Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DYNAMICS (The Dynamic Impacts of Child Health and Skills Enhanced by School Interventions across the Life Course)
Période du rapport: 2022-04-20 au 2024-04-19
The DYNAMICS project addressed a pressing and underexplored question: how school-based interventions targeting health, education, and social norms shape children’s life trajectories and intergenerational outcomes. While the benefits of early-life interventions are well documented, there is limited causal evidence on how different reforms interact over the life course to influence long-term health, socioeconomic success, and mobility—a gap with major implications for today’s education and public health policy debates.
The project is grounded in the concept of dynamic complementarity—the idea that early investments in one domain enhance the impact of later investments in others. Few studies have rigorously tested this across health, cognitive, and non-cognitive dimensions using quasi-experimental methods and comprehensive longitudinal data.
DYNAMICS aimed to fill this gap by generating new causal evidence on the long-term effects of school-based interventions, focusing on three objectives:
1. Reinforcement: To examine whether exposure to school doctors—who provided regular check-ups and treatment—enhanced the returns to later educational reforms. Using staggered difference-in-differences designs and Danish register data, the study found both independent and synergistic effects of health and education reforms, with combined exposure producing markedly larger gains in adult earnings and health.
2. Remediation: To assess whether school health services offset early disadvantage, such as wartime nutritional stress. Results showed that the school doctor reform had consistent positive effects regardless of war exposure, indicating the robustness of such programs as remedial tools in times of adversity.
3. Mediation: To evaluate how comprehensive sex education shaped outcomes via changes in social norms and non-cognitive skills. Studying its staggered rollout in mid-20th-century Sweden, the project found significant improvements in gender equality, labor-force participation, and intergenerational mobility. The reform fostered new social identities grounded in responsibility and prosocial behavior, benefiting both the treated cohorts and their children.
Together, these findings offer strong evidence that coordinated school-based investments—designed to reinforce, remediate, and mediate—generate significant and lasting societal returns. The project’s outputs include two high-quality working papers and presentations at leading international conferences.
The project is grounded in the concept of dynamic complementarity—the idea that early investments in one domain enhance the impact of later investments in others. Few studies have rigorously tested this across health, cognitive, and non-cognitive dimensions using quasi-experimental methods and comprehensive longitudinal data.
DYNAMICS aimed to fill this gap by generating new causal evidence on the long-term effects of school-based interventions, focusing on three objectives:
1. Reinforcement: To examine whether exposure to school doctors—who provided regular check-ups and treatment—enhanced the returns to later educational reforms. Using staggered difference-in-differences designs and Danish register data, the study found both independent and synergistic effects of health and education reforms, with combined exposure producing markedly larger gains in adult earnings and health.
2. Remediation: To assess whether school health services offset early disadvantage, such as wartime nutritional stress. Results showed that the school doctor reform had consistent positive effects regardless of war exposure, indicating the robustness of such programs as remedial tools in times of adversity.
3. Mediation: To evaluate how comprehensive sex education shaped outcomes via changes in social norms and non-cognitive skills. Studying its staggered rollout in mid-20th-century Sweden, the project found significant improvements in gender equality, labor-force participation, and intergenerational mobility. The reform fostered new social identities grounded in responsibility and prosocial behavior, benefiting both the treated cohorts and their children.
Together, these findings offer strong evidence that coordinated school-based investments—designed to reinforce, remediate, and mediate—generate significant and lasting societal returns. The project’s outputs include two high-quality working papers and presentations at leading international conferences.
The DYNAMICS investigated how school-based policies targeting children’s health, education, and social norms shape human capital and lifetime outcomes. Research was structured into three interrelated work packages—reinforcement, remediation, and mediation—each examining distinct pathways through which interventions affect the life cycle. The project progressed from empirical identification to causal estimation and dissemination through academic and policy channels.
Work Package 1: Reinforcement
This component explored whether early-life health interventions enhance the impact of later educational reforms. It focused on two sequential Danish reforms: the introduction of school doctors and the expansion of secondary education. Using newly compiled historical and register data, the study employed a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) design. Both reforms independently improved adult health and education, but combined exposure led to significantly greater gains in earnings and longevity. Results were presented in the working paper *Skills Beget Skills*, co-authored with PJensen.
Work Package 2: Remediation
WP2 assessed whether school health services mitigated early-life disadvantage, including wartime nutritional shocks. Using local WWII variation, it examined whether school doctors buffered these effects. The reform’s benefits held regardless of war exposure, underlining its effectiveness as a remedial policy. Findings were integrated into the WP1 analysis.
Work Package 3: Mediation
WP3 analyzed the long-term effects of school-based norm transmission through Sweden’s sex education reform. Drawing on teacher-training archives and population registers, the study followed treated cohorts and their children. The reform promoted responsibility, reduced early pregnancies and gender inequality, and increased prosocial career choices and earnings. Effects extended to daughters, who pursued education and entrepreneurship. Findings were published in *Life-Cycle Effects*, co-authored with A Elwert.
Training, Dissemination, and Exploitation
The project produced high-impact outputs and supported the PI’s career development. Two working papers were completed and presented at leading conferences (EEA, AEA, ESPE, COMPIE), with invited talks at Bristol, Duisburg-Essen, and Copenhagen.
