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Title: "The Fewer, the Merrier": Compulsory Schooling Laws, Human Capital, and Fertility in the United States

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: I investigate the e ect of the introduction of compulsory schoolinglaws on education and fertility in the United States, 1850{1920. I ndthat compulsory schooling was associated with a 7 percent increase inenrollment and with a 15 percent decline in the fertility of women ofreproductive age. My identi cation strategy is based on a di erence-in-di erences (DID) methodology involving individuals living in thevicinity of the state border where legislation changed. The results arerobust to the inclusion of a number of socio-demographic and geo-graphic controls. The e ects on education are particularly strong forblack children, whereas the e ects on fertility are concentrated amongyoung women. The results suggest that compulsory schooling lawsmay be a crucial policy for hastening both the demographic transi-tion, and the transition to modern growth.

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Authors: Puerta, Juan M.

Publisher: Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Fertility and Mortality, Other

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