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Compulsory Schooling and Early Labor Market Outcomes in a Middle-Income Country

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  • Huzeyfe Torun

    (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey)

Abstract

The 1997 reform in Turkey which extended compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years provides an opportunity to estimate the returns to schooling in a middle-income country. The availability of a rich set of early labor market variables also provides an opportunity to assess mechanisms through which returns to schooling occur. I find quite small effects of compulsory schooling on earnings of men but large positive effects on earnings of women who work, without raising their overall low rate of labor force participation. In terms of mechanisms, I find that women who worked moved into higher skill and formal sector jobs, which involved more complicated tasks on average.

Suggested Citation

  • Huzeyfe Torun, 2018. "Compulsory Schooling and Early Labor Market Outcomes in a Middle-Income Country," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 277-305, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:39:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s12122-018-9264-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-018-9264-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Murat G. Kırdar & Meltem Dayıoğlu & İsmet Koç, 2018. "The Effects of Compulsory-Schooling Laws on Teenage Marriage and Births in Turkey," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(4), pages 640-668.
    2. Betul Akar & Pelin Akyol & Cagla Okten, 2022. "Education and Voluntary Work: Evidence from Turkish Time Use Survey," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 275-320, June.
    3. Akyol, Pelin & Mocan, Naci, 2020. "Education and Consanguineous Marriage," IZA Discussion Papers 13985, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Bahadir Dursun & Resul Cesur & Inas Rashad Kelly, 2017. "The Value of Mandating Maternal Education in a Developing Country," NBER Working Papers 23492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Mustafa Özer & Jan Fidrmuc & Mehmet Ali Eryurt, 2023. "Education and domestic violence: Evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(3), pages 436-460, August.
    6. Mevlude Akbulut‐Yuksel & Naci Mocan & Semih Tumen & Belgi Turan, 2024. "The crime effect of refugees," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(2), pages 472-508, March.
    7. Abdurrahman B. Aydemir & Murat Güray Kırdar & Huzeyfe Torun, 2019. "The Effect of Education on Geographic Mobility: Incidence, Timing, and Type of Migration," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1914, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    8. Gregory Clark & Christian Abildgaard Nielsen, 2024. "The Returns to Education: A Meta-study," Working Papers 0249, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    9. Mevlude Akbulut‐Yuksel & Naci Mocan & Semih Tumen & Belgi Turan, 2024. "The crime effect of refugees," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(2), pages 472-508, March.
    10. Harry Anthony Patrinos & George Psacharopoulos & Aysit Tansel, 2019. "Returns to Investment in Education: The Case of Turkey," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1906, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    11. Akyol, Pelin & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2021. "Does Education Really Cause Domestic Violence? Revisiting the Turkish Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14735, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Harry Anthony Patrinos & George Psacharopoulos & Aysit Tansel, 2019. "GLOBALISATION AND GOVERNANCE: Returns to Investment in Education: The Case of Turkey," ERC Working Papers 1903, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Mar 2019.
    13. Z. Eylem Gevrek & Pinar Kunt & Heinrich W. Ursprung, 2021. "Education, political discontent, and emigration intentions: evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 563-585, March.
    14. Akar, Betul & Akyol, Pelin & Okten, Cagla, 2019. "Education and Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Time Use Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 12558, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Zheng Wang & Mingwei Yang & Zhiyong Zhang & Yingjuan Li & Chuanhao Wen, 2022. "The Impact of Land Transfer on Vulnerability as Expected Poverty in the Perspective of Farm Household Heterogeneity: An Empirical Study Based on 4608 Farm Households in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    16. Duha T. Altindag & Bahadіr Dursun & Elif S. Filiz, 2022. "The effect of education on unemployment duration," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 21-42, January.
    17. Dursun, Bahadır & Cesur, Resul & Mocan, Naci, 2018. "The Impact of Education on Health Outcomes and Behaviors in a Middle-Income, Low-Education Country," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 94-114.
    18. Huzeyfe Torun & Semih Tumen, 2019. "Do vocational high school graduates have better employment outcomes than general high school graduates?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1364-1388, August.
    19. Akyol, Pelin & Kırdar, Murat Güray, 2022. "Compulsory schooling reform and intimate partner violence in Turkey," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    20. Aydemir, Abdurrahman B. & Kırdar, Murat Güray & Torun, Huzeyfe, 2022. "The effect of education on internal migration of young men and women: incidence, timing, and type of migration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    21. Huzeyfe Torun & Semih Tumen, 2017. "The empirical content of season-of-birth effects: An investigation with Turkish data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(57), pages 1825-1860.
    22. Harry Anthony Patrinos & George Psacharopoulos & Aysit Tansel, 2019. "Returns to Investment in Education: The Case of Turkey," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1906, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    23. Ozturk, Ahmet & Tumen, Semih, 2018. "Education and Labor Market Consequences of Student Protests in Late 1970s and the Subsequent Military Coup in Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 11733, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Returns to education; Compulsory schooling; Occupational choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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