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How Risky is Investment in Human Capital?

Author

Listed:
  • Joop Hartog

    (Faculty of Economics and Econometrics, Universiteit van Amsterdam)

  • Hans van Ophem

    (Faculty of Economics and Econometrics, Universiteit van Amsterdam)

  • Simona Maria Bajdechi

    (Faculty of Economics and Econometrics, Universiteit van Amsterdam)

Abstract

The risk of investment in schooling has largely been ignored. We assess thevariance in the rate of return by surveying the international empirical literature from this freshperspective and by simulating risky earnings profiles in alternative options. choosingparameters on basis of the very limited evidence. The distribution of rates of return appearspositively skewed. Our best guess of ex ante risk in university education is a coefficient ofvariation of about 0.3, comparable to that in a randomly selected financial portfolio with some30 stocks. Allowing for stochastic components in earnings also markedly affects expectedreturns.

Suggested Citation

  • Joop Hartog & Hans van Ophem & Simona Maria Bajdechi, 2004. "How Risky is Investment in Human Capital?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-080/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20040080
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Grossmann, Volker, 2008. "Risky human capital investment, income distribution, and macroeconomic dynamics," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 19-42, March.
    2. Christian Belzil & Marco Leonardi, 2013. "Risk Aversion and Schooling Decisions," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 111-112, pages 35-70.
    3. 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.
    4. Singh, Aarti, 2010. "Human capital risk in life-cycle economies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 729-738, September.
    5. Belzil, Christian & Leonardi, Marco, 2007. "Can risk aversion explain schooling attainments? Evidence from Italy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 957-970, December.
    6. Franco Mariuzzo & Patrick Paul Walsh & Ciara Whelan, 2004. "EU Merger Control in Differentiated Product Industries," CESifo Working Paper Series 1312, CESifo.
    7. Massimiliano Agovino & Antonio Garofalo, 2016. "The Impact of Education on Wage Determination between Workers in Southern and Central-Northern Italy," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 63(1), pages 25-43, March.
    8. Booij, Adam S. & van Praag, Bernard M.S., 2009. "A simultaneous approach to the estimation of risk aversion and the subjective time discount rate," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 374-388, May.
    9. Marco Leonardi, 2007. "Do Parents Risk Aversion and Wealth Explalin Secondary School Choice?," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 66(2), pages 177-206, July.
    10. Corrado Andini, 2009. "On the return-risk link in education," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 307-314.
    11. Shirantha Heenkenda & D.P.S Chandrakumara, 2015. "A Canonical Analysis on the Relationship between Financial Risk Tolerance and Household Education Investment in Sri Lanka," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 1(4), pages 7-23, October.
    12. Andini, Corrado & Pereira, Pedro T., 2007. "Full-time Schooling, Part-time Schooling, and Wages: Returns and Risks in Portugal," IZA Discussion Papers 2651, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Mazza, Jacopo & van Ophem, Hans & Hartog, Joop, 2013. "Unobserved heterogeneity and risk in wage variance: Does more schooling reduce earnings risk?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 323-338.
    14. 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

    education; return; earnings dispersion; risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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