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Returning to returns: Revisiting the British education evidence

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  • Dolton, Peter
  • Sandi, Matteo

Abstract

We revisit the question of what is the rate of return to education in Great Britain. We make two contributions. Firstly, we re-assess the robustness of Harmon and Walker (1995), Oreopoulos (2006) and Devereux and Hart (2010) to equation specification and estimation method. Secondly, we generalize the previous IV approaches by using the month of birth in the calculation of a more accurate IV exploiting the 1947, 1963 and 1972 UK School Leaving Age reforms. Our results highlight the importance of equation specification and they provide a robust case for a 6% Rate of Return to Education for men.

Suggested Citation

  • Dolton, Peter & Sandi, Matteo, 2017. "Returning to returns: Revisiting the British education evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 87-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:48:y:2017:i:c:p:87-104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2017.07.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Judith M. Delaney & Paul J. Devereux, 2019. "More Education, Less Volatility? The Effect of Education on Earnings Volatility over the Life Cycle," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 101-137.
    3. d’Astous, Philippe & Shore, Stephen H., 2024. "Programs of study and earnings dynamics," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Buscha, Franz & Gorman, Emma & Sturgis, Patrick, 2023. "Selective schooling and social mobility in England," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Cummins, Neil, 2022. "The causal effects of education on age at marriage and marital fertility," Economic History Working Papers 115400, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    6. John Cullinan & Kevin Denny & Darragh Flannery, 2021. "A distributional analysis of upper secondary school performance," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 1085-1113, February.
    7. Kountouris, Yiannis & Remoundou, Kyriaki, 2024. "Education and vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    8. Gregory Clark & Christian Abildgaard Nielsen, 2024. "The Returns to Education: A Meta-study," Working Papers 0249, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    9. Lepinteur, Anthony & Nieto, Adrìan, 2021. "All about the money ? The gendered effect of education on industrial and occupational sorting," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2109, CEPREMAP.
    10. Sakai Yoko & Masuda Kazuya, 2020. "Secondary education and international labor mobility: evidence from the natural experiment in the Philippines," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    11. Franziska Hampf, 2019. "The Effect of Compulsory Schooling on Skills: Evidence from a Reform in Germany," ifo Working Paper Series 313, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    12. Eréndira León Bravo, 2022. "Three essays on education, wages, and the labour market in Mexico," Economics PhD Theses 0322, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    13. Clark, Damon, 2023. "School quality and the return to schooling in Britain: New evidence from a large-scale compulsory schooling reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Returns to education; Schooling; Instrumental variables;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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