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Education and HIV incidence among young women: causation or selection?

Author

Listed:
  • Durevall, Dick

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

  • Lindskog, Annika

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

  • George, Gavin

    (HEARD, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000 South Africa)

Abstract

Several studies report that schooling protects against HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study examines the effect of secondary school attendance on the probability of HIV incidence among young women aged 15-24, using panel data from rural KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Three approaches are used to distinguish causation from selection: instrumentation to identify the causal effect, a fixed effects model to control for constant unobserved factors and assessments of the bias from selection on unobserved variables. Although there is a strong negative association between secondary school attendance and HIV incidence, we are not able to find support for a causal effect. Thus, there is no evidence that interventions that increase secondary school attendance in KwaZulu-Natal would mechanically reduce HIV risk for young women. Our focus on school attendance, in contrast to studies that analyze school attainment, might explain the negative finding.

Suggested Citation

  • Durevall, Dick & Lindskog, Annika & George, Gavin, 2015. "Education and HIV incidence among young women: causation or selection?," Working Papers in Economics 638, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0638
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/41117
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV/AIDS; Education; Schooling; South Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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