Menu Expand

Effects of Education on Long-term Mental Health: Evidence From Increasing Years of Compulsory Schooling In Germany

  1. Journals
  2. Society & Social Sciences
  3. Sozialer Fortschritt
  4. Vol. Online First
  5. pp. 1–27

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Cite JOURNAL ARTICLE

Style
Andrea M., M., Maike, S. Effects of Education on Long-term Mental Health: Evidence From Increasing Years of Compulsory Schooling In Germany. Sozialer Fortschritt, 99999(), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2023.03.Muehlenweg.Schmitt
Andrea M., Mühlenweg and Maike, Schmitt "Effects of Education on Long-term Mental Health: Evidence From Increasing Years of Compulsory Schooling In Germany" Sozialer Fortschritt 99999., 2023, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2023.03.Muehlenweg.Schmitt
Andrea M., Mühlenweg/Maike, Schmitt (2023): Effects of Education on Long-term Mental Health: Evidence From Increasing Years of Compulsory Schooling In Germany, in: Sozialer Fortschritt, vol. 99999, iss. , 1-27, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2023.03.Muehlenweg.Schmitt
Format
Download

Effects of Education on Long-term Mental Health: Evidence From Increasing Years of Compulsory Schooling In Germany

Andrea M., Mühlenweg | Maike, Schmitt

Sozialer Fortschritt, Vol. (2023), Online First : pp. 1–27

Preview Login to order (PDF)

Additional Information

Article Details

Publisher Name
Duncker & Humblot
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2023.03.Muehlenweg.Schmitt
Language
English
Pages
27
Keywords

Pricing

Individual
€ 18.00 (incl. local VAT if applicable)

Author Details

Mühlenweg, Dr. Andrea, WifOR Darmstadt, Rheinstraße 22, 64283 Darmstadt.

Schmitt, Maike, WifOR Darmstadt, Rheinstraße 22, 64283 Darmstadt.

