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Heterogeneity, comparative advantage, and return to education: The case of Taiwan

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  • Chuang, Yih-chyi
  • Lai, Wei-wen

Abstract

By considering heterogeneity in abilities and self-selection in educational choice, this paper adopts the heterogeneous human capital model to estimate rate of return to university education using data from the 1990 and 2000 Taiwan's Manpower Utilization Surveys. The Taiwan empirical study shows that significant heterogeneous return to education does exist, and that the educational choice was made according to the principle of comparative advantage. The estimated rates of return for attaining university were 19% and 15%, much higher than the average rate of return of 11.55 and 6.6%, for 1990 and 2000, respectively. The declining trend of return to university education may have been caused by the rapid expansion of the number of colleges and universities and the increasing supply of college graduates in the 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Chuang, Yih-chyi & Lai, Wei-wen, 2010. "Heterogeneity, comparative advantage, and return to education: The case of Taiwan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 804-812, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:29:y:2010:i:5:p:804-812
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    2. Nobuyoshi Kikuchi, 2017. "Marginal Returns to Schooling and Education Policy Change in Japan," ISER Discussion Paper 0996r, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, revised Oct 2017.
    3. Sasaki, Yuya & Ura, Takuya, 2023. "Estimation and inference for policy relevant treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 234(2), pages 394-450.

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