Ulf Gerdtham
Professor
The Health Returns of University Eligibility
Author
Summary, in English
This paper exploits an arbitrary university eligibility rule in Sweden combined with regression discontinuity to estimate the impact of university education on health derived demand for medical care. We find a clear jump in university attendance due to university eligibility of between 10 and 14 percentage points. For females this implies a 30-40% drop in self-harm. For males it coincides with reduced use of prescribed pain killers, implying reduced risky behaviour. Males also observe a 30% increase in mental disorders, almost exclusively related to alcohol. The spillovers of university education on to health for the marginal student are therefore significant.
Department/s
- Health Economics
- AgriFood Economics Centre, Lund University School of Economics and Management
- Department of Economics
- Centre for Economic Demography
- EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
Publishing year
2020-04-24
Language
English
Publication/Series
Working Papers
Issue
2020:7
Links
Document type
Working paper
Topic
- Economics
- Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy
Keywords
- Health returns to education
- demand for medical care
- Regression Discontinuity Design
- I10
- I23
- I26
Status
Published
Research group
- Health Economics