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Returns to Higher Education in Chile and Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • González-Velosa, Carolina
  • Rucci, Graciana
  • Sarzosa, Miguel
  • Urzúa, Sergio

Abstract

In the last decades, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced a dramatic increase in the levels of higher education enrollment. Using administrative data from Chile and Colombia, we find that this phenomenon is not always associated with higher private individual returns. In both countries, there is a significant dispersion in the net returns to higher education and a significant proportion of graduates could be facing negative returns. This means that, for many higher education graduates, net earnings might have been higher if they had not earned a higher education degree. We hypothesize that while there have been major policy efforts to increase coverage, institutional arrangements that encourage quality and relevance has been insufficient. Corrective measures in this direction are urgent. Sustainable growth requires a labor force with relevant skills and capabilities. In light of our results, it is not clear that the higher education systems in these countries are delivering these outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • González-Velosa, Carolina & Rucci, Graciana & Sarzosa, Miguel & Urzúa, Sergio, 2015. "Returns to Higher Education in Chile and Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 6858, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:6858
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bonilla-Mejía, Leonardo & Bottan, Nicolas L. & Ham, Andrés, 2019. "Information policies and higher education choices experimental evidence from Colombia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Joanna Alvarado-Uribe & Paola Mejía-Almada & Ana Luisa Masetto Herrera & Roland Molontay & Isabel Hilliger & Vinayak Hegde & José Enrique Montemayor Gallegos & Renato Armando Ramírez Díaz & Hector G. , 2022. "Student Dataset from Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico to Predict Dropout in Higher Education," Data, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Sergio Urzua, 2019. "Redistribution Through Education: The Value of Public Education Spending," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 88, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    4. Andrés Álvarez & Juan Camilo Chaparro & Carolina González & Santiago Levy & Darío Maldonado & Marcela Meléndez & Natalia Ramírez & Marta Juanita Villaveces, 2022. "Reporte ejecutivo de la Misión de Empleo de Colombia," Documentos de trabajo 20156, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    5. Ana Maria Montoya & Carlos Noton & Alex Solis, 2017. "Returns to Higher Education: Vocational Education vs College," Documentos de Trabajo 334, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    6. Blejer, Mario I. & del Castillo, Graciana, 1998. ""Deja Vu all over again?": The Mexican crisis and the stabilization of Uruguay in the 1970s," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 449-464, March.
    7. García Ramos, Yboon & Flores-Bazán, Fabian & Nicolas Hadjisavvas, 2017. "About the sum of quasiconvex functions," Working Papers 17-07, Centro de Investigación, Universidad del Pacífico.
    8. Suzanne Duryea & Luísa Baptista Freitas & Luana Marques-Garcia Ozemela & Breno Sampaio & Gustavo R. Sampaio & Giuseppe Trevisan, 2019. "Universities and Intergenerational Social Mobility in Brazil: Examining Patterns by Race and Gender," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 240-256, December.
    9. Verónica Alaimo & Mariano Bosch & David S. Kaplan & Carmen Pagés & Laura Ripani, 2015. "Jobs for Growth," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 90977, February.
    10. Kogan, Liuba, 2017. "El rap en el Callao: la aflicción profunda," Working Papers 17-06, Centro de Investigación, Universidad del Pacífico.
    11. Adriana Camacho & Julián Messina & Juan Pablo Uribe, 2017. "The Expansion of Higher Education in Colombia: Bad Students or Bad Programs?," Documentos CEDE 15352, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    12. Castro-Zarzur, Rosa & Espinoza, Ricardo & Sarzosa, Miguel, 2022. "Unintended consequences of free college: Self-selection into the teaching profession," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Returns to higher education; Heterogeneity; Skills Development; Skills; Productivity; Inequality; Higher education; Labor Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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