Does additional education affect memory consistently? An analysis of compulsory schooling reforms across Europe and U.S.

BACKGROUND: A growing literature suggests that education positively influences cognitive function in later life. However, the magnitude and consistency of this effect across study designs and populations remain open questions.

METHODS: This study re-examines results from the quasi-experimental studies of compulsory schooling reforms in Europe and the United States that estimate the causal effect of education on late-life memory performance. We use harmonized aging survey data from a new systematic coding and documentation of compulsory schooling laws (the Gateway to Global Aging's Education Policy Explorer), and estimate the robustness of findings across a set of methodological decisions (regression specifications, and sample restrictions).

RESULTS: Large sample size requirements often lead to underpowered studies, and researchers face numerous degrees of freedom in their statistical specification, including subpopulation definitions, choice of outcome variables, and functional forms. While most published studies report positive effects of education on memory, we find that the results of the cross-country continental European studies are not robust to specification choices. Results for the UK and US reforms are more robust to specification choices.

CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the importance of comparability and assessment of robustness to alternative regression specification choices when estimating effects of compulsory schooling on memory.