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Estimating the Effects of Family Background on the Return to Schooling

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Author Info
Olivier Deschenes (University of California, Santa Barbara)

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Abstract

This paper examines the causal association between family background characteristics--parental education and family size-and returns to schooling using data from the Occupational Change in a Generation Survey. I first develop a formal model of schooling and earnings, with heterogeneous returns to education. Family environment is shown to influence the marginal return to schooling through its effects on the marginal benefit and the marginal cost of an additional year of education. Using two types of exclusion restrictions, I find that men raised in larger families have substantially lower returns to education, while the combined effects of parental education on the returns to education are more modest. I also examine the difference between OLS and TSLS estimates of the return to schooling. Like other "supply-side" IV studies of the causal effect of education, this paper documents TSLS estimates that are larger than the corresponding OLS estimates. The results of this paper provide an alternative explanation for this phenomenon: constant marginal returns to schooling, combined with a negative ability bias and a positive self-selection bias (i.e. non-hierarchical sorting).

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Paper provided by Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara in its series University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series with number 10-02.

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Date of creation: 01 Mar 2002
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Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:10-02

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Keywords: Estimating; Effects; Family Background; Return ; Schooling;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Angrist, Joshua D & Krueger, Alan B, 1991. "Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(4), pages 979-1014, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Haveman, Robert & Wolfe, Barbara, 1993. "Children's Prospects and Children's Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 153-74, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Garen, John, 1984. "The Returns to Schooling: A Selectivity Bias Approach with a Continuous Choice Variable," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(5), pages 1199-1218, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. David Card, 1993. "Using Geographic Variation in College Proximity to Estimate the Return to Schooling," Working Papers 696, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Behrman, Jere R & Pollak, Robert A & Taubman, Paul, 1982. "Parental Preferences and Provision for Progeny," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(1), pages 52-73, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Card, David, 1999. "The causal effect of education on earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1801-1863 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Hausman, Jerry A, 1978. "Specification Tests in Econometrics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(6), pages 1251-71, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1992. "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 1-40, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Thomas J. Kane & Cecilia Rouse & Douglas Staiger, 1999. "Estimating Returns to Schooling When Schooling is Misreported," Working Papers 798, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
  10. Robert J. Willis & Sherwin Rosen, 1980. "Education and Self-Selection," NBER Working Papers 0249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. repec:fth:prinin:317 is not listed on IDEAS
  12. David Card, 2000. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," NBER Working Papers 7769, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Robert Kaestner, 1996. "Are Brothers Really Better? Sibling Sex Composition and Educational Achievement Revisited," NBER Working Papers 5521, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Chamberlain, Gary, 1984. "Panel data," Handbook of Econometrics, in: Z. Griliches† & M. D. Intriligator (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 22, pages 1247-1318 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Taber, Christopher R, 2001. "The Rising College Premium in the Eighties: Return to College or Return to Unobserved Ability?," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 68(3), pages 665-91, July.
  16. Thomas J. Kane & Cecilia Elena Rouse & Douglas Staiger, 1999. "Estimating Returns to Schooling When Schooling is Misreported," NBER Working Papers 7235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Hausman, Jerry A. & Newey, Whitney K. & Ichimura, Hidehiko & Powell, James L., 1991. "Identification and estimation of polynomial errors-in-variables models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 273-295, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Lorraine Dearden & Javier Ferri & Costas Meghir, 2002. "The Effect Of School Quality On Educational Attainment And Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 1-20, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Murphy, Kevin M & Topel, Robert H, 1985. "Estimation and Inference in Two-Step Econometric Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 3(4), pages 370-79, October.
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  20. Stephen Cameron & Christopher Taber, 2000. "Borrowing Constraints and the Returns to Schooling," NBER Working Papers 7761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Sandra E. Black & Paul G. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2004. "The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Composition on Children's Education," NBER Working Papers 10720, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2007. "Small Family, Smart Family? Family Size and the IQ Scores of Young Men," NBER Working Papers 13336, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Pedro Carneiro & Sokbae 'Simon' Lee, 2009. "Trends in quality-adjusted skill premia in the United States, 1960-2000," CeMMAP working papers CWP02/09, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
  4. Pohlmeier, Winfried & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm & Maier, Michael, 2004. "Returns to Education and Individual Heterogeneity," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-34, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  5. Song, Moohoun & Orazem, Peter, 2005. "Returns to Graduate and Professional Education: The Roles of Mathematical and Verbal Skills by Major," Staff General Research Papers 12432, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Song, Moohoun & Orazem, Peter & Wohlgemuth, Darin, 2007. "The Role of Mathematical and Verbal Skills on the Returns to Graduate and Professional Education," Staff General Research Papers 12843, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
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