The effect of education on fertility: Evidence from a compulsory schooling reform

Cygan-Rehm K, Mäder MG (2013)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2013

Journal

Labour Economics Elsevier

Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Book Volume: 25

Pages Range: 35-48

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2013.04.015

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of education on fertility under inflexible labor market conditions. We exploit exogenous variation from a German compulsory schooling reform to deal with the endogeneity of education. By using data from two complementary datasets, we examine different fertility outcomes over the life cycle. In contrast to evidence for other developed countries, we find that increased education causally reduces completed fertility. This negative effect operates through a postponement of first births away from teenage years and no catch-up later in life. We attribute these findings to the particularly high opportunity costs of childrearing in Germany. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Authors with CRIS profile

Kamila Cygan-Rehm Lehrstuhl für Statistik und empirische Wirtschaftsforschung Miriam Gesa Mäder Lehrstuhl für Statistik und empirische Wirtschaftsforschung

How to cite

APA:

Cygan-Rehm, K., & Mäder, M.G. (2013). The effect of education on fertility: Evidence from a compulsory schooling reform. Labour Economics, 25, 35-48. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2013.04.015

MLA:

Cygan-Rehm, Kamila, and Miriam Gesa Mäder. "The effect of education on fertility: Evidence from a compulsory schooling reform." Labour Economics 25 (2013): 35-48.

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