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Education and Longevity

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Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

Around 1700, a remarkable increase in life expectancy began in Europe and North America that spreads to other parts of the world, eventually adding 48 years to expected length of life. The persistent increase in longevity was a departure from centuries of stagnation at a steady-state equilibrium characterized by short lifespans lived at or below subsistence. This chapter reviews the antecedents to that increase in life expectancy including an agricultural revolution that increased average caloric consumption and health, an industrial revolution that increased income, and a human capital revolution that increased the capacity to produce and grow. It will be shown that increases in life expectancy led to rising investments in human capital, and that increased human capital had feedback effects on improved health. This virtuous cycle between health and education represents part of the endogenous growth mechanism that has increased life expectancy, education, income, and quality of life around the world, and offers a path out of poverty for the countries yet to develop.

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Acknowledgment

Responsible Section Editor: Klaus F. Zimmermann. The chapter has benefited from valuable comments of the editors, anonymous referees, and members of the Labor Workshop at Iowa State University. There is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program for the Study of Midwest Markets and Entrepreneurship, Department of Economics, IZA, GLO, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Peter F. Orazem

  2. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA

    Elizabeth M. King

  3. Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, and Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaka, NY, USA

    Mohammad Mainul Hoque

  4. Department of Economics, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Claudio E. Montenegro

  5. The World Bank, German Development Institute, Santiago, Chile

    Claudio E. Montenegro

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  1. Peter F. Orazem
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  2. Elizabeth M. King
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  3. Mohammad Mainul Hoque
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  4. Claudio E. Montenegro
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Correspondence to Peter F. Orazem .

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  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

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  1. Center for Population, Development and Labour Economics at UNU – MERIT, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

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Orazem, P.F., King, E.M., Hoque, M.M., Montenegro, C.E. (2022). Education and Longevity. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_290-1

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