Home > Publications > Conference Paper > The Causal Effect of 2012 Compulsory Education Law on NEET in Türkiye: A Regression Discontinuity Design

Conference Paper

The Causal Effect of 2012 Compulsory Education Law on NEET in Türkiye: A Regression Discontinuity Design

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    • No.

    ERF_31_PO107

    Publisher

    ERF

    Date

    March, 2025

    Topic

    I3. Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

    In 2012, the Turkish government extended compulsory education from eight to twelve years. This article aims to examine the effects of a 2012 compulsory education law that made high school completion mandatory for youth with NEET (not in education, employment or training) status. The causal impact of the compulsory education reform is examined using a Regression Discontinuity Design. The study uses a pooled cross-sectional dataset created by merging the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) Household Labor Force Survey (HLFS) data from 2015 to 2023. The findings show that the 2012 Compulsory Education Reform increases NEET rates among youth aged 15-29 in Türkiye. This increase is particularly evident for females and in economically disadvantaged regions. Gender-specific effects reveal that the reform causes a significant rise in NEET rates among women, with the impact being more pronounced in the eastern regions, where traditional cultural norms are stronger. On the other hand, while the reform increases NEET rates for males in the South-eastern Anatolia (TRC) region, it does not lead to significant changes for males in other regions.
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    • The Causal Effect of 2012 Compulsory Education Law on NEET in Türkiye: A Regression Discontinuity Design

    Authors

    Cansu Bahçeci

    Research Assistant, Department of Econometrics, Aydın Adnan...

    The Causal Effect of 2012 Compulsory Education Law on NEET in Türkiye: A Regression Discontinuity Design

    Authors

    Şenay Üçdoğruk Birecikli

    Department of Econometrics, Faculty of Economics and...

    The Causal Effect of 2012 Compulsory Education Law on NEET in Türkiye: A Regression Discontinuity Design

    Research Fellows

    Oznur Ozdamar

    Full Professor of Economics, Izmir University of...

    The Causal Effect of 2012 Compulsory Education Law on NEET in Türkiye: A Regression Discontinuity Design

    Authors

    Eleftherios Giovanis

    Associate Professor of Economics, Department of International...

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