Abstract：
The government of Peru amended its constitution to increase compulsory education from six to 11 years in 1993. This constitutional amendment provides a natural experiment to investigate the impact of maternal education on child mortality. Exploiting differences in the reform exposure by age, I find that mothers who were exposed to the reform were less likely to experience the death of a child. There is also evidence that the reform caused a decline in infant mortality. These results are not driven by the age difference between mothers who were treated by the reform and those who were not treated. Additional analyses reveal that the reform increased age at first birth, decreased desired fertility, reduced smoking, and improved economic opportunities for women. The results demonstrate that compulsory schooling may be a useful policy tool to improve women\'s education, which can, in turn, enhance the survival of their children.
摘要：
秘鲁政府于1993年修改了宪法，将义务教育从6年增加到11年。这项宪法修正案提供了一项自然实验，以调查孕产妇教育对儿童死亡率的影响。利用不同年龄的改革暴露差异，我发现接受改革的母亲不太可能经历孩子的死亡。还有证据表明，改革导致婴儿死亡率下降。这些结果不是由接受改革治疗的母亲与未接受治疗的母亲之间的年龄差异所驱动的。其他分析表明，改革增加了第一胎的年龄，减少预期生育率，减少吸烟,改善妇女的经济机会。结果表明，义务教育可能是一个有用的政策工具，以提高妇女的教育，它可以，反过来,提高孩子的生存率。
