IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/scandj/v110y2008i4p853-875.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Proxying Ability by Family Background in Returns to Schooling Estimations is Generally a Bad Idea

Author

Listed:
  • Erik Mellander
  • Sofia Sandgren‐Massih

Abstract

When schooling is measured with error and data on ability are lacking, return to schooling estimates will be subject to positive omitted variable bias (OVB) and negative measurement error bias (MEB). We investigate how these biases are affected when ability is proxied by family background variables. We show that the effect on OVB is uncertain, while MEB invariably increases in magnitude. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that MEB generally dominates OVB. With more background variables or increased measurement error, the total bias rapidly becomes negative and increasing in magnitude, thereby driving the return estimate further and further away from the true value.

Suggested Citation

  • Erik Mellander & Sofia Sandgren‐Massih, 2008. "Proxying Ability by Family Background in Returns to Schooling Estimations is Generally a Bad Idea," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 853-875, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:110:y:2008:i:4:p:853-875
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2008.00564.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2008.00564.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2008.00564.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hansen, Karsten T. & Heckman, James J. & Mullen, K.J.Kathleen J., 2004. "The effect of schooling and ability on achievement test scores," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 39-98.
    2. Lam, David & Schoeni, Robert F, 1993. "Effects of Family Background on Earnings and Returns to Schooling: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(4), pages 710-740, August.
    3. McCallum, B T, 1972. "Relative Asymptotic Bias from Errors of Omission and Measurement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 40(4), pages 757-758, July.
    4. Frost, Peter A, 1979. "Proxy Variables and Specification Bias," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 61(2), pages 323-325, May.
    5. Mellander, Erik & Sandgren-Massih, Sofia, 2008. "Proxying ability by family background in returns to schooling estimations is generally a bad idea," Working Paper Series 2008:22, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    6. Welch, Finis, 1975. "Human Capital Theory: Education, Discrimination, and Life Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(2), pages 63-73, May.
    7. Wickens, Michael R, 1972. "A Note on the Use of Proxy Variables," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 40(4), pages 759-761, July.
    8. Griliches, Zvi, 1977. "Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(1), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Isacsson, Gunnar, 1999. "Estimates of the return to schooling in Sweden from a large sample of twins," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 471-489, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mellander, Erik, 2014. "Transparency of human resource policy," Working Paper Series 2014:24, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mellander, Erik & Sandgren-Massih, Sofia, 2008. "Proxying ability by family background in returns to schooling estimations is generally a bad idea," Working Paper Series 2008:22, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    2. Patrick Alves & Alexandre Messa Silva, 2008. "Estimativa do Estoque de Capital das Empresas Industriais Brasileiras," Discussion Papers 1325, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    3. Richards-Shubik, Seth & Roberts, Mark S. & Donohue, Julie M., 2022. "Measuring quality effects in equilibrium," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Hanushek, Eric A. & Schwerdt, Guido & Wiederhold, Simon & Woessmann, Ludger, 2015. "Returns to skills around the world: Evidence from PIAAC," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 103-130.
    5. Pekkala, Sari, 2003. "Is Little Brother Nothing but Trouble?: Educational Attainment, Returns to Schooling and Sibling Structure," Discussion Papers 302, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Namba, Akio & Ohtani, Kazuhiro, 2006. "PMSE performance of the Stein-rule and positive-part Stein-rule estimators in a regression model with or without proxy variables," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(9), pages 898-906, May.
    7. Mellander, Erik, 1998. "On Omitted Variable Bias and Measurement Error in Returns to Schooling Estimates," Working Paper Series 494, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Norbert R. Schady, 2003. "Convexity and Sheepskin Effects in the Human Capital Earnings Function: Recent Evidence for Filipino Men," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(2), pages 171-196, May.
    9. Gary Madden & Scott J. Savage, 1998. "Sources of Australian Labour Productivity Change 1950–1994," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 74(227), pages 362-372, December.
    10. Guilhem Bascle, 2008. "Controlling for endogeneity with instrumental variables in strategic management research," Post-Print hal-00576795, HAL.
    11. Heckman, James J. & Schmierer, Daniel & Urzua, Sergio, 2010. "Testing the correlated random coefficient model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 158(2), pages 177-203, October.
    12. Nikolov, Plamen & Jimi, Nusrat & Chang, Jerray, 2020. "The Importance of Cognitive Domains and the Returns to Schooling in South Africa: Evidence from Two Labor Surveys," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    13. Patrick M. Emerson & André Portela Souza, 2011. "Is Child Labor Harmful? The Impact of Working Earlier in Life on Adult Earnings," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 345-385.
    14. Torberg Falch & Sofia Sandgren Massih, 2011. "The Effect Of Education On Cognitive Ability," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(3), pages 838-856, July.
    15. Whitaker, Stephan D., 2018. "Big Data versus a survey," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 285-296.
    16. Thiel, Hendrik & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2013. "Noncognitive skills in economics: Models, measurement, and empirical evidence," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 189-214.
    17. Tushar Agrawal, 2011. "Returns to education in India: Some recent evidence," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2011-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    18. Pedro Carneiro & James J. Heckman, 2002. "The Evidence on Credit Constraints in Post--secondary Schooling," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 705-734, October.
    19. Adrian C. Darnell, 1994. "A Dictionary Of Econometrics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 118.
    20. Mirjam van Praag & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Justin van der Sluis, 2009. "Returns for Entrepreneurs versus Employees: The Effect of Education and Personal Control on the Relative Performance of Entrepreneurs vis-a-vis Wage Employees," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-111/3, Tinbergen Institute.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:110:y:2008:i:4:p:853-875. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9442 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.