Long-lasting health effects of Soviet education

Abstract

Education systems serve various purposes, including the enhancement of later‐life health, though effects can differ by sociopolitical regime. This paper examines the effect of communist education, which exposed children to a distinct curriculum and ideological content, on later‐life health. We exploit a novel dataset that collects information on compulsory education reforms in several European countries, with different cohorts exposed and unexposed to Soviet communist education. Using a difference‐in‐differences (DiD) design, we show that while the extension of compulsory education improved some relevant measures of health, communist education encompassed an additional health‐enhancing effect. We document that the effect remains robust when using staggered DiD approaches and various robustness tests, and that it is explained by the priority given to physical education in the school curricula, together with an increased likelihood of marriage.