IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-00006413.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Returns to Education in Rwanda

Author

Listed:
  • Gérard Lassibille

    (IREDU - Institut de recherche sur l'éducation : Sociologie et Economie de l'Education - UB - Université de Bourgogne, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jee-Peng Tan

    (World Bank, Human Development Department, The Africa Region - World Bank)

Abstract

Based on data from the 1999–2001 Household Living Conditions Survey conducted by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, we estimate wage equations for employees in Rwanda, treating the choice of employment sector as an endogenous process and making separate estimates for workers in the modern and traditional sectors of the economy. The results show that returns to education increase with the level of education, contrary to the pattern typically reported in the literature and that the returns to higher education is particularly high in Rwanda. A noteworthy feature in the results is that the returns to education are quite different across sectors of employment. In the informal sector, the returns to primary education and those to vocational and secondary general education exceed by a relatively large margin, the returns to the corresponding levels of education in the modern sector. A decomposition of the wage differentials across sectors of employment indicate that personal endowments, particularly in terms of educational attainment, are more important in accounting for the wage gaps, than are the difference in their impact on earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Gérard Lassibille & Jee-Peng Tan, 2005. "The Returns to Education in Rwanda," Post-Print halshs-00006413, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00006413
    DOI: 10.1093/jae/ejh035
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00006413
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00006413/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1093/jae/ejh035?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. Bennell, Paul, 1996. "Rates of return to education: Does the conventional pattern prevail in sub-Saharan Africa?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 183-199, January.
    2. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2004. "Returns to investment in education: a further update," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 111-134.
    3. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    4. Altonji, Joseph G & Dunn, Thomas A, 1996. "The Effects of Family Characteristics on the Return to Education," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(4), pages 692-704, November.
    5. Trost, Robert P & Lee, Lung-Fei, 1984. "Technical Training and Earnings: A Polychotomous Choice Model with Selectivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(1), pages 151-156, February.
    6. 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.
    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. Gundersen, Sara, 2016. "Disappointing returns to education in Ghana: A test of the robustness of OLS estimates using propensity score matching," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 74-89.
    2. Tillmann Heidelk, 2019. "The Returns to Education in the Context of a Natural Disaster: Evidence from the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti," Working Papers ECARES 2019-17, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Sam Jones & Thomas Pave Sohnesen & Neda Trifkovic, 2023. "Educational expansion and shifting private returns to education: Evidence from Mozambique," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(6), pages 1407-1428, August.
    4. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam, 2017. "Migration, Education and Work Opportunities," IZA Discussion Papers 11028, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Facundo Quiroga‐Martínez & Esteban Fernández‐Vázquez, 2021. "Education as a key to reduce spatial inequalities and informality in Argentinean regional labour markets," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 177-189, February.
    6. Paolo Brunori & Flaviana Palmisano & Vitorocco Peragine, 2019. "Inequality of opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(60), pages 6428-6458, December.
    7. Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2010. "Africa's education enigma? The Nigerian story," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 128-139, January.
    8. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    9. Uwaifo, Ruth, 2006. "Africa's Education Enigma? The Nigerian story," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21254, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    10. Livini Donath & Oliver Morrissey & Trudy Owens, 2022. "Universal primary education and household welfare in Tanzania," Discussion Papers 2022-02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.

    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. 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.
    2. Gabin Langevin & David Masclet & Fabien Moizeau & Emmanuel Peterle, 2017. "Ethnic gaps in educational attainment and labor-market outcomes: evidence from France," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 84-111, January.
    3. Ssebagala, Richard, 2007. "Wage Determination and Gender Discrimination in Uganda," Research Series 150483, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    4. Castagnetti, Carolina & Rosti, Luisa, 2009. "Effort allocation in tournaments: The effect of gender on academic performance in Italian universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 357-369, June.
    5. Samer Al-Samarrai & Barry Reilly, 2008. "Education, Employment and Earnings of Secondary School and University Leavers in Tanzania: Evidence from a Tracer Study," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 258-288.
    6. Chen, Jie & Kanjilal-Bhaduri, Sanghamitra & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "Updates on Returns to Education in India: Analysis Using PLFS 2018-19 Data," IZA Discussion Papers 15002, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. C Dougherty, 2003. "Why is the Rate of Return to Schooling Higher For Women Than For Men?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0581, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. repec:pru:wpaper:25 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ralitza Dimova & Christophe J. Nordman & François Roubaud, 2010. "Allocation of Labor in Urban West Africa: Insights from the Pattern of Labor Supply and Skill Premiums," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 74-92, February.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4924 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Monsueto, Sandro Eduardo & Simão, Rosycler Cristal Santos, 2008. "The impact of gender discrimination on poverty in Brazil," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    12. Omar Arias & Gustavo Yamada & Luis Tejerina, 2004. "Education, family background and racial earnings inequality in Brazil," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(3/4), pages 355-374, April.
    13. P.W. Miller & S. Rummery, 1989. "Gender Wage Discrimination in Australia: A reassessment," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 89-21, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    14. Xinxin Ma, 2023. "Trade union and gender wage gap: Evidence from China," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(2), pages 1098-1110.
    15. João Pereira & Aurora Galego, 2014. "Inter-Regional Wage Differentials in Portugal: An Analysis Across the Wage Distribution," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(9), pages 1529-1546, September.
    16. Pham, Thai-Hung & Reilly, Barry, 2007. "The gender pay gap in Vietnam, 1993-2002: A quantile regression approach," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 775-808, October.
    17. Paez, Gustavo Nicolas & Tin, Myat Su, 2021. "Gender-based differences in Myanmar’s labor force," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    18. Anna Adamecz-Völgyi & Morag Henderson & Nikki Shure, 2023. "The labor market returns to “first-in-family” university graduates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1395-1429, July.
    19. Koumenta, Maria & Pagliero, Mario & Rostam-Afschar, Davud, 2020. "Occupational licensing and the gender wage gap," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 13-2020, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    20. Christophe J. Nordman & François Roubaud, 2009. "Reassessing the Gender Wage Gap in Madagascar: Does Labor Force Attachment Really Matter?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 785-808, July.
    21. G. Reza Arabsheibani, 2000. "Male-Female Earnings Differentials Among the Highly Educated Egyptians," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 129-138.
    22. Rahman, Mustafizur & Al-Hasan, Md., 2018. "Male-Female wage gap and informal employment in Bangladesh: A quantile regression approach," MPRA Paper 90131, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:hal:journl:halshs-00006413. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.