Does Less Education Harm Health? Evidence From a Natural Experiment in a Developing Country
利用埃及1988年缩短学制的政策变化作为自然实验，采用模糊断点回归设计，发现减少受教育年限并未对健康结果产生统计上显著的影响。
ABSTRACT We investigate the health outcome effects of a reduction in years of schooling in Egypt in 1988, a policy change that moves in the opposite direction in relation to the extant literature. We exploit this policy change as a natural experiment and employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to investigate a range of objectively measured health outcomes and behaviours. Despite the policy's adverse effect on students' years of schooling and ability to complete educational milestones, there is no statistical effect on any health outcomes. Results also suggest that the reduction in years of schooling had no effect on labour market outcomes, thus providing a rationale for the lack of effect on health outcomes. While increasing education often leads to improved health outcomes, our findings suggest that decreasing education does not necessarily result in poorer health outcomes.