References

  1. Albarrán, P./Hidalgo-Hidalgo, M./Iturbe-Ormaetxe, I. (2020): Education and adult health: Is there a causal effect?, Social Science & Medicine, 249, p. 112830. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112830.  Google Scholar
  2. Almlund, M./Duckworth, A. L./Heckman, J. J./Kautz, T. D. (2011): Personality Psychology and Economics, in Handbook of the Economics of Education. Elsevier, pp. 1 – 181. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53444-6.00001-8.  Google Scholar
  3. Angrist, J. D./Krueger, A. B. (1991): Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(4), pp. 979 – 1014. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/2937954.  Google Scholar
  4. Arendt, J. N. (2008): In sickness and in health—Till education do us part: Education effects on hospitalization, Economics of Education Review, 27(2), pp. 161 – 172. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2006.08.006.  Google Scholar
  5. Athey S./Imbens, G. W. (2022): Design-based analysis in Difference-In-Differences settings with staggered adoption, Journal of Econometrics, 226(1), pp. 62 – 79. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2020.10.012.  Google Scholar
  6. Avendano, M./de Coulon, A./Nafilyan, V. (2020): Does longer compulsory schooling affect mental health? Evidence from a British reform, Journal of Public Economics, 183, p. 104137. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104137.  Google Scholar
  7. Bago d’Uva, T./O’Donnell, O./van Doorslaer, E. (2008): Differential health reporting by education level and its impact on the measurement of health inequalities among older Europeans, International Journal of Epidemiology, 37(6), pp. 1375 – 1383. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyn146.  Google Scholar
  8. Baker, A. C./Larcker, D. F./Wang, C. C. Y. (2022): How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?, Journal of Financial Economics, 144(2), pp. 370 – 395. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2022.01.004.  Google Scholar
  9. Begerow, T./Jürges, H. (2022): Does compulsory schooling affect health? Evidence from ambulatory claims data, The European Journal of Health Economics, 23(6), pp. 953 – 968. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-021-01404-y.  Google Scholar
  10. Berens, E.-M./Vogt, D./Ganahl, K./Weishaar, H./Pelikan, J./Schaeffer, D. (2018): Health Literacy and Health Service Use in Germany, Health Literacy Research and Practice, 2(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20180503-01  Google Scholar
  11. Brunello, G./Fabri, D./Fort, M. (2013): The causal effect of education on body mass: Evidence from Europe, Journal of Labor Economics, 31(1), pp. 195 – 223. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3141.  Google Scholar
  12. Brunello, G./Fort, M./Schneeweis, N./Winter-Ember, R. (2016): The Causal Effect of Education on Health: What is the Role of Health Behaviors?, Health Economics, 25(3), pp. 314 – 336. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3141.  Google Scholar
  13. Callaway, B./Sant’Anna, P. H. C. (2021): Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods, Journal of Econometrics, 225(2), pp. 200 – 230. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2020.12.001.  Google Scholar
  14. Cameron, C. A./Miller, D. L. (2015): A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference, Journal of Human Resources, 50(2), pp. 317 – 372. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.50.2.317.  Google Scholar
  15. Card, D. (2001): Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems, Econometrica, 69(5), pp. 1127 – 1160. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0262.00237.  Google Scholar
  16. de Chaisemartin, C./D’Haultfoeuille, X. (2022): Two-Way Fixed Effects and Differences-in-Differences with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects: A Survey. w29691. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, p. w29691. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3386/w29691.  Google Scholar
  17. Conti, G./Heckman, J./Urzua, S. (2010): The Education-Health Gradient, American Economic Review, 100(2), pp. 234 – 238. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.100.2.234.  Google Scholar
  18. Courtin, E./Nafilyan, V./Glymour, M./Goldberg, M./Berr, C./Berkman, L. F./Zins, M./Avendano, M. (2019): Long-term effects of compulsory schooling on physical, mental and cognitive ageing: a natural experiment, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 73(4), pp. 370 – 376. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-211746.  Google Scholar
  19. Crespo, L./López-Noval, B./Mira, P. (2014): Compulsory schooling, education, depression and memory: New evidence from SHARELIFE, Economics of Education Review, 43, pp. 36 – 46. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.09.003.  Google Scholar
  20. Cunha, F./Heckman, J. J./Lochner, L./Masterov, D. V. (2006): Chapter 12 Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation, in Handbook of the Economics of Education. Elsevier, pp. 697 – 812. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0692(06)01012-9.  Google Scholar
  21. Cutler, D./Lleras-Muney, A. (2012): Education and Health: Insights from International Comparisons. w17738. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, p. w17738. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3386/w17738.  Google Scholar
  22. Cygan‐Rehm, K. (2022): Are there no wage returns to compulsory schooling in Germany? A reassessment, Journal of Applied Econometrics, 37(1), pp. 218 – 223. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.2854.  Google Scholar
  23. Dahmann, S. C./Schnitzlein, D. D. (2019): No evidence for a protective effect of education on mental health, Social Science & Medicine, 241, p. 112584. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112584.  Google Scholar
  24. Davies, N. M./Dickson, M./Smith, G. D./van den Berg, G. J./Windmeijer, F. (2018): The causal effects of education on health outcomes in the UK Biobank, Nature Human Behaviour, 2(2), pp. 117 – 125. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0279-y.  Google Scholar
  25. Dilmaghani, M. (2020): The causal effects of education on health over the life course: evidence from Canada, Public Health, 186, pp. 170 – 177. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.05.060.  Google Scholar
  26. Dilmaghani, M. (2021): Education, smoking and health: evidence from Canada, Education Economics, 29(5), pp. 490 – 508. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2021.1918641.  Google Scholar
  27. Fischer, M./Karlsson, M./Nilsson, T. (2013): Effects of Compulsory Schooling on Mortality: Evidence from Sweden, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(8), pp. 3596 – 3618. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10083596.  Google Scholar
  28. Galama, T./Lleras-Muney, A./van Kippersluis, H. (2018): The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. w24225. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, p. w24225. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3386/w24225.  Google Scholar
  29. Gathmann, C./Jürges, H./Reinhold, S. (2015): Compulsory schooling reforms, education and mortality in twentieth century Europe, Social Science & Medicine, 127, pp. 74 – 82. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.01.037.  Google Scholar
  30. GENESIS-Online (2020): ‘Bevölkerung: Altersjahre, Geschlecht’. Available at: https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/zahlen-und-fakten/soziale-situation-in-deutschland/61538/bevoelkerung-nach-altersgruppen-und-geschlecht/.  Google Scholar
  31. Goodman-Bacon, A. (2021): Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing, Journal of Econometrics, 225(2), pp. 254 – 277. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2021.03.014.  Google Scholar
  32. Grossman, M. (1972): On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health, Journal of Political Economy, 80(2), pp. 223 – 255. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1086/259880.  Google Scholar
  33. Grossman, M. (2000): Chapter 7 The human capital model, in Handbook of Health Economics. Elsevier, pp. 347 – 408. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0064(00)80166-3.  Google Scholar
  34. Grossman, M. (2006): Chapter 10 Education and Nonmarket Outcomes, in Handbook of the Economics of Education. Elsevier, pp. 577 – 633. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0692(06)01010-5.  Google Scholar
  35. Hamad, R./Elser, H./Tran, D. C./Rehkopf, D. H./Goodman, S. N. (2018): How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws, Social Science & Medicine, 212, pp. 168 – 178. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.016.  Google Scholar
