Countries in the developing world were led to believe that education would put them on the path to becoming modern economies'and they responded enthusiastically. Education for All was a powerful message that has led to a veritable transformation of schooling throughout the world

We study the effect of a compulsory education reform in Sweden on adult health and mortality. The reform was implemented by municipalities between 1949 and 1962 as a social experiment and implied an extension of compulsory schooling from 7 or 8 years depending on municipality to 9 years...