Limited Life Expectancy, Human Capital and Health Investments

Emily Oster, Ira Shoulson and E. Ray Dorsey

American Economic Review, 2013, vol. 103, issue 5, 1977-2002

Abstract: Human capital theory predicts that life expectancy will impact human capital attainment. We estimate this relationship using variation in life expectancy driven by Huntington disease, an inherited neurological disorder. We compare investments for individuals who have ex-ante identical risks of HD but differ in disease realization. Individuals with the HD mutation complete less education and job training. The elasticity of demand for college attendance with respect to life expectancy is around 1.0. We relate this to cross-country and over-time differences in education. We use smoking and cancer screening data to test the corollary that health capital responds to life expectancy.

JEL-codes: I11 I12 I20 I31 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.5.1977
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (82)

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