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A Parametric Control Function Approach to Estimating the Returns to Schooling in the Absence of Exclusion Restrictions: An Application to the NLSY

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  • Farré, Lídia

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Klein, Roger

    (Rutgers University)

  • Vella, Francis

    (Georgetown University)

Abstract

An innovation which bypasses the need for instruments when estimating endogenous treatment effects is identification via conditional second moments. The most general of these approaches is Klein and Vella (2010) which models the conditional variances semiparametrically. While this is attractive, as identification is not reliant on parametric assumptions for variances, the non-parametric aspect of the estimation may discourage practitioners from its use. This paper outlines how the estimator can be implemented parametrically. The use of parametric assumptions is accompanied by a large reduction in computational and programming demands. We illustrate the approach by estimating the return to education using a sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Accounting for endogeneity increases the estimate of the return to education from 6.8% to 11.2%.

Suggested Citation

  • Farré, Lídia & Klein, Roger & Vella, Francis, 2010. "A Parametric Control Function Approach to Estimating the Returns to Schooling in the Absence of Exclusion Restrictions: An Application to the NLSY," IZA Discussion Papers 4935, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4935
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    9. Chau, Tak Wai, 2015. "Identification through Heteroscedasticity: What If We Have the Wrong Form of Heteroscedasticity?," MPRA Paper 65888, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Souza, André Portela & Zylberstajn, Eduardo, 2019. "Estimating the returns to education using a parametric control function approach: evidences for a developing country," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 39(2).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    return to education; heteroskedasticity; endogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models

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