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The Return to a University Education in Great Britain

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Author Info

  • Sloane, Peter J.

    () (Swansea University)

  • O'Leary, Nigel C.

    () (Swansea University)

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the rate of return to first degrees, masters degrees and PhDs in Britain using data from the Labour Force Survey. We estimate returns to broad subject groups and more narrowly defined disciplines, distinguishing returns by gender and attempting to control for variations in student quality across disciplines. The results reveal considerable heterogeneity in returns to particular degree programmes and by gender, which have important policy implications for charging students for the costs of their education.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1199.

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Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2004
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: National Institute Economic Review, 2005, 193 (1), 75-89
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1199

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Related research

Keywords: education; wages;

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References

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  1. Machin, Stephen & Puhani, Patrick A., 2002. "Subject of Degree and the Gender Wage Differential: Evidence from the UK and Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 553, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Ronald Oaxaca, . "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," Working Papers 396, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
  3. Arnaud Chevalier & Gavan Conlon, 2003. "Does it pay to attend a prestigious university?," Working Papers 200320, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  4. Sveinbjörn Blöndal & Simon Field & Nathalie Girouard, 2002. "Investment in Human Capital Through Post-Compulsory Education and Training: Selected Efficiency and Equity Aspects," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 333, OECD Publishing.
  5. Dan A. Black & Seth Sanders & Lowell Taylor, 2003. "The Economic Reward for Studying Economics," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 365-377, July.
  6. D. H. Blackaby & P. D. Murphy & N. C. O'Leary, 1999. "Graduate earnings in Great Britain: a matter of degree?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 6(5), pages 311-315.
  7. Arnaud Chevalier, 2004. "Motivation, Expectations and the Gender Pay Gap for UK Graduates," Working Papers 200403, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  8. Pereira, Pedro T. & Martins, Pedro S., 2001. "Returns to Education and Wage Equations," IZA Discussion Papers 298, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  9. Westergaard-Nielsen, Niels & Harmon, Colm & Walker, Ian, 2001. "Education and earnings in Europe : a cross country analysis of the returns to education," Open Access publications from University College Dublin urn:hdl:10197/674, University College Dublin.
  10. Blundell, Richard, et al, 2000. "The Returns to Higher Education in Britain: Evidence from a British Cohort," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(461), pages F82-99, February.
  11. Philip Trostel & Ian Walker, 2006. "Education and Work," Education Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 377-399.
  12. Derek Leslie, 2003. "Using success to measure quality in British higher education: which subjects attract the best-qualified students?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 166(3), pages 329-347.
  13. Battu, H. & Belfield, C. R. & Sloane, P. J., . "Overeducation Among Graduates: A Cohort View," Working Papers 98-03, Department of Economics, University of Aberdeen.
  14. David Greenaway & Michelle Haynes, 2003. "Funding Higher Education in The UK: The Role of Fees and Loans," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages F150-F166, February.
  15. Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Ransom, Michael R., 1994. "On discrimination and the decomposition of wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 5-21, March.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Seamus McGuinness & Frances McGinnity & Philip J. O'Connell, 2008. "Changing Returns to Education During a Boom? The Case of Ireland," Papers WP227, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
  2. Grazier, Suzanne & O'Leary, Nigel C. & Sloane, Peter J., 2008. "Graduate Employment in the UK: An Application of the Gottschalk-Hansen Model," IZA Discussion Papers 3618, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  3. Stephen Machin & Anna Vignoles, 2006. "Education Policy in the UK," CEE Discussion Papers 0057, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
  4. B. Müge Tunaer & Yaprak Gülcan, 2006. "Measuring Returns to Education in Turkey," Papers of the Annual IUE-SUNY Cortland Conference in Economics, in: Proceedings of the Conference on Human and Economic Resources, pages 66-71 Izmir University of Economics.
  5. Pouliakas, Konstantinos & Livanos, Ilias, 2008. "The Gender Wage Gap as a Function of Educational Degree Choices in Greece," MPRA Paper 14168, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Mar 2009.
  6. Walker, Ian & Zhu, Yu, 2005. "The College Wage Premium, Overeducation, and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 1627, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  7. Wen Fan, 2011. "Estimating the Return to College in Britain Using Regression and Propensity Score Matching," Working Papers 201119, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  8. Kostas Mavromaras & Seamus McGuinness & Nigel O’Leary & Peter Sloane & Yin King Fok, 2007. "The Problem of Overskilling in Australia and Britain," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2007n33, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
  9. O'Leary, Nigel C. & Sloane, Peter J., 2005. "The Changing Wage Return to an Undergraduate Education," IZA Discussion Papers 1549, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  10. Kelly, Elish & O'Connell, Philip J. & Smyth, Emer, 2010. "The economic returns to field of study and competencies among higher education graduates in Ireland," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 650-657, August.
  11. Walker, Ian & Zhu, Yu, 2010. "Differences by Degree: Evidence of the Net Financial Rates of Return to Undergraduate Study for England and Wales," IZA Discussion Papers 5254, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  12. Livanos, Ilias & Pouliakas, Konstantinos, 2008. "Returns to education by academic discipline in the Greek labour market," MPRA Paper 14159, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  13. Javier Valbuena, 2012. "A Longitudinal Perspective on Higher Education Participation in the UK," Studies in Economics 1215, Department of Economics, University of Kent.
  14. Nigel O'leary & Peter Sloane, 2008. "Rates of Return to Degrees across British Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 199-213.
  15. Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2007. "The College Wage Premium, Overeducation, and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK by and," Working Papers 200720, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.

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