TY  - JOUR
AU  - Osili,Una Okonkwo
AU  - Long,Bridget Terry
TI  - Does Female Schooling Reduce Fertility? Evidence from Nigeria
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13070
PY  - 2007
Y2  - April 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13070
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13070.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Una O. Osili
IUPUI
Department of Economics
425 University Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46202
E-Mail: uosili@iupui.edu

Bridget T. Long
Harvard University
Graduate School of Education
Gutman Library 465
6 Appian Way
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/496-4355
Fax: 617/496-3095
E-Mail: longbr@gse.harvard.edu
AB  - The literature generally points to a negative relationship between female education and fertility.  Citing this pattern, policymakers have advocated educating girls and young women as a means to reduce population growth and foster sustained economic and social welfare in developing countries.  This paper tests whether the relationship between fertility and education is indeed causal by investigating the introduction of universal primary education in Nigeria.  Exploiting differences by region and age, the paper uses differences-in-differences and instrumental variables to estimate the role of education in fertility.  The analysis suggests that increasing education by one year reduces fertility by 0.26 births.
ER  -