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The effect of education on teenage fertility: causal evidence for Argentina

Author

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  • María Laura Alzúa

    (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina (CEDLAS, UNLP)
    Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina (UBA)
    Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina (CONICET))

  • Cecilia Velázquez

    (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina (CEDLAS, UNLP)
    Centro de Investigaciones Económicas, Uruguay (CINVE)
    Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación, Uruguay (ANII))

Abstract

This is the first study exploring the causal effect of education on teenage fertility in Argentina. We exploit an exogenous variation in education from the staggered implementation of the 1993 reform, which increased compulsory schooling from 7 to 10 years. We find a negative overall impact of education on teenage fertility rates, which operates through two complementing channels: a human capital effect (one additional year of schooling causes a decline of 30 births per 1000 girls) and a weaker ‘incapacitation’ effect (a rise of one percentage point in enrollment rate reduces 3 births per 1000 girls).

Suggested Citation

  • María Laura Alzúa & Cecilia Velázquez, 2017. "The effect of education on teenage fertility: causal evidence for Argentina," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:7:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-017-0100-8
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-017-0100-8
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    2. Parada, Cecilia, 2024. "Fertility responses to cash transfers in Uruguay," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Teenage fertility; Education; Instrumental variables; Compulsory schooling laws; Latin America and the Caribbean; Argentina;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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