The long term impacts of compulsory schooling: evidence from a natural experiment in school leaving dates

Emilia Del Bono and Fernando Galindo-Rueda ()

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper investigates a unique feature of the English educational system to estimate the causal effect of compulsory schooling on labour market outcomes. We examine school leaving rules that allow for discrete variation in exit dates by date of birth within school cohorts. This natural experiment enables a regression discontinuity design that differences out confounding factors discussed in the literature. Individuals compelled to stay in school for as little as three months longer than their classmates tend to achieve significantly higher qualification levels and experience better labour market outcomes. Our analysis of variation of impacts by age of compulsory schooling allows us to provide valuable new insights on the role of education credentials in the labour market.

Keywords: Education qualifications; School leaving age; Instrumental variables; Labour market impacts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C3 I2 J2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 73 pages
Date: 2007-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19400/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Long Term Impacts of Compulsory Schooling: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in School Leaving Dates (2007)
Working Paper: The long term impacts of compulsory schooling: evidence from a natural experiment in school leaving dates (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:19400

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