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Estimates of the Return to Schooling in a Developing Country: Evidence from a Major Policy Reform in Turkey

Author

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  • Aydemir, Abdurrahman
  • Murat, Kirdar

Abstract

This paper uses a major change in the compulsory schooling policy in Turkey – which increased the mandatory duration from five to eight years -- to estimate the causal effect of education on earnings. The policy reform brought about a substantial rise in schooling attainment due to the high dropout rates at the end of compulsory schooling, the duration of extension, as well as the spillover effects of the policy on non-compulsory schooling years. Our results show that the 2SLS estimates of the returns to education are much larger estimates than the OLS estimates. These results also constitute the first causal estimates of the returns to education in the Turkish context and one of the few in developing country contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Aydemir, Abdurrahman & Murat, Kirdar, 2013. "Estimates of the Return to Schooling in a Developing Country: Evidence from a Major Policy Reform in Turkey," MPRA Paper 51938, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:51938
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/51938/1/MPRA_paper_51938.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. K?rdar,Murat G. & Day?o?lu,Meltem & Koç,?smet, 2015. "Does longer compulsory education equalize schooling by gender and rural/urban residence ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7377, The World Bank.
    2. Murat G. Kırdar & Meltem Dayıoğlu & İsmet Koç, 2018. "The Effects of Compulsory-Schooling Laws on Teenage Marriage and Births in Turkey," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(4), pages 640-668.
    3. Huzeyfe Torun & Semih Tumen, 2017. "The empirical content of season-of-birth effects: An investigation with Turkish data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(57), pages 1825-1860.
    4. Tansel, Aysit & Karao?lan, Deniz, 2016. "The Causal Effect of Education on Health Behaviors: Evidence from Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 10020, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Huzeyfe Torun, 2018. "Compulsory Schooling and Early Labor Market Outcomes in a Middle-Income Country," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 277-305, September.
    6. Pelin Akyol & Murat Guray Kirdar, 2021. "Does Education Really Cause Domestic Violence? Revisiting the Turkish Data," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2120, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    7. Tansel, Aysit & Karao?lan, Deniz, 2016. "The Causal Effect of Education on Health Behaviors: Evidence from Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 10020, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Akyol, Pelin & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2020. "Does Education Really Cause Domestic Violence? Replication and Reappraisal of "For Better or For Worse? Education and the Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Turkey"," IZA Discussion Papers 14001, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Aysıt Tansel & Deniz Karaoğlan, 2019. "The Effect of Education on Health Behaviors and Obesity in Turkey: Instrumental Variable Estimates from a Developing Country," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(5), pages 1416-1448, December.
    10. Akar, Betul & Akyol, Pelin & Okten, Cagla, 2019. "Education and Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Time Use Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 12558, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    returns to schooling; compulsory schooling;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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