Adolescents’ height and cognitive ability in China

Abstract

Cognitive ability, as an early human capital, has always been an important research object in modern education and labor economics. Despite growing awareness of the importance of height in individual growth and development, there are few empirical studies on height and cognitive ability. Using the data from the China Education Panel Survey, this paper examined the impact of height on the cognitive ability of adolescents and explored the reasons behind the Chinese pursuit of height growth and the potential impact mechanism. In this paper, comprehensive analysis ability was taken as the representative of cognitive ability. The empirical results showed that height was positively correlated with cognitive ability. From the perspective of the influence mechanism, the hypothesis that height reflected self-esteem, health, non-cognitive ability, and other influences on cognitive ability was excluded. To correct the errors that endogenous problems may cause, we used the PSM method and “age at first menstruation " and “age at first wet dream” as instrumental variables to correct them. The results showed that height still affected cognitive ability, with taller people having higher cognitive ability.