Does Schooling Prevent Teens Smoking and Drinking?

Abstract

A number of studies have explored the link between education and health or healthrelated behaviors like drinking and smoking. However, most suffer from concerns of omitted variables bias and reverse causality that make it difficult to argue for a causal relationship from schooling to these two behaviors. In this paper, we exploit a randomized trial from the Dominican Republic that provided information on the returns to schooling to 8th grade students, which resulted in an increase in schooling. We find that the treatment had a significant impact in reducing smoking and heavy drinking. We also find evidence that the effects may be due to changes in peer networks and increases in disposable income, but are unlikely to be caused by any direct impact of schooling on rates of time preference, attitudes towards risk or perceptions that drinking or smoking are harmful to health.