IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhecon/v44y2015icp97-117.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Maternal education and child mortality in Zimbabwe

Author

Listed:
  • Grépin, Karen A.
  • Bharadwaj, Prashant

Abstract

In 1980, Zimbabwe rapidly expanded access to secondary schools, providing a natural experiment to estimate the impact of increased maternal secondary education on child mortality. Exploiting age specific exposure to these reforms, we find that children born to mothers most likely to have benefited from the policies were about 21% less likely to die than children born to slightly older mothers. We also find that increased education leads to delayed age at marriage, sexual debut, and first birth and that increased education leads to better economic opportunities for women. We find little evidence supporting other channels through which increased education might affect child mortality. Expanding access to secondary schools may greatly accelerate declines in child mortality in the developing world today.

Suggested Citation

  • Grépin, Karen A. & Bharadwaj, Prashant, 2015. "Maternal education and child mortality in Zimbabwe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 97-117.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:44:y:2015:i:c:p:97-117
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.08.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629615000867
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.08.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Osili, Una Okonkwo & Long, Bridget Terry, 2008. "Does female schooling reduce fertility? Evidence from Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 57-75, August.
    2. Sarah Baird & Craig McIntosh & Berk Özler, 2011. "Cash or Condition? Evidence from a Cash Transfer Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1709-1753.
    3. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2008. "Does education improve health? A reexamination of the evidence from compulsory schooling laws," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 32(Q II), pages 2-16.
    4. Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & Michael Kremer, 2015. "Education, HIV, and Early Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2757-2797, September.
    5. Bassett, Mary Travis & Bijlmakers, Leon & Sanders, David M., 1997. "Professionalism, patient satisfaction and quality of health care: Experience during Zimbabwe's structural adjustment programme," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(12), pages 1845-1852, December.
    6. 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.
    7. Loewenson, Rene & Sanders, David & Davies, Rob, 1991. "Challenges to equity in health and health care: A Zimbabwean case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1079-1088, January.
    8. Delfin S. Go & José Alejandro Quijada, 2012. "The Odds of Achieving the MDGs," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 27(2), pages 143-184, August.
    9. Dinçer, Mehmet Alper & Kaushal, Neeraj & Grossman, Michael, 2014. "Women’s Education: Harbinger of Another Spring? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 243-258.
    10. 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.
    11. Thomas, Duncan & Maluccio, John, 1996. "Fertility, Contraceptive Choice, and Public Policy in Zimbabwe," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 10(1), pages 189-222, January.
    12. Shin-Yi Chou & Jin-Tan Liu & Michael Grossman & Ted Joyce, 2010. "Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Taiwan," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 33-61, January.
    13. Grossman, Michael, 2006. "Education and Nonmarket Outcomes," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 577-633, Elsevier.
    14. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1495-1532.
    15. repec:csa:wpaper:1997-13 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Grytten, Jostein & Skau, Irene & Sørensen, Rune J., 2014. "Educated mothers, healthy infants. The impact of a school reform on the birth weight of Norwegian infants 1967–2005," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 84-92.
    17. Damon Clark & Heather Royer, 2013. "The Effect of Education on Adult Mortality and Health: Evidence from Britain," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2087-2120, October.
    18. Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2005. "The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the United States," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(1), pages 189-221.
    19. Sanders, David & Davies, Rob, 1988. "The economy, the health sector and child health in Zimbabwe since independence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 723-731, January.
    20. Mabel Andalón & Jenny Williams & Michael Grossman, 2014. "Empowering Women: The Effect of Schooling on Young Women's Knowledge and Use of Contraception," NBER Working Papers 19961, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Wilbert van der Klaauw, 2002. "Estimating the Effect of Financial Aid Offers on College Enrollment: A Regression-Discontinuity Approach," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1249-1287, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baltagi, Badi H. & Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Karatas, Haci M., 2019. "The effect of education on health: Evidence from the 1997 compulsory schooling reform in Turkey," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 205-221.
    2. Dursun, Bahadır & Cesur, Resul & Mocan, Naci, 2018. "The Impact of Education on Health Outcomes and Behaviors in a Middle-Income, Low-Education Country," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 94-114.
    3. Makate, Marshall & Makate, Clifton, 2016. "The causal effect of increased primary schooling on child mortality in Malawi: Universal primary education as a natural experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 72-83.
    4. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2020. "Shedding light on maternal education and child health in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Bahadir Dursun & Resul Cesur & Inas Rashad Kelly, 2017. "The Value of Mandating Maternal Education in a Developing Country," NBER Working Papers 23492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Marshall Makate, 2016. "Education Policy and Under-Five Survival in Uganda: Evidence from the Demographic and Health Surveys," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Bahadır Dursun & Resul Cesur & Inas R. Kelly, 2022. "Mandatory Schooling of Girls Improved Their Children's Health: Evidence from Turkey's 1997 Education Reform," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 824-858, June.
    8. Richard Akresh & Daniel Halim & Marieke Kleemans, 2023. "Long-Term and Intergenerational Effects of Education: Evidence from School Construction in Indonesia," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(650), pages 582-612.
    9. Thao Bui, 2023. "Compulsory education reform and child mortality in Peru," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 1941-1963, September.
    10. Sana Khan & Gianna Claudia Giannelli & Lucia Ferrone, 2024. "Can Maternal Education Enhance Children's Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Outcomes? Evidence from 2003 Education Reform in Kenya," Working Papers - Economics wp2024_12.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    11. Shin-Yi Chou & Jin-Tan Liu & Michael Grossman & Ted Joyce, 2010. "Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Taiwan," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 33-61, January.
    12. Bellés-Obrero, Cristina & Cabrales, Antonio & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi & Vall-Castelló, Judit, 2023. "Women’s education, fertility and children’ health during a gender equalization process: Evidence from a child labor reform in Spain," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Chen, Jiwei & Guo, Jiangying, 2022. "The effect of female education on fertility: Evidence from China’s compulsory schooling reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Hamad, Rita & Elser, Holly & Tran, Duy C. & Rehkopf, David H. & Goodman, Steven N., 2018. "How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 168-178.
    15. Bansal, Prateek & Daziano, Ricardo A. & Sunder, Naveen, 2019. "Arriving at a decision: A semi-parametric approach to institutional birth choice in India," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 86-103.
    16. Keats, Anthony, 2018. "Women's schooling, fertility, and child health outcomes: Evidence from Uganda's free primary education program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 142-159.
    17. Mustafa Özer & Jan Fidrmuc & Mehmet Ali Eryurt, 2017. "Does Maternal Education Affect Childhood Immunization Rates? Evidence from Turkey," CESifo Working Paper Series 6439, CESifo.
    18. Bloom, D.E. & Luca, D.L., 2016. "The Global Demography of Aging," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 3-56, Elsevier.
    19. Miron Tequame & Nyasha Tirivayi, 2015. "Higher education and fertility: Evidence from a natural experiment in Ethiopia," CINCH Working Paper Series 1509, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Aug 2015.
    20. Bilge Erten & Luis Pinar Keskin, 2017. "Breaking the Cycle? Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Violence," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series dp-296, Boston University - Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Maternal education; Returns to education; Child mortality; Fertility; Natural experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • N37 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Africa; Oceania

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:44:y:2015:i:c:p:97-117. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505560 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.