Poster #20 - Examining the Causal Effect of Education on Tobacco Use in China

• In Event: 51.082 - MTCC Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: 51.082-3 - Sociology of Education Posters

Abstract

This study investigates whether the education effect on adult tobacco use in China is causal. I employ two-stage least square (2SLS) technique to analyze longitudinal data from China Health and Nutrition Survey, trying to draw the causal inference between educational attainment and individuals’ smoking behaviors. The first Compulsory Education Law in China enacted in early 1986 is used as the instrumental variable. The results show that though logistic regression analysis reviews strong negative relationship between individuals’ years of schooling and smoking status, no causality in such relationship is found in the analyzed sample through the 2SLS approach. Therefore, the argument of the causal effect of education on population health still needs to be processed with caution.

Authors

• Tian Fu, Capital Normal University

• Min Li, Capital Normal University

• Zhikun Zhang, Capital Normal University

• Lusha Ou, Capital Normal University