Emmanuel Adu Boahen
3 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFInequalities in labour market outcomes of school leavers: Does educational track matter?
By Emmanuel Adu Boahen
This paper uses propensity score matching to investigate the differences in labour market outcomes between graduates from general education and those from technical vocational education and training (TVET). The sixth and seventh waves of the Ghana living standard survey are pooled for analysis. Findings from the study suggest that graduates from TVET have weaker earnings compared to those from general education. The study shows that the average wage of graduates from TVET is 70% of that of graduates from general education. The study revealed that the wage advantages of general education over TVET education are only present for the group of individuals with tertiary education. We find that TVET education provides more labour market advantages than general education for individuals who cannot access tertiary education. Findings from the study point towards a widening of the wage gap between the two tracks of education over the life cycle. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Institute for Social and Economic Change 2023.
The effect of female secondary education on fertility and the timing of birth: regression discontinuity evidence from Ghana
By Emmanuel Adu Boahen
The objective of this paper is to investigate the causal effect of education on fertility. The study adopts an education reform in 1987 that shortened the years of completing secondary school education in Ghana as a natural experiment. The data used for the analysis come from 10% of the 2021 Ghana Population and Housing Census. Women exposed to the reform experienced an increase in secondary school enrolment, which resulted in an overall reduction in fertility. The results obtained in this study indicate that the rise in secondary school education due to the 1987 reform extended the age at first birth. The study found knowledge acquisition, incarceration effect, opportunity cost, and autonomy as possible pathways through which secondary education affects fertility. The study broadens the scope of exploration of existing studies by identifying several mechanisms through which education affects fertility in Ghana. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Institute for Social and Economic Change 2024.
Duration of high school education on early fertility and marriage: evidence from a policy change in Ghana
By Emmanuel Adu Boahen
Purpose: The objective of this paper is to examine the effect of spending one extra year in high school on early marriage and childbirth. Design/methodology/approach: The study takes advantage of the education reform in 2007 that extended the years of high school education by one to conduct a quasi experiment. The marriage and fertility outcomes of women who completed a four-year senior high school education are compared to those who completed a three-year senior high school education. Findings: The findings from the study indicate that the one-year extension in high school education led to a 4.75 percentage point reduction in the probability of ever marrying by age 27 and a 6.7 percentage point reduction in the probability of ever given birth. The authors demonstrate that the extension of the duration of high school education by one year has a heterogeneous effect, as it reduced the fertility and marriage outcomes of rural girls more than urban girls. The study reveals opportunity costs and confinement effects as possible mechanisms through which the policy affected early marriage and birth. Originality/value: This study is one of the few studies that examine the impact of the duration of secondary school education on fertility and marriage. For Africa in particular, there is no such study. Thus, this study provides a unique contribution to the literature since available studies on this subject matter can only be found in advanced economies. Unlike other studies in Africa that use a design that provides the combined effect of duration of schooling and school enrolment on fertility and marriage, this design enables the authors to only look at the effect of duration of schooling on fertility and marriage. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2023-0323. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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