fertility may lead to an underestimate of the potential for expansions in school access to stimulate demographic transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Godefroy, Raphael & Lewis, Joshua, 2018. "Does male education affect fertility? Evidence from Mali," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 118-122.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:172:y:2018:i:c:p:118-122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2018.08.028
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Justin McCrary & Heather Royer, 2011. "The Effect of Female Education on Fertility and Infant Health: Evidence from School Entry Policies Using Exact Date of Birth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 158-195, February.
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    7. Robert Jensen, 2012. "Do Labor Market Opportunities Affect Young Women's Work and Family Decisions? Experimental Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(2), pages 753-792.
    8. Lucia Breierova & Esther Duflo, 2003. "The Impact of Education on Fertility and Child Mortality: Do Fathers Really Matter Less Than Mothers?," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 217, OECD Publishing.
    9. Lavy, Victor & Zablotsky, Alexander, 2015. "Women's schooling and fertility under low female labor force participation: Evidence from mobility restrictions in Israel," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 105-121.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Aissata Mahamadou Sidibe & Paul I Kadetz & Therese Hesketh, 2020. "Factors Impacting Family Planning Use in Mali and Senegal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Songtao Yang, 2022. "The effects of compulsory schooling reforms on women’s marriage outcomes—evidence from Britain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1637-1662, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    School access; Male education; Fertility; Marriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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