LIFE EXPECTANCY AND HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTS: EVIDENCE FROM MATERNAL MORTALITY DECLINES

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jayachandran, Seema; Lleras-Muney, Adriana
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2009.124.1.349
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 349-397
• 关键词: economic-growth; developing-countries; SRI-LANKA; fertility; education; HEALTH; child; TRANSITION; longevity; returns

摘要

Theory suggests that longer life expectancy encourages educational investment because a longer time horizon increases the value of investments that pay out over time. To estimate the magnitude of this effect, we examine a sudden drop in maternal mortality in Sri Lanka between 1946 and 1953, which sharply increased the life expectancy of girls. We assess whether girls' education relative to boys' increases more in areas with larger maternal mortality declines. We find that for every extra year of life expectancy, literacy increases by 0.7 percentage points (2%) and years of education increase by 0.11 years (3%).