IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v153y2025ics0264999325003542.html

Does trade openness affect educational attainment? Insights from 25 years of research

Author

Listed:
  • Yan, Wenshou
  • Song, Qiaoyin
  • Hu, Lin
  • Xue, Wenmei

Abstract

This study presents the first meta-analysis examining the impact of trade openness on educational attainment, drawing on 889 estimates published between 1999 and 2023 to clarify discrepancies in the literature. Following an exploratory test for publication bias, we identify key sources of heterogeneity: countries’ development levels, the measures used for educational attainment and trade openness, and the treatment of trade endogeneity. Notably, when endogeneity concerns are addressed, trade is found to increase educational attainment in high- and middle-income countries but reduce it in low-income nations. In developed economies, trade raises the wage premium for skilled labor and encourages higher educational attainment, whereas in less-developed countries it generates employment opportunities but raises the opportunity cost of schooling. This synthesis highlights the complex dynamics between trade and education, providing an empirical foundation for future research and policy design.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan, Wenshou & Song, Qiaoyin & Hu, Lin & Xue, Wenmei, 2025. "Does trade openness affect educational attainment? Insights from 25 years of research," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:153:y:2025:i:c:s0264999325003542
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107359
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999325003542
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107359?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:153:y:2025:i:c:s0264999325003542. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.