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Earnings Risk and Demand for Higher Education: A Cross-Section Test for Spain

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  • Hartog, Joop

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Diaz-Serrano, Luis

    (Universitat Rovira i Virgili)

Abstract

We develop a simple human capital model for optimum schooling length when earnings are stochastic, and highlight the pivotal role of risk attitudes and the schooling gradient of earnings risk. We use Spanish data to document the gradient and to estimate individual response to earnings risk in deciding on attending university education, by measuring risk as the residual variance in regional earnings functions. We find that the basic response is negative but that in households with lower risk aversion, the response may be reversed to positive.

Suggested Citation

  • Hartog, Joop & Diaz-Serrano, Luis, 2002. "Earnings Risk and Demand for Higher Education: A Cross-Section Test for Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 641, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp641
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Joop Hartog & Ada Ferrer‐i‐Carbonell & Nicole Jonker, 2002. "Linking Measured Risk Aversion to Individual Characteristics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 3-26.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jacopo Mazza & Hans van Ophem & Joop Hartog, 2011. "Unobserved Heterogeneity and Risk in Wage Variance: Does Schooling provide Earnings Insurance?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-045/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Fossen, Frank M. & Glocker, Daniela, 2017. "Stated and revealed heterogeneous risk preferences in educational choice," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 1-25.
    3. Sergey Roshchin & Victor Rudakov, 2015. "Do Starting Salaries for Graduates Measure the Quality of Education? A Review of Studies by Russian and Foreign Authors," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 137-181.
    4. Carla Sá & Raymond Florax & Piet Rietveld, 2006. "Does Accessibility to Higher Education Matter? Choice Behaviour of High School Graduates in the Netherlands," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 155-174.
    5. Jacobs, Bas, 2007. "Real options and human capital investment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 913-925, December.
    6. Frank Fossen & Daniela Glocker, 2011. "Expected future earnings, taxation, and university enrollment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(6), pages 688-723, December.
    7. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk, 2010. "You Get What You Pay For: Incentives and Selection in the Education System," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(546), pages 256-271, August.
    8. Santiago Budría, 2011. "Are Educational Mismatches Responsible for the ‘Inequality Increasing Effect’ of Education?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 409-437, July.
    9. Bruce Chapman & Kiatanantha Lounkaewa, 2010. "Repayment Burdens with US College Loans," CEPR Discussion Papers 647, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    10. Beladi, Hamid & Sinha, Chaitali & Kar, Saibal, 2016. "To educate or not to educate: Impact of public policies in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 94-101.
    11. Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Hartog, Joop, 2004. "Is There a Risk-Return Trade-Off across Occupations? Evidence from Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 1355, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp934 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Migali, Giuseppe, 2012. "Funding higher education and wage uncertainty: Income contingent loan versus mortgage loan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 871-889.
    14. Campos-Vazquez, Raymundo M. & Cuilty, Emilio, 2014. "The role of emotions on risk aversion: A Prospect Theory experiment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-9.
    15. Luis Diaz‐Serrano & Joop Hartog & Helena Skyt Nielsen, 2008. "Compensating Wage Differentials for Schooling Risk in Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 711-731, December.
    16. Frank M. Fossen & Daniela Glocker, 2009. "Expected Future Earnings, Taxation, and University Enrollment: A Microeconometric Model with Uncertainty," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 934, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Joop Hartog & Luis Diaz-Serrano, 2015. "Why Do We Ignore the Risk in Schooling Decisions?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 125-153, June.
    18. Čepar Žiga & Bojnec Štefan, 2010. "Higher Education Demand Factors and the Demand for Tourism Education in Slovenia," Organizacija, Sciendo, vol. 43(6), pages 257-266, November.
    19. Martin Ryan & Siobhan McCarthy & Carol Newman, 2007. "Household Characteristics of Higher Education Participants," Working Papers 200702, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    20. Montserrat Hernández-LÓPEZ & José Juan Cáceres-HERNÁNDEZ, 2016. "Forecasting The Composition Of Demand For Higher Education Degrees By Genetic Algorithms," ECONOMIC COMPUTATION AND ECONOMIC CYBERNETICS STUDIES AND RESEARCH, Faculty of Economic Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics, vol. 50(3), pages 153-172.
    21. Santiago Budria, 2010. "Schooling and the distribution of wages in the European private and public sectors," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(8), pages 1045-1054.
    22. Luis Diaz-Serrano & J. Hartog, 2004. "Is there a Risk-Return Trade-off across Occupations? Evidence from Spain," Economics Department Working Paper Series n1441004, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    23. Shelest Olena, 2015. "Risk of Investments in Human Capital and Expected Worker Mobility," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 47(1), pages 82-106, September.
    24. Chaitali Sinha, 2014. "Human Capital and Public Policy," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 3(1), pages 79-125, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Spain; earnings risk; human capital; education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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