Thursday, April 12, 2012

New ESRI Working Paper: The Long Term Health Effects of Education

The Long Term Health Effects of Education

Vincent O Sullivan*

Abstract: Using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, I find that exogenous changes in the schooling of men born into lower social class families in Ireland during the late 1940s and 1950s had a statistically significant positive effect on their self-reported health in later life. I also find that the increased level of schooling had a statistically significant positive effect on physical exercise in later life as well as reducing the probability of an individual experiencing certain non-cardiovascular chronic conditions. However no statistically significant effect was found in relation to cardiovascular disease, self-rated mental health, smoking behaviour or self-reported and objectively measured memory although there is a high degree of imprecision in these estimates.

Corresponding Author: Vincent.o-sullivan@tcd.ie
Keywords: Causal Effects of Education, Self-Reported Health, Older People

No comments: