Essays on the Impact of Education and Family Policies on the Formation of Human Capital ; Aufsätze zum Einfluss bildungs- und familienpolitischer Maßnahmen auf die Entwicklung von Humankapital
This dissertation analyses whether policy-makers can impact the formation of human capital and the emergence of differences in human capital. Four independent research articles empirically analyse the effects of education and family policies on human capital. The dissertation acknowledges that human capital is multidimensional and analyses different dimensions of it, including various skills in early childhood, different measures of student performance in school, as well as the health and health-related behaviours of individuals. It takes a lifecycle perspective on the formation of human capital and analyses reforms that affect individuals at various stages in life: in early childhood, in secondary school, and intergenerationally. The analyses employ modern micro-econometric techniques to various data sets in order to estimate the causal effects of policy interventions. Each of the four research articles makes an independent contribution to the literature on determinants of human capital formation. Chapter 2 examines the effects of parental leave policies on child development. Parental leave policies support families around childbirth by offering job protection and benefits that compensate for the income losses of child-related work interruptions. Thereby, they affect several conditions in early childhood that may impact child development, such as parental labour supply before and after childbirth, time parents can spend with their children, and household income. A reform in Germany in 2007 both expanded eligibility for paid leave in the first year and removed eligibility for paid leave in the second year following childbirth. Higher-income households benefited relatively more from the reform than low-income households. The chapter analyses the reform effects on child development and substantial, pre-existing socio-economic gaps in child development. The analysis builds on rich administrative data from mandatory school entrance examinations conducted at age six. Eligibility for the new parental leave benefit ...