IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp1549.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Changing Wage Return to an Undergraduate Education

Author

Listed:
  • O'Leary, Nigel C.

    (Swansea University)

  • Sloane, Peter J.

    (Swansea University)

Abstract

Between 1990/91 and 2000/01 the number of male undergraduates in Britain increased by over one-third while the number of female undergraduates has increased nearly twofold. Given this substantial increase in supply we would expect some impact on the wage premium for recent graduates unless demand has shifted in parallel. Following Katz and Murphy (1992), we adopt a simple supply and demand framework to analyse changes in earnings mark-ups across degree disciplines over time. Using a propensity score approach to match those graduates entering the labor market with an age balanced sample of individuals with two or more A-Levels from the Labour Force Survey, we find a significant decline in the mark-up for females, whilst no such change is apparent for males. These aggregate figures, however, mask a great deal of variation across degree subjects, with declines in those subjects in which women predominate and in the lowest quartile of the earnings distribution being identified. The results point to both supply and demand factors impacting on the graduate mark-up as theory would suggest.

Suggested Citation

  • O'Leary, Nigel C. & Sloane, Peter J., 2005. "The Changing Wage Return to an Undergraduate Education," IZA Discussion Papers 1549, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1549
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp1549.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven Mcintosh, 2006. "Further Analysis of the Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(2), pages 225-251, April.
    2. Dearden, Lorraine, et al, 2002. "The Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications in Britain," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 249-274, July.
    3. O'Leary, Nigel C. & Sloane, Peter J., 2005. "The Return to a University Education in Great Britain," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 193, pages 75-89, July.
    4. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    5. Naylor, Robin & Smith, Jeremy & McKnight, Abigail, 2002. "Why Is There a Graduate Earnings Premium for Students from Independent Schools?," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 315-339, October.
    6. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2004. "Does Education Raise Productivity, or Just Reflect it?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(499), pages 499-517, November.
    7. Colm Harmon & Ian Walker, 2000. "The Returns to the Quantity and Quality of Education: Evidence for Men in England and Wales," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 67(265), pages 19-35, February.
    8. Philip Trostel & Ian Walker, 2006. "Education and Work," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 377-399.
    9. Colm Harmon & Ian Walker & Niels Westergaard-Nielsen (ed.), 2001. "Education and Earnings in Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2237.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Is the graduate premium falling?
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2009-01-28 20:23:06

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Séamus McGuinness, 2006. "Overeducation in the Labour Market," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 387-418, July.
    2. Hermannsson, Kristinn & Lisenkova, Katerina & Lecca, Patrizio & McGregor, Peter G & Swales, J Kim, 2010. "The Importance of Graduates for the Scottish Economy: A Micro-to-Macro Approach," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-80, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    3. Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2008. "The College Wage Premium and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 695-709, December.
    4. Joanne Lindley & Stephen Machin, 2012. "The Quest for More and More Education: Implications for Social Mobility," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 265-286, June.
    5. Longhi, Simonetta & Brynin, Malcolm, 2007. "Job competition amongst university graduates," ISER Working Paper Series 2007-18, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Lindley, Joanne & McIntosh, Steven, 2015. "Growth in within graduate wage inequality: The role of subjects, cognitive skill dispersion and occupational concentration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 101-111.
    7. Walker, Ian & Zhu, Yu, 2005. "The College Wage Premium, Overeducation, and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 1627, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Kristinn Hermannsson & Katerina Lisenkova & Patrizio Lecca & J Kim Swales & Peter G McGregor, 2014. "The Regional Economic Impact of More Graduates in the Labour Market: A ‘Micro-to-Macro’ Analysis for Scotland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(2), pages 471-487, February.
    9. Bratti, Massimiliano & Naylor, Robin & Smith, Jeremy, 2005. "Variations in the Wage Returns to a First Degree: Evidence from the British Cohort Study 1970," IZA Discussion Papers 1631, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2007. "The College Wage Premium, Overeducation, and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK by and," Working Papers 200720, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    11. Seamus McGuinness & Jessica Bennett, 2009. "Changes in the returns to schooling 1991-2002: evidence from the British Household Panel Survey," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 167-184.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2007. "The College Wage Premium, Overeducation, and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK by and," Working Papers 200720, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    2. Walker, Ian & Zhu, Yu, 2005. "The College Wage Premium, Overeducation, and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 1627, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Battistin, Erich & De Nadai, Michele & Sianesi, Barbara, 2014. "Misreported schooling, multiple measures and returns to educational qualifications," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 181(2), pages 136-150.
    4. Erich Battistin & Barbara Sianesi, 2006. "Misreported schooling and returns to education: evidence from the UK," CeMMAP working papers CWP07/06, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    5. Nigel C. O’Leary & Peter J. Sloane, 2005. "The Return to a University Education in Great Britain," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 193(1), pages 75-89, July.
    6. Richard Blundell & Lorraine Dearden & Barbara Sianesi, 2003. "Evaluating the impact of education on earnings in the UK: Models, methods and results from the NCDS," IFS Working Papers W03/20, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    8. repec:ces:ifodic:v:3:y:2005:i:4:p:14567581 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2008. "The College Wage Premium and the Expansion of Higher Education in the UK," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 695-709, December.
    10. Colm Harmon & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2000. "The Returns to Education: A Review of Evidence, Issues and Deficiencies in the Literature," CEE Discussion Papers 0005, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
    11. Hans J. Baumgartner, 2003. "Are There Any Class Size Effects On Early Career Earnings In West Germany?," HEW 0305004, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Nov 2003.
    12. Lin, Eric S., 2010. "Gender wage gaps by college major in Taiwan: Empirical evidence from the 1997-2003 Manpower Utilization Survey," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 156-164, February.
    13. Chris Belfield & Laura van der Erve, 2018. "The impact of higher education on the living standards of female graduates," IFS Working Papers W18/25, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    14. Lorraine Dearden & Leslie McGranahan & Leslie McGranahan & Barbara Sianesi, 2004. "Returns to Education for the Marginal Learner: Evidence from the BCS70," CEE Discussion Papers 0045, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
    15. Doyle, Orla & Harmon, Colm P. & Walker, Ian, 2005. "The Impact of Parental Income and Education on the Health of their Children," IZA Discussion Papers 1832, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Machin, Stephen & McNally, Sandra & Ruiz-Valenzuela, Jenifer, 2020. "Entry through the narrow door: The costs of just failing high stakes exams," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    17. Andy Dickerson & Steven McIntosh, 2013. "The Impact of Distance to Nearest Education Institution on the Post-compulsory Education Participation Decision," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(4), pages 742-758, March.
    18. Giorgio Brunello & Margherita Fort & Guglielmo Weber, 2009. "Changes in Compulsory Schooling, Education and the Distribution of Wages in Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(536), pages 516-539, March.
    19. Balestra, Simone & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2017. "Heterogeneous returns to education over the wage distribution: Who profits the most?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 89-105.
    20. Christiansen, Charlotte & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2002. "The Educational Asset Market: A Finance Perspective on Human Capital Investment," Working Papers 02-10, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    21. Angel de la Fuente & Rafael Domenech & Juan Francisco Jimeno, 2003. "Human capital as a factor of growth and employment at the regional level. The case of Spain," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 610.04, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; wages;

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp1549. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.