Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/273574 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
GLO Discussion Paper No. 1314
Publisher: 
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen
Abstract: 
Increased education affects market and non-market outcomes. This paper investigates the causal impact of the extension of compulsory education from 6 to 9 years on females' education, marriage, and fertility outcomes in Thailand. Using data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and a donut-hole Regression Discontinuity (RD) design, we show that the new law increases lower secondary school completion in girls, leading to decreased probabilities of giving birth in the school-age years (14-17 years). The policy primarily affects the marginal child leading to the postponement of the timing of their fertility to after-school years. We also document heterogeneity and show that the fertility effects are stronger for Muslim women. The policy leads to a consistent drop in the probability of marriage and cumulative births for Muslim women, which sustain beyond the completion of schooling years. The results hold with alternative empirical model specifications and falsification tests.
Subjects: 
Compulsory Schooling
Education
Marriage
Fertility
Thailand
Social Norms
JEL: 
J13
J12
I25
I28
I21
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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