Beyond research, the project included training in causal inference. Combined with mentoring and SDU’s talent track, this led to the PI’s Sapere Aude Starting Grant and a tenured Associate Professorship.
In sum, DYNAMICS achieved its scientific goals and delivered new data, methods, and policy-relevant insights. It offers strong evidence that coordinated investments in children’s health, education, and norms yield lasting benefits for individuals and society.
Work Package 1: Reinforcement
This component explored whether early-life health interventions enhance the impact of later educational reforms. It focused on two sequential Danish reforms: the introduction of school doctors and the expansion of secondary education. Using newly compiled historical and register data, the study employed a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) design. Both reforms independently improved adult health and education, but combined exposure led to significantly greater gains in earnings and longevity. Results were presented in the working paper *Skills Beget Skills*, co-authored with PJensen.
Work Package 2: Remediation
WP2 assessed whether school health services mitigated early-life disadvantage, including wartime nutritional shocks. Using local WWII variation, it examined whether school doctors buffered these effects. The reform’s benefits held regardless of war exposure, underlining its effectiveness as a remedial policy. Findings were integrated into the WP1 analysis.
Work Package 3: Mediation
WP3 analyzed the long-term effects of school-based norm transmission through Sweden’s sex education reform. Drawing on teacher-training archives and population registers, the study followed treated cohorts and their children. The reform promoted responsibility, reduced early pregnancies and gender inequality, and increased prosocial career choices and earnings. Effects extended to daughters, who pursued education and entrepreneurship. Findings were published in *Life-Cycle Effects*, co-authored with A Elwert.
Training, Dissemination, and Exploitation
The project produced high-impact outputs and supported the PI’s career development. Two working papers were completed and presented at leading conferences (EEA, AEA, ESPE, COMPIE), with invited talks at Bristol, Duisburg-Essen, and Copenhagen.
Beyond research, the project included training in causal inference. Combined with mentoring and SDU’s talent track, this led to the PI’s Sapere Aude Starting Grant and a tenured Associate Professorship.
In sum, DYNAMICS achieved its scientific goals and delivered new data, methods, and policy-relevant insights. It offers strong evidence that coordinated investments in children’s health, education, and norms yield lasting benefits for individuals and society.
DYNAMICS advances research on human capital by providing new causal evidence on how school-based interventions—targeting health, education, and social norms—shape outcomes across the life course and generations. Unlike prior studies of isolated reforms, this project explores their interactions using modern causal methods and rich historical data.
1. Progress Beyond the State of the Art
Most studies examine single reforms—like school meals or secondary education—with limited follow-up. DYNAMICS instead tests the *dynamic complementarity* hypothesis: early investments amplify later ones. This has rarely been tested in large-scale, overlapping policy contexts.
Paper 1 studies the interaction between school health services and expanded secondary education using recent staggered DiD estimators. It finds both reforms improved education, health, and earnings—especially when combined—supporting integrated policy approaches.
Paper 2 analyzes Sweden’s sex education reform, showing how schools shape social norms. The reform delayed family formation, boosted labor force participation and earnings, and reduced gender inequality. Together, the studies offer a framework for understanding compounding effects of layered school interventions.
2 Expected Results
The project has:
* Submitted two working papers to leading journals;
* Built a new dataset linking historical reforms to individual and family outcomes;
* Applied advanced DiD methods to overlapping treatments.
3. Socio-Economic Impact
It offers key policy insights:
* Integrated design: Coordinated reforms yield more lasting impacts;
* Social inclusion: Norm-shaping reduces gender gaps and fosters engagement;
* Economic returns: Early-life investments improve health and productivity;
* Evidence-based policy: Historical variation and administrative data can inform long-term, equitable reform.
In sum, DYNAMICS shows how schools shape life chances and societal outcomes, setting a benchmark for evaluating public interventions and informing future research at the intersection of education, health, and inequality.
1. Progress Beyond the State of the Art
Most studies examine single reforms—like school meals or secondary education—with limited follow-up. DYNAMICS instead tests the *dynamic complementarity* hypothesis: early investments amplify later ones. This has rarely been tested in large-scale, overlapping policy contexts.
Paper 1 studies the interaction between school health services and expanded secondary education using recent staggered DiD estimators. It finds both reforms improved education, health, and earnings—especially when combined—supporting integrated policy approaches.
Paper 2 analyzes Sweden’s sex education reform, showing how schools shape social norms. The reform delayed family formation, boosted labor force participation and earnings, and reduced gender inequality. Together, the studies offer a framework for understanding compounding effects of layered school interventions.
2 Expected Results
The project has:
* Submitted two working papers to leading journals;
* Built a new dataset linking historical reforms to individual and family outcomes;
* Applied advanced DiD methods to overlapping treatments.
3. Socio-Economic Impact
It offers key policy insights:
* Integrated design: Coordinated reforms yield more lasting impacts;
* Social inclusion: Norm-shaping reduces gender gaps and fosters engagement;
* Economic returns: Early-life investments improve health and productivity;
* Evidence-based policy: Historical variation and administrative data can inform long-term, equitable reform.
In sum, DYNAMICS shows how schools shape life chances and societal outcomes, setting a benchmark for evaluating public interventions and informing future research at the intersection of education, health, and inequality.