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The causal effect of education on earnings

01 Jan 1999-Handbook of Labor Economics (Elsevier)-pp 1801-1863
TL;DR: This paper surveys the recent literature on the causal relationship between education and earnings and concludes that the average (or average marginal) return to education is not much below the estimate that emerges from a standard human capital earnings function fit by OLS.
Abstract: This paper surveys the recent literature on the causal relationship between education and earnings. I focus on four areas of work: theoretical and econometric advances in modelling the causal effect of education in the presence of heterogeneous returns to schooling; recent studies that use institutional aspects of the education system to form instrumental variables estimates of the return to schooling; recent studies of the earnings and schooling of twins; and recent attempts to explicitly model sources of heterogeneity in the returns to education. Consistent with earlier surveys of the literature, I conclude that the average (or average marginal) return to education is not much below the estimate that emerges from a standard human capital earnings function fit by OLS. Evidence from the latest studies of identical twins suggests a small upward "ability" bias -- on the order of 10%. A consistent finding among studies using instrumental variables based on institutional changes in the education system is that the estimated returns to schooling are 20-40% above the corresponding OLS estimates. Part of the explanation for this finding may be that marginal returns to schooling for certain subgroups -- particularly relatively disadvantaged groups with low education outcomes -- are higher than the average marginal returns to education in the population as a whole.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore a potential source of human capital spatial disparities: the unequal access to tertiary education caused by the absence/presence of a local university and find that information advantage due to university proximity plays a significant role in the admission process.
Abstract: We explore a potential source of human capital spatial disparities: the unequal access to tertiary education caused by the absence/presence of a local university. Because the entrance to a university is a sequential process in the Czech Republic we model both a student's decision to apply to a university and the admission process. Two possible sources of unequal access to university are distinguished: cost savings and informational advantages for those residing close to a university. Estimation results suggest that the presence of a university per se is not driving student's decision to apply. Further we find that information advantage due to university proximity plays a significant role in the admission process. However this advantage is specific to the field of study, and becomes stronger in the case of highly oversubscribed study fields. To equalize the chance of admission, policy makers should consider geographical expansion of the system of universities accompanied by the expansion of university programs.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the decline in teen employment in the United States since 2000, which was sharpest for 16-17 year-olds, and find that higher minimum wages are the predominant factor explaining changes in the schooling and workforce behavior of 16 and 17-year-olds.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2022-Appetite
TL;DR: In this article, a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the extent of overall TV viewing as well as using screens while eating (e.g., watching TV or using a tablet), to compare food and nutrient consumption of on-versus off-screen eating occasions, and to determine whether TV viewing and using screen while eating is associated with overall dietary intake.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an empirical analysis of a set of indicators that are potentially significant to economic performance and innovativeness, and concluded that higher education's contribution to economic and innovative performance differs depending on the stage of the country's economic develop- ment; and that a country's ability to attract and retain talented people becomes more significant at each stage of economic development.
Abstract: A detailed investigation of higher education's contribution to economic performance and innovativeness inLatvia is necessary because of contradictory facts in the socio-economic reality of Latvian higher education. Despite the fact that in- vestment in theLatvian higher education system results in high participation, the economic and innovation returns, i.e., the profitability of the resulting highly educated labour force, are low. The analysis of the lit - erature has shown that there are other fac- tors that determine highereducation'scontr ibutiontoeconomicperformanceandinnov ativenessand enable highly skilled special- ists to potentially turn their knowledge into innovation and national income; e.g., the quality of higher education and the level of technological development in business. We conducted an empirical analysis of a set of indicators that are potentially significant to economic performance and innovativeness, and concluded that, first, higher education's contribution to economic performance and innovativeness differs depending on the stage of the country's economic develop- ment; and second, that a country's ability to attract and retain talented people becomes more significant at each stage of economic development. In Latvia both theability to attract and retain talented people and the level of technological development are poor- ly developed,which results in low economic and innovative returnsfroma relatively large number of highly skilled specialists.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Lombardi et al. as discussed by the authors examined whether economic fluctuations contributed to black men receiving fifty percent less schooling than white men, finding a positive correlation between black school attendance and cotton production.
Abstract: Black men born in the Cotton South during the turn of the twentieth century attended school for three and half fewer years relative to their white counterparts. In this paper, I examine whether economic fluctuations contributed to blacks receiving fifty percent less schooling than whites. Using US Census data, I find a positive correlation between black school attendance and cotton production. The attendance rates of white children are unaffected by changes in cotton production. Using features of the Southern agricultural economy, I show credit constraints drives the positive correlation between school attendance and cotton production for black households. Paul Lombardi is Assistant Professor of Economics at San Jose State University, 1 Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192. Email: plombardi@ucdavis.edu. A number of faculty advisers, including Dan Bogart, Gary Richardson, Damon Clark, and Priya Ranjan contributed to advancing this research. I also thank seminar participants at UCI and the All UC Organization’s Grad conference as well as the editors of this journal and referees for their comments.

5 citations