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Forced to be Rich? Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Paul J Devereux

    (University College Dublin)

  • Robert A Hart

    (University of Stirling)

Abstract

Do students benefit from compulsory schooling? In an important article, Oreopoulos (2006) studied the 1947 British compulsory schooling law change and found large returns to schooling of about 15% using the General Household Survey (GHS). Reanalysing this dataset, we find much smaller returns of about 3% on average with no evidence of any positive return for women and a return for men of 4-7%. Additionally, we utilize the New Earnings Survey Panel Data-set (NESPD) that has earnings information superior to that in the GHS and find similar estimates: zero returns for women and returns of 3 to 4% for men.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul J Devereux & Robert A Hart, 2009. "Forced to be Rich? Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Britain," Working Papers 200924, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:200924
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Compulsory Schooling; Returns to Education;

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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