No baby cries and silent neighbourhood: the effect of human capital investment on fertility

Woo Hyeok An and Jae Il Cho

Applied Economics Letters, 2025, vol. 32, issue 11, 1553-1557

Abstract: The decline in fertility rates in developed countries poses significant challenges. One of the primary factors contributing to this decline is the increasing educational attainment among the general population, as individuals with higher levels of education tend to have fewer children. However, understanding the effect of human capital investment on fertility decline is difficult due to potential endogeneity issues. In this study, we use the BK21 programme, a Korean government scholarship programme for graduate students, as an instrument to estimate the effect of human capital investment on fertility. Using this instrument, we resolve potential endogeneity issues, provide the causal relationship between human capital investment and fertility decline, and offer insights for policymakers by highlighting the inflection point of economic growth through human capital accumulation.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2024.2308567

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