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The Changing Economic Advantage From Private School

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  • Francis Green
  • Stephen Machin
  • Richard Murphy
  • Yu Zhu

Abstract

Despite its relatively small size, the private school sector plays a prominent role in British society. This paper focuses on changing wage and education differentials between privately educated and state educated individuals in Britain. It reports evidence that the private/state school wage differential has risen significantly over time, despite the rising cost of sending children to private school. A significant factor underpinning this result has been faster rising educational attainment for privately educated individuals. Despite these patterns of change, the proportion attending private school has not altered much, nor have the characteristics of those children (and their parents) attending private school. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the idea that the private school sector has been successful in transforming its ability to generate the academic outputs that are most in demand in the modern economy. Because of the increased earnings advantage, private school remains a good investment for parents who want to opt out, but this increase has also contributed to rising wage inequality and falling social mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis Green & Stephen Machin & Richard Murphy & Yu Zhu, 2010. "The Changing Economic Advantage From Private School," CEE Discussion Papers 0115, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:ceedps:0115
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    1. School utopianism
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2014-06-20 18:10:47
    2. Emergence
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2014-08-29 17:57:16

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    Cited by:

    1. Alex Bryson & Francis Green, 2018. "Do Private Schools Manage Better?," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 243(1), pages 17-26, February.
    2. Emran, M. Shahe & Shilpi, Forhad, 2015. "Gender, Geography, and Generations: Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Post-Reform India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 362-380.
    3. Andrew Eyles & Stephen Machin, 2019. "The Introduction of Academy Schools to England's Education," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 1107-1146.
    4. Anna Adamecz-Völgyi & Morag Henderson & Nikki Shure, 2023. "The labor market returns to “first-in-family” university graduates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1395-1429, July.
    5. Jake Anders & Francis Green & Morag Henderson & Golo Henseke, 2020. "Determinants of private school participation: all about the money?," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-06, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Feb 2020.
    6. Jan Kleibrink & Maren M. Michaelsen, 2012. "Reaching High: Occupational Sorting and Higher Education Wage Inequality in the UK," Ruhr Economic Papers 0377, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    7. Kleibrink, Jan & Michaelsen, Maren M., 2012. "Reaching High: Occupational Sorting and Higher Education Wage Inequality in the UK," Ruhr Economic Papers 377, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Buscha, Franz & Gorman, Emma & Sturgis, Patrick, 2023. "Selective schooling and social mobility in England," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Francesco Andreoli & Giorgia Casalone & Daniela Sonedda, 2018. "Public education provision, private schooling and income redistribution," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(4), pages 553-582, December.
    10. Barigozzi, Francesca & Parasnis, Jaai & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Gender, Motivation, and Self-Selection into Teaching," IZA Discussion Papers 15532, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Buscha, Franz & Gorman, Emma & Sturgis, Patrick, 2023. "Selective schooling and social mobility in England," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118341, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Sevilla, Almudena & Borra, Cristina, 2015. "Parental Time Investments in Children: The Role of Competition for University Places in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 9168, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Foliano, Francesca & Green, Francis & Sartarelli, Marcello, 2019. "Away from home, better at school. The case of a British boarding school," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    14. Silva, Pedro Luís & Sá, Carla & Biscaia, Ricardo & Teixeira, Pedro N., 2022. "High School and Exam Scores: Does Their Predictive Validity for Academic Performance Vary with Programme Selectivity?," IZA Discussion Papers 15350, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. John H Goldthorpe, 2014. "The role of education in intergenerational social mobility: Problems from empirical research in sociology and some theoretical pointers from economics," Rationality and Society, , vol. 26(3), pages 265-289, August.
    16. repec:zbw:rwirep:0377 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Claire Crawford & Anna Vignoles, 2014. "Heterogeneity in graduate earnings by socio-economic background," IFS Working Papers W14/30, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    18. López-Torres, Laura & Johnes, Jill & Elliott, Caroline & Polo, Cristina, 2021. "The effects of competition and collaboration on efficiency in the UK independent school sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-53.
    19. Francesca Foliano & Francis Green & Marcello Sartarelli, 2017. "Can Talented Pupils with Low Socio-economic Status Shine? Evidence from a Boarding School," Working Papers. Serie AD 2017-05, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    20. Marcello Sartarelli, 2011. "Do Performance Targets Affect Behaviour? Evidence from Discontinuities in Test Scores in England," DoQSS Working Papers 11-02, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage differentials; educational attainment; private schools;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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