Short, Medium, and Long Term Consequences of Poor Infant Health: An Analysis using Siblings and Twins

We use administrative data on a sample of births between 1978 and 1985 to investigate the short, medium and long-term consequences of poor infant health. Our findings offer several advances to the existing literature on the effects of early infant health on subsequent health, education, and labor force attachment. First, we use a large sample of both siblings and twins, second we use a variety of measures of infant health, and finally we track children through their schooling years and into the labor force. Our findings suggest that poor infant health is a strong predictor of educational and labor force outcomes. In particular, infant health is found to predict both high school completion and social assistance (welfare) take-up and length.

Self-productivity and complementarities in human development : evidence from MARS

This paper investigates the role of self-productivity and home resources in capability formation from infancy to adolescence. In addition, we study the complementarities between basic cognitive, motor and noncognitive abilities and social as well as academic achievement. Our data are taken from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), an epidemiological cohort study following the long-term outcome of early risk factors. Results indicate that initial risk conditions cumulate and that differences in basic abilities increase during development. Self-productivity rises in the developmental process and complementarities are evident. Noncognitive abilities promote cognitive abilities and social achievement. There is remarkable stability in the distribution of the economic and socio-emotional home resources during the early life cycle. This is presumably a major reason for the evolution of inequality in human development

Legislation canadienne de l'ecole obligatoire et incidence sur les annees de scolarite et le futur revenu du travail

Il y a deja plus de 100 ans que le legislateur a rendu l'ecole obligatoire au Canada, et on continue a discuter de politiques de poursuite obligatoire des etudes. On examine dans ce document les effets de ces lois sur le niveau de scolarite et les resultats socio-economiques subsequents des personnes qui ont du obligatoirement rester a l'ecole. Nos resultats font voir que l'ecole obligatoire a nettement augmente le revenu des adultes et largement diminue les risques d'etre sous le seuil de faible revenu, d'etre prestataire de chomage et de travailler a un emploi manuel. Compte tenu des couts que peut entrainer la frequentation scolaire, les resultats semblent indiquer que la legislation de l'ecole obligatoire a eu pour effet de procurer d'importants gains de carriere aux eventuels descolarises.Education, training and learning, Educational attainment, Labour, Outcomes of education, Wages, salaries and other earnings

Canadian Compulsory School Laws and Their Impact on Educational Attainment and Future Earnings

Compulsory school laws have existed in Canada for more than a hundred years, and policies to mandate further education continue to be discussed. This paper examines the impact of these laws on education attainment and on subsequent social economic outcomes for individuals compelled to stay in school. The findings indicate that mandating education substantially increased adult income and substantially decreased the likelihood of being below the low income cut-off, unemployed, and in a manual occupation. Considering possible costs incurred while attending school, these findings suggest compulsory schooling legislation was effective in generating large lifetime gains to would-be-dropouts.Education, training and learning, Educational attainment, Labour, Outcomes of education, Wages, salaries and other earnings