Effects of *education on adult health in Sweden: Results from a natural experiment.
Item
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Title
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Effects of *education on adult health in Sweden: Results from a natural experiment.
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Identifier
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AAI3103172
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identifier
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3103172
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Creator
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Spasojevic, Jasmina.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Michael Grossman
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Economics, General | Health Sciences, Public Health
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Abstract
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Understanding the determinants of health and the mechanisms through which they affect health is an important social policy issue. Empirical tests in health literature abound with the undisputed finding that years of formal schooling completed is the most important correlate of good health. This finding emerges whether health levels are measured by mortality rates, morbidity rates, self-evaluation of health status, or physiological indicators of health and whether the units of observation are individuals or groups. There is much less consensus as to whether this correlation reflects causality from more schooling to better health. A number of investigators have argued that omitted "third variables" such as a future orientation may cause both schooling and health to rise.;This study uses instrumental variables technique to estimate the causal effect of schooling on adult health outcomes in Sweden. The main aim of this study is to capitalize on a unique social experiment, the 1950 Swedish comprehensive school reform. Between 1949 and 1962, the school system created by the 1950 act was implemented randomly and in stages. Because of this, persons born between 1945 and 1955 went through two different school systems, one of which implied at least one year of prolonged compulsory schooling. The instrumental variable for schooling generated from compulsory school reform yields a consistent estimate of the causal impact of schooling on various health measures.;The overall finding is that schooling directly and positively causes health as measured by index of bad health and body mass index in healthy range. Additional schooling generated by the compulsory school reform in Sweden produces better adult health outcomes controlling for cohort and regional effects, family background characteristics and individual income.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
