The Effect of Childhood Education on Old Age Cognitive Abilities: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design

Mazzonna, Fabrizio; Banks, James W.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2004315

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

The Effect of Childhood Education on Old Age Cognitive Abilities: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design

IFS Working Paper 04/11

38 Pages Posted: 14 Feb 2012

See all articles by Fabrizio Mazzonna

Fabrizio Mazzonna

Insitute of Economics (IdEP), Università della Svizzera Italiana; Munich Center for the Economics of Ageing (MEA)

James W. Banks

Institute for Fiscal Studies; The University of Manchester

Date Written: January 31, 2011

Abstract

We exploit the change to the minimum school-leaving age in the United Kingdom from 14 to 15 using a regression discontinuity design to evaluate the causal effect of one more year of education on cognitive abilities at older ages. We find a large and significant effect of this reform on males’ memory and executive functioning measured using simple cognitive tests from the English Longitudinal Survey on Ageing (ELSA). This result is particularly remarkable since the 1947 reform had a powerful and immediate effect on about half the population of 14-year-olds. We investigate and discuss the potential channels by which this reform may have had its effects, as well as carrying out a full set of sensitivity analyses and robustness checks.

Keywords: cognitive abilities, education, aging, regression discontinuity design, ELSA

JEL Classification: C14, I28, J14, J24

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Mazzonna, Fabrizio and Banks, James W., The Effect of Childhood Education on Old Age Cognitive Abilities: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design (January 31, 2011). IFS Working Paper 04/11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2004315 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2004315