IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/kan/wpaper/202311.html

A Study on Regional Return to Education in South Korea: Comparison of Male and Female Wages

Author

Listed:
  • JongSoo Lee

    (Department of Economics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA)

  • Bit Na Choi

    (The Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire)

Abstract

This study examined the return to education in South Korea between metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan areas. In doing so, we used the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study 2018 and 2019 using the Mincer equation with fixed effects. We find that female workers' return to education was higher than male workers. In metropolitan areas, male workers' return to education was 5.4%, and female workers' return to education was 8.1%, while, in non-metropolitan areas, male workers' return to education was 5.4%, and female workers' return to education was 9.0%. Using the Oaxaca decomposition method, we find that private academies increase differential treatment between men and women while public education decreases the gap. RDD method shows that, in the non-metropolitan area, the income difference between respondents who went to universities and those who did not was more significant than in the metropolitan area. It suggests that by region the university premium is significantly different.

Suggested Citation

  • JongSoo Lee & Bit Na Choi, 2023. "A Study on Regional Return to Education in South Korea: Comparison of Male and Female Wages," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202311, University of Kansas, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:kan:wpaper:202311
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://kuwpaper.ku.edu/2023Papers/202311.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schultz, T. Paul, 2003. "Human capital, schooling and health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 207-221, June.
    2. Sandra E. Black, 1999. "Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 577-599.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, January.
    4. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Introduction to "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings"," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 1-4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Does Immigration Grease the Wheels of the Labor Market?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 14, pages 431-484, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Nakosteen, Robert A & Zimmer, Michael A, 2001. "Spouse Selection and Earnings: Evidence of Marital Sorting," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 201-213, April.
    7. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    8. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, January.
    9. Heckman, James & Li, Xuesong, 2003. "Selection bias, comparative advantage and heterogeneous returns to education: Evidence from China in 2000," Working Paper Series 2003:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    10. Myeong-Su Yun, 2005. "A Simple Solution to the Identification Problem in Detailed Wage Decompositions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 43(4), pages 766-772, October.
    11. Thomas Lemieux, 2006. "Postsecondary Education and Increasing Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 195-199, May.
    12. Ben Jann, 2008. "A Stata implementation of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition," ETH Zurich Sociology Working Papers 5, ETH Zurich, Chair of Sociology, revised 14 May 2008.
    13. Yun, Myeong-Su, 2004. "Decomposing differences in the first moment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 275-280, February.
    14. Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-209, January.
    15. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Keueger, 1991. "Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 979-1014.
    16. Mark Hoekstra, 2009. "The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 717-724, November.
    17. T. Paul Schultz, 2003. "Human Capital, Schooling and Health Returns," Working Papers 853, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    18. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1999. "Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Scholastic Achievement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 533-575.
    19. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mustafizur Rahman & Marzuka Md. Al-Hasan, 2019. "Women in Bangladesh Labour Market: Determinants of Participation, Gender Wage Gap and Returns to Schooling," CPD Working Paper 124, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
    2. van der Klaauw, Bas, 2014. "From micro data to causality: Forty years of empirical labor economics," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 88-97.
    3. Carl Lin, 2016. "How Do Immigrants From Taiwan Fare In The U.S. Labor Market?," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(05), pages 1-38, December.
    4. Boll Christina & Rossen Anja & Wolf André, 2017. "The EU Gender Earnings Gap: Job Segregation and Working Time as Driving Factors," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 237(5), pages 407-452, October.
    5. JongSoo Lee & Bit Na Choi, 2023. "A Study on Regional Return to Education in South Korea: Comparison of Male and Female Wages," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202407, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2024.
    6. Boris Kaiser, 2016. "Decomposing differences in arithmetic means: a doubly robust estimation approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 873-899, May.
    7. Theodore Koutmeridis, 2013. "The Market for "Rough Diamonds": Information, Finance and Wage Inequality," CDMA Working Paper Series 201307, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised 14 Oct 2013.
    8. Arthur Charpentier & Emmanuel Flachaire & Antoine Ly, 2017. "Econom\'etrie et Machine Learning," Papers 1708.06992, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2018.
    9. 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.
    10. Domenico Depalo & Raffaela Giordano & Evangelia Papapetrou, 2015. "Public–private wage differentials in euro-area countries: evidence from quantile decomposition analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 985-1015, November.
    11. Markus Frölich, 2004. "Programme Evaluation with Multiple Treatments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 181-224, April.
    12. Mauricio Quinones Domínguez & Juan Antonio Rodr�guez Sinisterra, 2011. "Rendimiento de la educación en las regiones colombianas: un análisis usando la Descomposición Oaxaca-Blinder," Revista Sociedad y Economía, Universidad del Valle, CIDSE.
    13. Sile Padraigin O'Dorchai, 2008. "Do women gain or lose from becoming mothers?," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 51(2/3), pages 243-268.
    14. Saule Kemelbayeva, 2020. "Returns to schooling in Kazakhstan: an update using a pseudo-panel approach," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(3), pages 437-487, September.
    15. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    16. Stanislav Avdeev, 2020. "Zero Returns To Higher Education: Evidence From A Natural Experiment," HSE Working papers WP BRP 236/EC/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    17. Sarah Brown & John G. Sessions, 2003. "Earnings, Education, and Fixed‐Term Contracts," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 50(4), pages 492-506, September.
    18. Carl Lin & Tony Fang & Mei Hsu, 2024. "Migrants from a Different Shore: Earnings and Economic Assimilation of Immigrants from China in the United States," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 305-349, September.
    19. Juan Yang & Sylvie Demurger & Shi Li, 2011. "Do Employees in the Public Sector Still Enjoy Earnings Advantages?," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 201118, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    20. Domenico Depalo & Santiago Pereda-Fernández, 2023. "The differential impact by gender of the Covid-19 pandemic on the labor outcomes of older adults," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 503-553, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

    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:kan:wpaper:202311. 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: Professor Zongwu Cai (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deuksus.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.