Education and fertility: Evidence from an instrumental variable approach using higher education expansions in Turkey

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of higher education on women’s fertility behavior in Turkey. To address the endogeneity of education we use the plausibly exogenous variation in college availability in Turkey between 1983 and 2000. We find that increased education of women in Turkey significantly reduced the number of children and increased the probability of childlessness at the end of the fecund period. The effect of education on fertility worked through a postponement in first births at ages following college graduation until the age of 35, an improvement in women’s labor market outcomes, better marriage market outcomes, and use of modern contraceptive methods. These findings suggest that education reduces fertility at the intensive and extensive margin through a combined incarceration and human capital effect and health knowledge in Turkey.