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Why Brazil fell behind in college education?

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  • Binelli, Chiara
  • Menezes-Filho, Naercio

Abstract

Brazil fell behind in higher education attainment for the cohorts born in the 1950s and 1960s. We jointly model educational choices, labor force participation and wages, and compute the average, marginal and internal rate of returns to schooling after controlling for changes in ability composition at all levels of education. We find very high returns to college, which indicate that the disappointing trend in higher education could reflect binding credit constraints, psychic costs or uncertainty about future earnings gains from schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Binelli, Chiara & Menezes-Filho, Naercio, 2019. "Why Brazil fell behind in college education?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 80-106.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:72:y:2019:i:c:p:80-106
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.04.007
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    2. Policarpo Garcia, Carolina & Furquim de Azevedo, Paulo, 2019. "Should competition authorities care about conglomerate mergers?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 78-118.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Returns to schooling; Educational choices; Labor market participation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation

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