Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/200634 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) No. 622
Publisher: 
Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Hannover
Abstract: 
In this study, we analyze health effects of a recent education reform in Germany exposing students to increased schooling intensity. The reform shortened the higher secondary education track by one year. As the overall curriculum required for graduation was held constant, this led to an increase in instruction hours in the remaining school years. The reform has been introduced at different points in time across federal states, providing us with a difference-in-difference setup for analysis. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), our results imply that the reform significantly reduced adolescents' self-rated mental health status. The overall effect on the mental component summary score (MCS) is about a quarter of a standard deviation. Examining MCS sub-dimensions, we find detrimental effects of the reform on vitality and on emotional balance. We also observe significant impacts on self-assessed general physical health.
Subjects: 
Adolescent health
schooling intensity
school reform
natural experiment
JEL: 
J24
I14
I26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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