TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Schneeweis, Nicole
AU  - Skirbekk, Vegard
AU  - Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf
        TI  - Does Schooling Improve Cognitive Functioning at Older Ages?
        PY  - 2012/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 6958
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp6958
        AB  - We study the relationship between education and cognitive functioning at older ages by exploiting compulsory schooling reforms, implemented in six European countries during the 1950s and 1960s. Using data of individuals aged 50+ from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we assess the causal effect of education on old-age memory, fluency, numeracy, orientation and dementia. We find a positive impact of schooling on memory. One year of education increases the delayed memory score by about 0.3, which amounts to 16% of the standard deviation. Furthermore, for women, we find that more education reduces the risk of dementia.
        KW  - memory
KW  - cognitive functioning
KW  - education
KW  - instrumental variables
KW  - compulsory schooling
KW  - aging
KW  - dementia
        ER  -