Can Basic Maternal Literacy Skills Improve Infant Health Outcomes? Evidence from the Education Act in Nepal

Vinish Shrestha ()
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Vinish Shrestha: Department of Economics, Towson University

No 2016-08, Working Papers from Towson University, Department of Economics

Abstract: The National Education System Plan (NESP), which was implemented in 1971, reshaped the edu- cation system of Nepal and increased access to education among females. I use this dramatic change in Nepal's education system as a quasi-natural experiment to identify the effect of maternal literacy skills such as the ability to read, write, and the highest level of schooling on infant and child mortal- ity outcomes. The results suggest that the reform improved educational attainment among females of school-going-age during the time of the reform but had no effect on male's educational attainment. Using within cohort and across district variations in educational outcomes due to the reform, I find that one more year of maternal schooling reduces under five mortality rate by 4.5 percentage points.

Keywords: Mother's literacy; infant mortality; returns to education. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I15 I26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 68 pages
Date: 2016-04, Revised 2019-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-hea and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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