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Effects of personal and school characteristics on estimates of the return to education

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  • Joseph Altonji

Abstract

What is the economic return to attending college? The earnings gap between college and high school graduates is large, but college and high school graduates differ in many ways besides education. This article finds that differences in family background and ability explain about one fourth of the gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Altonji, 1998. "Effects of personal and school characteristics on estimates of the return to education," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 22(Q I), pages 65-79.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhep:y:1998:i:qi:p:65-79:n:v.22no.1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Lang, Kevin, 1993. "Ability Bias, Discount Rate Bias and the Return to Education," MPRA Paper 24651, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Orley Ashenfelter & Cecilia Rouse, 1998. "Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence from a New Sample of Identical Twins," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 253-284.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fatma El-Hamidi, 2006. "General or Vocational Schooling? Evidence on School Choice, Returns, and 'Sheepskin' Effects from Egypt 1998," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 157-176.
    2. Fatma El-Hamidi, 2004. "General or Vocational? Evidence on School Choice, Returns, and “Sheep Skin” Effects from Egypt 1998," Working Papers 0406, Economic Research Forum, revised 01 Aug 2004.
    3. Mona Said & Fatma El-Hamidi, 2008. "Taking Technical Education Seriously in MENA: Determinants, Labor Market Implications and Policy Lessons," Working Papers 450, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2008.

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