“The Impact of Iodine Deficiency Eradication on Schooling: Evidence from the Introduction of Iodized Salt in Switzerland”, 2014-05-09 (; backlinks; similar):
I study the impact of salt iodization in Switzerland on graduation rates. The programme, which began in 1922 and continues to this day, was the first wide-reaching nutritional intervention ever to take place. Iodine deficiency in utero causes mental retardation, and correcting the deficiency is expected to increase the productivity of a population by increasing its cognitive ability. The exogenous increase in cognitive ability brought about by the iodization program is also useful in the context of disentangling the effects of innate ability and education on later-life outcomes. I identify the impact of iodization on graduation rates by exploiting pre-existing geographic variation in the prevalence of iodine deficiency, as well as spatial and temporal variation in the introduction of iodized salt across Swiss cantons. By looking at sharp, discontinuous increases in iodized salt circulation I show that the eradication of iodine deficiency in previously deficient areas statistically-significantly increased graduation rates from upper secondary and tertiary education. My results are robust to falsification tests and different measures of iodine deficiency.
[Keywords: Cognitive ability, education, human capital, productivity]