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THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON WOMEN'S PREFERENCES FOR GENDER EQUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM SIERRA LEONE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2018

Colin Cannonier  and
Naci Mocan
Colin Cannonier
Affiliation:
Belmont University
Naci Mocan*
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, NBER and IZA
*
Address correspondence to: Naci Mocan, E.J Ourso College of Business, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University, 3039 Business Education Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-6306 e-mail: mocan@lsu.edu, Phone: (225) 578-4570, Fax: (225) 578-3807.
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Abstract:

We use data from Sierra Leone where a substantial education program provided increased access to education for primary-school age children but did not benefit children who were older. We exploit the variation in access to the program generated by date of birth and the variation in resources between various districts of the country. We find that an increase in schooling, triggered by the program, has an impact on women's attitudes toward matters that impact women's health and on attitudes regarding violence against women. An increase in education reduces the number of desired children by women and increases their propensity to use modern contraception and to be tested for AIDS. While education makes women more intolerant of practices that conflict with their well-being, increased education has no impact on men's attitudes toward women's well-being. Thus, it is unclear whether the change in attitudes would translate into behavioral changes. Consistent with this finding, education (on this margin) has no impact on women's propensity to get married, their age at first marriage or age at first birth.

Keywords

Healtheducationempowermentviolence against women
Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Demographic Economics , Volume 84 , Special Issue 1: Gender, Family and Development , March 2018 , pp. 3 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain 2018 

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Footnotes

*We thank Deokrye Baek and Luiza Pogorelova for research assistance. Michael Grossman, Leyla Mocan, Jorge Agüero, and participants of the European Economic Association Conference in Malaga, Spain, the SEA Association Conference in New Orleans Louisiana, the 38th Annual Conference of the Association for Education Finance and Policy in New Orleans, Louisiana, European Society of Population Economics Conference in Aarhus, Denmark, the 2013 NBER Summer Institute, and the Editor Murat Iyigun provided helpful comments.

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