We estimate a finite mixture dynamic programming model of schooling decisions in which the log wage regression function is set in a random coefficient framework. The model allows for absolute and comparative advantages in the labour market and assumes that the population is composed of eight unknown types. Overall, labour market skills (as opposed to taste for schooling) appear to be the prime factor explaining schooling attainments. The estimates indicate a higher cross-sectional variance in the returns to experience than in the returns to schooling. From various simulations, we find that the sub-population mostly affected by a counterfactual change in the utility of attending school is composed of individuals who have any combination of some of the following attributes: absolute advantages in the labour market, high returns to experience, low utility of attending school and relatively low returns to schooling. Unlike what is often postulated in the average treatment effect literature, the weak correlation (unconditional) between the returns to schooling and the individual reactions to treatment is not sufficient to reconcile the discrepancy between OLS and IV estimates of the returns to schooling often found in the literature.
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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number
3601.
Find related papers by JEL classification: J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
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Christian Belzil & Jörgen Hansen, 2004.
"Earnings Dispersion, Risk Aversion and Education,"
Working Papers
0406, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure.
[Downloadable!]
Christian Belzil, 2007.
"Subjective Beliefs and Schooling Decisions,"
Working Papers
0717, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure.
[Downloadable!]
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