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Measuring the Consumption Value of Higher Education

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  • Annette Alstadsæter

Abstract

This article argues that the consumption value of education is an important motivation for educational choice. When controlling for ability, we find that individuals are willing to forego substantial future wage returns to acquire a particular type of higher education. We find that high-ability individuals who attended teachers' college in Norway during the 1960s could have substantially increased their lifetime income by choosing an alternative educational type. Moreover, the ex post price for the consumption value of teachers' college turned out to be even higher than the estimated ex ante willingness to pay for this consumption value. (JEL codes: J24, J31, J33, I21, H89) Copyright The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Munich. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.

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  • Annette Alstadsæter, 2011. "Measuring the Consumption Value of Higher Education," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 57(3), pages 458-479, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cesifo:v:57:y:2011:i:3:p:458-479
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cesifo/ifq009
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    Cited by:

    1. Brian Jacob & Brian McCall & Kevin Stange, 2018. "College as Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 309-348.
    2. Björn Kauder & Niklas Potrafke, 2013. "Government Ideology and Tuition Fee Policy: Evidence from the German States," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(4), pages 628-649, December.
    3. Tomasz Gajderowicz & Gabriela Grotkowska & Jerzy Mycielski & Leszek Wincenciak, 2014. "Social and economic determinants of higher education choices in Poland," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 38.
    4. Mira Fischer & Patrick Kampkötter, 2017. "Effects of German Universities' Excellence Initiative on Ability Sorting of Students and Perceptions of Educational Quality," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 173(4), pages 662-687, December.
    5. Akyol, Pelin & Krishna, Kala, 2017. "Preferences, selection, and value added: A structural approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 89-117.
    6. Winter, Stefan & Pfitztner, Alexander, 2013. "Externalities and subsidization of higher education," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79993, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Annette Alstadsæter & Hans Henrik Sievertsen, 2009. "The Consumption Value of Higher Education," CESifo Working Paper Series 2871, CESifo.
    8. John V. Winters & Weineng Xu, 2014. "Geographic Differences in the Earnings of Economics Majors," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 262-276, September.
    9. S. Pelin Akyol & Verónica Frisancho & Kala M. Krishna & Cemile Yavas, 2013. "Preferences, Selection, and Value Added: A Structural Approach Applied to Turkish Exam High Schools," CESifo Working Paper Series 4302, CESifo.
    10. Nick Huntington-Klein & James Cowan & Dan Goldhaber, 2017. "Selection into Online Community College Courses and Their Effects on Persistence," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 58(3), pages 244-269, May.
    11. Fricke, Hans, 2014. "Tuition Fees and Student Achievement - Evidence from a Differential Raise in Fees," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100521, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Grimaud, Andre & Tournemaine, Frederic, 2007. "Why can an environmental policy tax promote growth through the channel of education?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 27-36, April.
    13. Philip Oreopoulos & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2009. "How large are returns to schooling? Hint: Money isn't everything," NBER Working Papers 15339, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Juntip Boonprakaikawe & Frédéric Tournemaine, 2006. "Production And Consumption Of Education In A R&D‐Based Growth Model," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 53(5), pages 565-585, November.
    15. OBARA, Takuya, 2017. "Optimal human capital policies under the endogenous choice of educational types," CCES Discussion Paper Series 66, Center for Research on Contemporary Economic Systems, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    16. Lunn, Peter D. & Kelly, Elish, 2015. "Participation in school sport and post-school pathways: evidence from ireland," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 232, pages 51-66, May.
    17. Kraft, Holger & Munk, Claus & Seifried, Frank Thomas & Steffensen, Mogens, 2014. "Consumption and wage humps in a life-cycle model with education," SAFE Working Paper Series 53, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    18. Long, Mark C. & Goldhaber, Dan & Huntington-Klein, Nick, 2015. "Do completed college majors respond to changes in wages?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-14.
    19. Dur, Robert & Glazer, Amihai, 2008. "Subsidizing Enjoyable Education," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 1023-1039, October.
    20. OBARA, Takuya, 2018. "Optimal human capital policies under the endogenous choice of educational types," CCES Discussion Paper Series 66_v2, Center for Research on Contemporary Economic Systems, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    21. Anderberg, Dan, 2013. "Post-compulsory education: Participation and politics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 134-150.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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