Educational choices and family outcomes

This dissertation consists of three empirical studies that investigate the effects of educational choices on later-life family outcomes. Chapter 2 studies the relationship between field of study and various family outcomes. To estimate causal effects, centrally-executed admission lotteries that created randomization into oversubscribed study programs are exploited. Chapter 3 investigates the role of household specialization based on comparative advantage as a cause of the earnings penalty that women, but not men, experience after having their first child. It tests whether the higher-earning partner focuses on labor market work, while the lower-earning partner specializes in child rearing and household production, which would speak for the importance of household specialization. Finally, the fourth chapter assesses the importance of unequal access to medical expertise and services as a driver of health inequalities. To that end, admission lotteries to medical school are exploited to estimate the causal effects of having a child who is a doctor on parents' mortality and health care use and costs.