Education and health: The role of cognitive ability

Abstract

We aim to disentangle the relative impact of (i) cognitive ability, and (ii) education on health and mortality using a structural equation model suggested by Conti et al. (2010). We extend their model by allowing for a duration dependent variable (mortality), and an ordinal educational variable. Data come from a Dutch cohort born between 1937 and 1941, including detailed measures of cognitive ability and family background in the final grade of primary school. The data are linked to the mortality register 1995–2011, such that we observe mortality between ages 55 and 75. The results suggest that at least half of the unconditional survival differences between educational groups are due to a ‘selection effect’, primarily on the basis of cognitive ability. Conditional survival differences across those having finished just primary school and those entering secondary education are still substantial, and amount to a 4 years gain in life expectancy, on average.

The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence

“…approach to solving the omitted variable bias problem allows researchers to control for essential observable and unobservable variables, often using data from a specific cohort (e.g., Conti et al 2010;Savelyev, 2014;Bijwaard et al 2015). A limitation of the control-function approach is that it relies on generalizations of the conditional independence assumption.…”

Education, cognitive ability, and cause-specific mortality: A structural approach

“…A third approach, that we will employ, is based on structural models in which the interdependence between education, health, and cognitive ability is modelled explicitly. Results from such models for health-outcomes or for total mortality (Bijwaard, van Kippersluis, and Veenman 2015; show that at least half of the health disparities across educational groups is due to the selection of healthier, more able individuals into higher education. Hence, in recent years evidence is growing that the presumed health returns to education may be smaller than previously thought.…”

“…Second, in the analyses we account for confounding of the cause-specific mortality through (latent) cognitive ability. To this end we extend the structural all-cause mortality model of Bijwaard, van Kippersluis, and Veenman (2015) to cause-specific mortality. The model takes into account that (latent) cognitive ability (and other observed individual characteristics) may affect both the attained education and the cause-specific mortality rates.…”

“…The methodology we use to account for this endogeneity is an extension of the structural equation framework developed by Bijwaard, van Kippersluis, and Veenman (2015) and . The model consists of three parts: (i) ordered probit educational attainment depending on latent cognitive ability and other covariates, (ii) potential cause-specific mortality hazards depending on the education level, latent cognitive ability, and other covariates, and (iii) a measurement system for cognitive ability.…”

The Return to Education in Terms of Wealth and Health

“…A recent study by Heckman et al (2016) demonstrates substantial sorting into schooling by cognitive and non-cognitive abilities and establishes a causal link of education on smoking, physical health, and wages. Likewise, Bijwaard et al (2015), using Dutch cohort data, argue that at least half of the education gradient can be explained by a selection effect based on cognitive ability. The studies by Contoyannis and Jones (2004), Hong et al (2015), and Brunello et al (2016) also document a mediating role of health behavior in the effect of education on health and longevity.…”