Essays on the economics of human capital and health

This thesis consists of three essays on the topic of early determinants of human capital and health. Chapter 2 explores the average effect of selective schooling, assigning pupils to different secondary schools by ability, on adult health, well-being and labour market outcomes, adding timely evidence to the debate on the reintroduction of selective schools in England. Selection bias is addressed by balancing pre-treatment characteristics, followed by OLS and IV regressions. Findings show that selective schooling does not affect most measures of long-term health and well-being. However, it affects educational aspirations and it raises adult wages for both high- and low-ability pupils, compared to a mixed-ability system. Chapter 3 analyses the effect of selective schooling on long-term human capital for the marginal admitted pupil, comparing attendance to an academic school to its vocational alternative. Identification relies on a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, using proxies of entry test scores for selective secondary schools in England. Discontinuities in school assignment are estimated directly from the data. For the marginal admitted student, selective school attendance positively affects educational attainment, but this effect is conditional on having a favourable background. Other adult labour market and health outcomes are not affected. Chapter 4 investigates the effect of birth order of children in the family on risky behaviours and non-cognitive skills in adolescence. The paper uses a mother fixed-effect strategy to account for the endogeneity of fertility decisions and data from a UK household panel. Having older siblings is linked to a higher probability of engaging in early drinking, drug use and skipping school, and to lower non-cognitive skills. The link is stronger for boys and higher socio-economic status families. Differences in parental investments and the influence of older siblings explain part of the observed birth order effects.