  36. Hammen, C. (2005): Stress and Depression, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), pp. 293 – 319. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.143938.  Google Scholar
  37. Heckman, J. J. (2007): The economics, technology, and neuroscience of human capability formation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(33), pp. 13250 – 13255. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0701362104.  Google Scholar
  38. Hofmann, S./Mühlenweg, A. (2017a): Eine Perspektive für Analysen des Zusammenhangs von Bildung und Gesundheit: Potential und Limitationen von Routinedaten der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (GKV), Sozialer Fortschritt, 66(1), pp. 49 – 75. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.66.1.49.  Google Scholar
  39. Hofmann, S. M./Mühlenweg, A. M. (2017b): Primary care physicians as gatekeepers in the German healthcare system: Quasi-experimental evidence on coordination of care,quality indicators, and ambulatory costs.’, American Journal of Medical Research, 4(2), pp. 47 – 72.  Google Scholar
  40. Hofmann, S./Mühlenweg, A. (2018): Learning intensity effects in students’ mental and physical health – Evidence from a large scale natural experiment in Germany, Economics of Education Review, 67, pp. 216 – 234. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.10.001.  Google Scholar
  41. Imai, K./Kim, I. S. (2021): On the Use of Two-Way Fixed Effects Regression Models for Causal Inference with Panel Data, Political Analysis, 29(3), pp. 405 – 415. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2020.33.  Google Scholar
  42. Janke, K./Johnston, D. W./Propper, C./Shields, M. A. (2020): The causal effect of education on chronic health conditions in the UK, Journal of Health Economics, 70, p. 102252. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102252.  Google Scholar
  43. Kemptner, D./Jürges, H./Reinhold, S. (2011): Changes in compulsory schooling and the causal effect of education on health: Evidence from Germany, Journal of Health Economics, 30(2), pp. 340 – 354. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.01.004.  Google Scholar
  44. van Kippersluis, H./O’Donnell, O./van Doorslaer, E. (2011): Long-Run Returns to Education: Does Schooling Lead to an Extended Old Age?, Journal of Human Resources, 46(4), pp. 695 – 721. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.46.4.695.  Google Scholar
  45. Kondirolli, F./Sunder, N. (2022): Mental health effects of education, Health Economics, 31(S2), pp. 22 – 39. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4565.  Google Scholar
  46. Lager, A./Seblova, D./Falkstedt, D./Lövdén, M. (2016): Cognitive and emotional outcomes after prolonged education: a quasi-experiment on 320 182 Swedish boys, International Journal of Epidemiology, p. dyw093. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw093.  Google Scholar
  47. Leschinsky, A./Roeder, P. M. (1980): Didaktik und Unterricht in der Sekundarschule I seit 1950 – Entwicklung der Rahmenbedingungen, PB Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung (ed.), Bildung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland-Daten und Analysen 1, pp. 283 – 392.  Google Scholar
  48. Lleras-Muney, A. (2005): The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the United States, Review of Economic Studies, 72(1), pp. 189 – 221. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/0034-6527.00329.  Google Scholar
  49. Mazumder, B. (2012): The effects of education on health and mortality, Nordic Economic Policy Review, 1, pp. 261 – 301.  Google Scholar
  50. Mazzonna, F. (2014): The long lasting effects of education on old age health: Evidence of gender differences, Social Science & Medicine, 101, pp. 129 – 138. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.042.  Google Scholar
  51. Moreau, N. (2018): A SAS macro for estimation and inference in differences-in-differences applications with within cluster correlation and cluster-corrections for a few clusters. Available at: https://hal.science/hal-01691476/.  Google Scholar
  52. Ohlmeier, C./Frick, J./Prütz, F./Lampert, T./Ziese, T./Mikolajsczyk, R./Garbe, E. (2014): ‘Nutzungsmöglichkeiten von Routinedaten der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung in der Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes’, Bundesgesundheitsblatt – Gesundheitsforschung – Gesundheitsschutz, 57(4), pp. 464 – 472. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-013-1912-1.  Google Scholar
  53. Okamoto, S. K./LeCroy, C. W./Dustman, P./Hohmann-Mariott, B./Kulis, S. (2004): An Ecological Assessment of Drug-Related Problem Situations for American Indian Adolescents of the Southwest, Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 4(3), pp. 47–63. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1300/J160v04n03_04.  Google Scholar
  54. de Oliveira, C./Saka, M./Bone, L./Jacobs, R. (2022): The Role of Mental Health on Workplace Productivity: A Critical Review of the Literature, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 21(2), pp. 167 – 193. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-022-00761-w.  Google Scholar
  55. Oreopoulos, P. (2006): Estimating Average and Local Average Treatment Effects of Education when Compulsory Schooling Laws Really Matter, American Economic Review, 96(1), pp. 152 – 175. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1257/000282806776157641.  Google Scholar
  56. Pischke, J. (2007): The Impact of Length of the School Year on Student Performance and Earnings: Evidence from the German Short School Years, The Economic Journal, 117(523), pp. 1216 – 1242. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02080.x.  Google Scholar
  57. Pischke, J.-S./von Wachter, T. (2005): Zero returns to compulsory schooling in Germany: evidence and interpretation, NBER Working Paper [Preprint], (11414).  Google Scholar
  58. Pischke, J.-S./von Wachter, T. (2008): Zero Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Germany: Evidence and Interpretation, Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(3), pp. 592 – 598. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest.90.3.592.  Google Scholar
  59. Schneeweis, N./Skirbekk, V./Winter-Ebmer, R. (2014): Does Education Improve Cognitive Performance Four Decades After School Completion?, Demography, 51(2), pp. 619 – 643. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-014-0281-1.  Google Scholar
  60. Silles, M. A. (2009): The causal effect of education on health: Evidence from the United Kingdom, Economics of Education Review, 28(1), pp. 122 – 128. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2008.02.003.  Google Scholar
  61. Sun, L./Abraham, S. (2020): Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects, Journal of Econometrics, 225(2), pp. 175 – 199. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2020.09.006.  Google Scholar
  62. Swart, E./Ihle, P./Gothe, H./Matusievicz, D. (2015): Routinedaten im Gesundheitswesen Handbuch Sekundärdatenanalyse: Grundlagen, Methoden und Perspektiven, Das Gesundheitswesen, 77(03), pp. 130 – 130. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1548786.  Google Scholar
  63. Torre‐Luque, A./de la Fuente, J./Sanchez-Niubo, A./Caballero, F. F./Prina, M./Muniz-Terrera, G./Haro, J. M./Ayuso-Mateos, J. L. (2019): Stability of clinically relevant depression symptoms in old‐age across 11 cohorts: a multi‐state study, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 140(6), pp. 541 – 551. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13107.  Google Scholar
  64. UNESCO (2022): UNESCO’s education response to COVID-19. Available at: https:// www.unesco.org/en/covid-19/education-response/initiatives [25.02.2023].  Google Scholar
  65. UNICEF (2021): Exacerbating the learning crisis. Available at: https://data.unicef.org/covid-19-and-children/ [25.02.2023].  Google Scholar
  66. Wang, T. (2022): The impact of education on mental health: evidence from compulsory education law in China, Applied Economics Letters, 29(16), pp. 1515 – 1521. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.1946002.  Google Scholar
  67. WHO, World Health Organization (2017): Depression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates (No. WHO/MSD/MER/2017.2).  Google Scholar
  68. Xue, X./Cheng, M./Zhang, W. (2021): Does education really improve health? A meta-analysis, Journal of Economic Surveys, 35(1), pp. 71 – 105. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12399.  Google Scholar
  69. Zoike, E./Bödeker, W. (2008): Berufliche Tätigkeit und Arbeitsunfähigkeit: Repräsentative arbeitsweltbezogene Gesundheitsberichterstattung mit Daten der Betriebskrankenkassen, Bundesgesundheitsblatt – Gesundheitsforschung – Gesundheitsschutz, 51(10), pp. 1155 – 1163. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-008-0650-2.  Google Scholar

