The causal effect of schooling on smoking behavior

Silles, Mary

Abstract

This paper, using data for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, examines the hypothesis that there is a causal relationship between schooling and cigarette smoking. Compulsory schooling laws are exploited to isolate for causation. Cohorts who were teenagers before and after the health consequences of smoking were widely known are used to compare the effects of additional schooling in the presence and absence of widespread exposure to health-related information. Although the results for Great Britain indicate no causal role for education either before or after the consequences of smoking for health were widely known, the results for Northern Ireland suggest that, at least among men, schooling affected smoking decisions prior to the public dissemination of knowledge on the dangers of smoking for health.

Citation

Silles, M. (2015). The causal effect of schooling on smoking behavior. Economics of education review, 48, 102-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 12, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Jun 18, 2015
• Publication Date: 2015-10
• Deposit Date: Aug 26, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Journal: Economics of education review
• Print ISSN: 0272-7757
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Pages: 102-116
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.004
• Keywords: Education, Health, Endogeneity bias
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/378075
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775715000801
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: The causal effect of schooling on smoking behavior; Journal Title: Economics of Education Review; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.004; Content Type: article; Copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.