Measuring heterogeneity in the returns to education using an education reform

Autor: Kjell G. Salvanes, Arild Aakvik, Kjell Vaage
Rok vydání: 2010
Předmět:
Zdroj: European Economic Review. 54:483-500
ISSN: 0014-2921
DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2009.09.001
Popis: In this paper, we explore the impact of a mandatory education reform as well as pre-reform availability of schools above the mandatory level, on educational attainment and returns to education in Norway. We contribute to the existing literature by focusing on the heterogeneity of the impact of reforms. Our results indicate that increased compulsory education from seven to nine years increased the general level of education beyond the compulsory education. We also find that the effect of family background on educational attainment was weaker after the reform. The average treatment effect on returns to education is surprisingly high for education of intermediate duration. This means that increasing the general level of education potentially generates high returns in the form of wages. We also find that the effect of treatment on the treated on the returns to education is 1–4 percentage points higher than the average treatment effect.
Databáze: OpenAIRE