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A Parametric Control Function Approach to Estimating the Returns to Schooling in the Absence of Exclusion Restrictions: An Application to the NLSY

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  • Farré, Lídia

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Klein, Roger

    (Rutgers University)

  • Vella, Francis

    (Georgetown University)

Abstract

An innovation which bypasses the need for instruments when estimating endogenous treatment effects is identification via conditional second moments. The most general of these approaches is Klein and Vella (2010) which models the conditional variances semiparametrically. While this is attractive, as identification is not reliant on parametric assumptions for variances, the non-parametric aspect of the estimation may discourage practitioners from its use. This paper outlines how the estimator can be implemented parametrically. The use of parametric assumptions is accompanied by a large reduction in computational and programming demands. We illustrate the approach by estimating the return to education using a sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Accounting for endogeneity increases the estimate of the return to education from 6.8% to 11.2%.

Suggested Citation

  • Farré, Lídia & Klein, Roger & Vella, Francis, 2010. "A Parametric Control Function Approach to Estimating the Returns to Schooling in the Absence of Exclusion Restrictions: An Application to the NLSY," IZA Discussion Papers 4935, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4935
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    5. Alfonso Rosa García & Hubert Janos Kiss & Ismael Rodríguez Lara, 2009. "Do social networks prevent bank runs?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2009-25, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
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    7. Millimet, Daniel L. & Roy, Jayjit, 2011. "Three New Empirical Tests of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis When Environmental Regulation is Endogenous," IZA Discussion Papers 5911, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Elizabeth J. Casabianca & Alessia Lo Turco & Claudia Pigini, 2019. "Import penetration and returns to tasks: recent evidence from the Peruvian labour market," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 551-617, February.
    9. Lütkepohl, Helmut & Milunovich, George & Yang, Minxian, 2020. "Inference in partially identified heteroskedastic simultaneous equations models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 218(2), pages 317-345.
    10. Ge, Suqin & Macieira, João, 2020. "Unobserved Worker Quality and Inter-Industry Wage Differentials," GLO Discussion Paper Series 491, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Chau, Tak Wai, 2015. "Identification through Heteroscedasticity: What If We Have the Wrong Form of Heteroscedasticity?," MPRA Paper 65888, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Souza, André Portela & Zylberstajn, Eduardo, 2019. "Estimating the returns to education using a parametric control function approach: evidences for a developing country," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 39(2).
    13. Yuanyuan Chen & Le Wang & Min Zhang, 2018. "Informal search, bad search?: the effects of job search method on wages among rural migrants in urban China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 837-876, July.
    14. M. Shahe Emran & Virginia Robano & Stephen C. Smith, 2014. "Assessing the Frontiers of Ultrapoverty Reduction: Evidence from Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction/Targeting the Ultra-poor, an Innovative Program in Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(2), pages 339-380.
    15. James O’Brien, 2020. "Public Works and Children’s School Attendance: Evidence from Rural India," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 25(2), pages 193-214, December.
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    17. Ali Moghtaderi & Avi Dor, 2016. "Immunization and Moral Hazard: The HPV Vaccine and Uptake of Cancer Screening," NBER Working Papers 22523, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    return to education; heteroskedasticity; endogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models

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