Abstract

To estimate the impact of education on long-term mental health, we examine a reform which increased the years of compulsory education in Germany. The reform affected cohorts of ninth graders in 1949 – 1969 in Western Germany. Variation in the year of reform implementation over federal states allows for a difference-in-difference strategy where we control for full sets of birth cohort, observation year, and federal state fixed effects. We also take account of state specific trends. Based on individual level health insurance claims data of a major health insurance company, we estimate the reform’s impact on mental health for individuals aged 50 – 85. The mental health indicator reflects the probability to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorder. Given the assumptions of the estimation strategy, we find robust protective effects of the education reform on men’s long-term mental health.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Andrea M. Mühlenweg / Maike Schmitt: Effects of Education on Long-term Mental Health: Evidence From Increasing Years of Compulsory Schooling In Germany 1
Abstract 1
Zusammenfassung: Langzeiteffekte von Bildung auf die psychische Gesundheit: Auswirkungen der Erhöhung der Pflichtschulzeit in Deutschland 2
1. Introduction 2
Evidence on causal effects of years of compulsory education on health 4
Mental health effects of increasing years of compulsory education 5
Mechanisms: evidence from the literature on increasing years of compulsory education 6
Our contribution and outline 8
2. Institutional background 9
3. Data 12
4. Empirical strategy 14
5. Results 17
Mental disorder 17
Health behavior as a mechanism 18
Robustness checks 18
6. Conclusions and Discussion 20
References 22

Contact

Duncker & Humblot GmbH Carl-Heinrich-Becker-Weg 9 12165 Berlin, Deutschland T: +49 30 790006-0

Quick Navigation

2024 Duncker & Humblot GmbH

Powered by CloudPublish

We use cookies to ensure that you get the best experience on our website. Learn more about how we use cookies.