IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000092/005745.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Beyond the mincer equation: the internal rate of return to higher education in Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • García Suaza, Andrés Felipe
  • Guataqui, Juan Carlos
  • Guerra, José Alberto
  • Maldonado, Darío

Abstract

In order to present an estimation of the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to higher education in Colombia we take advantage of the methodological approach provided by Heckman, Lochner and Todd (2005). Trying to overcome the criticism that surrounds interpretations of the education coefficient of Mincer equations as being the rate ofreturn to investments in education we develop a more structured approach of estimation, which controls for selection bias, includes more accurate measures of labor income and the role of education costs and income taxes. Our results implied a lower rate of return than the ones found in the Colombian literature and show that the Internal Rate ofReturn for higher education in Colombia lies somewhere between 0.074 and 0.128. The results vary according to the year analyzed and individual´s gender. This last result reinforces considerations regarding gender discrimination in the Colombian labor market.

Suggested Citation

  • García Suaza, Andrés Felipe & Guataqui, Juan Carlos & Guerra, José Alberto & Maldonado, Darío, 2009. "Beyond the mincer equation: the internal rate of return to higher education in Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo 5745, Universidad del Rosario.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000092:005745
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repository.urosario.edu.co/bitstream/handle/10336/10946/5745.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman & Lance J. Lochner & Petra E. Todd, 2003. "Fifty Years of Mincer Earnings Regressions," NBER Working Papers 9732, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ira N. Gang & Catherine Y. Co & Myeong-Su Yun, 2002. "Self-Employment and Wage Earning: Hungary During Transition," Departmental Working Papers 200219, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    3. Thomas Lemieux, 2006. "The “Mincer Equation” Thirty Years After Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," Springer Books, in: Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics, chapter 11, pages 127-145, Springer.
    4. Carlos Felipe Prada, 2006. "¿Es rentable la decisión de estudiar en Colombia?," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 24(51), pages 226-323, June.
    5. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    6. Heckman, James J. & Lochner, Lance J. & Todd, Petra E., 2006. "Earnings Functions, Rates of Return and Treatment Effects: The Mincer Equation and Beyond," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 307-458, Elsevier.
    7. Nohora Yulieth Forero Ramírez & Luis Fernando Gamboa Niño, 2007. "Cambios en los retornos de la educación en Bogotá entre 1997 y 2003," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 66, pages 225-250, Enero-Jun.
    8. Fabio Sanchez & Jairo Nunez, 2003. "A dynamic analysis of human capital, female work-force participation, returns to education and changes in household structure in urban Colombia, 1976-1998," Colombian Economic Journal, Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Economicas, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad del Valle, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, vol. 1(1), pages 109-149, December.
    9. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, June.
    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. M. Antonella Mancino, Leonardo Fabio Morales, Diego F. Salazar, 2024. "Signaling Worker Quality in a Developing Country: Lessons from a Certification Program," LCERPA Working Papers bm0143, Laurier Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis.
    2. Guataqui, Juan Carlos & García Suaza, Andrés Felipe & Rodríguez, Mauricio, 2009. "Estimaciones de los determinantes de los ingresos laborales en Colombia con consideraciones diferenciales para asalariados y cuenta propia," Documentos de Trabajo 5756, Universidad del Rosario.
    3. M. Antonella Mancino & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Diego F. Salazar, 2023. "Signaling Worker Quality in a Developing Country: Lessons from a Certification Program," Borradores de Economia 1259, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    4. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis C. Carvajal-Osorio, 2020. "Two Stories of Wage Dynamics in Latin America: Different Policies, Different Outcomes," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 128-168, June.
    5. Andrés Álvarez & Juan Camilo Chaparro & Carolina González & Santiago Levy & Darío Maldonado & Marcela Meléndez & Natalia Ramírez & Marta Juanita Villaveces, 2022. "Reporte ejecutivo de la Misión de Empleo de Colombia," Documentos de trabajo 20156, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    6. Alexandra Pineda-Guerrero & Francisco J. Escobedo & Fernando Carriazo, 2020. "Governance, Nature’s Contributions to People, and Investing in Conservation Influence the Valuation of Urban Green Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, December.
    7. de Roux, Nicolás & Riehl, Evan, 2022. "Disrupted academic careers: The returns to time off after high school," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Fabiola Saavedra & Mónica Ospina, 2014. "Decisions about Postsecondary Education, their returns in Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 12542, Universidad EAFIT.
    9. Felipe Lozano R., 2009. "Evaluating An Alternative To Finance Higher Education: Human Capital Contracts In Colombia," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, November.
    10. Baez, Javier E. & Camacho, Adriana, 2011. "Assessing the Long-term Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers on Human Capital: Evidence from Colombia," IZA Discussion Papers 5751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Jorge Ivan Gonzalez & Mauricio Perez Salazar, 2019. "Mercados y Bienestar. Ensayos en memoria de homero cuevas," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Economía, number 79.

