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The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the U. S

Author

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  • Adriana Lleras-Muney

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

Prior research has uncovered a large and positive correlation between educa- tion and health, but there are difficulties in determining whether this relation- ship is causal. In this paper I reexamine whether education has a causal impact on health. I follow synthetic cohorts using successive U.S. censuses to estimate the impact of educational attainment on mortality rates. I then use compulsory education laws from 1915 to 1939 as instruments to obtain a consistent causal estimate of this effect. While least squares estimates suggest that an additional year of education lowers the probability of dying in the next 10 years by ap- proximately 1.3 percentage points, results from the IV estimation show that the effect is in fact much larger, at least 3.6 percentage points. Overall, one more year of education increases life expectancy at age 35 by 1.2 years. These results provide evidence of a causal effect from education to health and suggest that the income returns to education substantially underestimate the overall returns to education.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2001. "The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the U. S," Working Papers 272, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:cheawb:9
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. TCHICAYA Anastase & LORENTZ Nathalie, 2011. "Disparités sociales de mortalité au Luxembourg," LISER Working Paper Series 2011-37, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    2. M. Christopher Auld & Nirmal Sidhu, 2005. "Schooling, cognitive ability and health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(10), pages 1019-1034, October.
    3. Sonia Bhalotra & Bernarda Zamora, 2006. "Primary Education in India: Prospects of Meeting the MDG Target," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-80, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Adriana Lleras-Muney & Frank R. Lichtenberg, 2002. "The Effect of Education on Medical Technology Adoption: Are the More Educated More Likely to Use New Drugs," NBER Working Papers 9185, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2002. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings and Longitudinal Data," NBER Working Papers 9360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N42 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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