    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. Guataqui, Juan Carlos & García Suaza, Andrés Felipe & Rodríguez, Mauricio, 2009. "Estimaciones de los determinantes de los ingresos laborales en Colombia con consideraciones diferenciales para asalariados y cuenta propia," Documentos de Trabajo 5756, Universidad del Rosario.
    2. Polachek, Solomon W., 2008. "Earnings Over the Life Cycle: The Mincer Earnings Function and Its Applications," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 4(3), pages 165-272, April.
    3. Gustavo Yamada & Juan F. Castro, 2010. "Educación superior e ingresos laborales: estimaciones paramétricas y no paramétricas de la rentabilidad por niveles y carreras en el Perú," Working Papers 10-06, Centro de Investigación, Universidad del Pacífico.
    4. World Bank, 2011. "Strengthening Skills and Employability in Peru : Final Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 12533, The World Bank Group.
    5. Arthur Charpentier & Emmanuel Flachaire & Antoine Ly, 2017. "Econom\'etrie et Machine Learning," Papers 1708.06992, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2018.
    6. Fortin, Bernard & Ragued, Safa, 2017. "Does temporary interruption in postsecondary education induce a wage penalty? Evidence from Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 108-122.
    7. Mauricio Quinones Domínguez & Juan Antonio Rodríguez Sinisterra, 2011. "Rendimiento de la educación en las regiones colombianas: un análisis usando la Descomposición Oaxaca-Blinder," Revista Sociedad y Economía, Universidad del Valle, CIDSE, August.
    8. Emilia Bedyk & Jacek Liwiński, 2016. "The wage premium from parents’ investments in the education of their children in Poland," Working Papers 2016-14, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    9. Ana María Estrada-Jabela & Lewis Enrique Polo-Espinosa & Gerson Javier Pérez-Valbuena & Lucas Wilfried Hahn-De-Castro, 2016. "Caracterización del mercado laboral en el sector hotelero de Cartagena y las principales áreas metropolitanas," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 14976, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    10. repec:csa:wpaper:2013/13 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Jacek Liwiński & Emilia Bedyk, 2016. "Does it pay to invest in the education of children?," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 47.
    12. Tinh Doan & Quan Le & Tuyen Quang Tran, 2018. "Lost in Transition? Declining Returns to Education in Vietnam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(2), pages 195-216, April.
    13. Michał Myck, 2010. "Wages and Ageing: Is There Evidence for the ‘Inverse‐U’ Profile?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(3), pages 282-306, June.
    14. Mora, Jhon James & Arcila, Andrés Mauricio, 2014. "Brechas salariales por etnia y ubicación geográfica en Santiago de Cali || Wage Gap by Geographic Location and Ethnicity in Cali (Colombia)," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 18(1), pages 34-53, December.
    15. Heinze, Anja & Beninger, Denis & Beblo, Miriam & Laisney, François, 2003. "Measuring Selectivity-Corrected Gender Wage Gaps in the EU," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-74, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Nikhil Agarwal, 2015. "An Empirical Model of the Medical Match," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(7), pages 1939-1978, July.
    17. Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich, 2013. "The Love Aspects of Human Capital and the Economic Activity of Countries," MPRA Paper 52686, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Belzil, Christian, 2007. "The return to schooling in structural dynamic models: a survey," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 1059-1105, July.
    19. Flávio Cunha & James Heckman, 2016. "Decomposing Trends in Inequality in Earnings into Forecastable and Uncertain Components," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S2), pages 31-65.
    20. Corrado Andini, 2010. "A dynamic Mincer equation with an application to Portuguese data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(16), pages 2091-2098.
    21. Bertil Holmlund & Qian Liu & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2008. "Mind the gap? Estimating the effects of postponing higher education," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 683-710, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education returns; Mincer Equation; Internal Rate of Return; Colombia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:col:000092:005745. 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: Facultad de Economía (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferosco.html .

    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.