Students’ expectations of the economic returns to college education: results of a controlled experiment

We report the results of an experiment designed to elicit students’ subjective beliefs about the economic returns to college education. An important feature of our experimental design is the inclusion of financial incentives for accurate reporting. We also consider the extent to which individuals’ beliefs about their own returns differ from their beliefs about the returns for others. The evidence shows that students do have a self-enhancement tendency, and this finding cannot be attributed to previously uncontrolled order effects. The evidence also indicates that there is no significant difference between beliefs elicited using hypothetical surveys or real financial incentives in the elicitation procedure. This finding suggests that economists’ reluctance to gather subjective data on earnings expectations may not be warranted.     

Where the boys aren't: non-cognitive skills, returns to school and the gender gap in higher education

Nearly 60 percent of college students today are women. Using longitudinal data on a nationally representative cohort of eighth grade students in 1988, I examine two potential explanations for the differential attendance rates of men and women—returns to schooling and non-cognitive skills. The attendance gap is roughly five percentage points for all high school graduates. Conditional on attendance, however, there are few differences in type of college, enrollment status or selectivity of institution. The majority of the attendance gap can be explained by differences in the characteristics of men and women, despite some gender differences in the determinants of college attendance. I find that higher non-cognitive skills and college premiums among women account for nearly 90 percent of the gender gap in higher education. Interestingly, non-cognitive factors continue to influence college enrollment after controlling for high school achievement.     

The returns to education for opportunity entrepreneurs,necessity entrepreneurs,and paid employees

We assess the relevance of formal education on the productivity of the self-employed, distinguishing between opportunity entrepreneurs, who voluntarily pursue a business opportunity, and necessity entrepreneurs, who lack alternative employment options. We expect differences in the returns to education between these groups due to different levels of control over the use of their human capital. The analysis employs the German Socio-Economic Panel and accounts for the endogeneity of education and non-random selection. Results indicate that the returns to a year of education for opportunity entrepreneurs are similar to the paid employees’ rate of 8.8%, but 3 percentage points lower for necessity entrepreneurs. Pooling the two types of entrepreneurs tends to understate the value of education for opportunity entrepreneurs and may spark misguided hopes concerning necessity entrepreneurs. The results may also partly explain Europe/US differences in average entrepreneurial returns.     

Higher levels of education for higher private returns: New evidence from Malaysia

This study provides new and more accurate information about private rates of return to education (RORE) in Malaysia. Most of the prior studies on RORE have not addressed selectivity bias, and those that have are based on an older data set. The findings suggest that for both males and females, the average private returns to education are highest at the secondary (16.5 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively) and university (15.5 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively) education levels. Thus, it is important to pursue education until the secondary level and further to the university level to capture higher returns to education.     

But can she cook? Women’s education and housework productivity

Previous inquiries into the relationship between education and housework productivity reveal that expectations differ along disciplinary (i.e., economics vs. non-economics) lines and empirical results from the economics literature are mixed. Expectations of a positive sign between education and housework productivity in the economics literature may be a function of misinterpretations of [J. Polit. Economy 81 (1973) 306] original theory pertaining to all non-market production, which is far more general than just housework. Mixed empirical results may be a function of incomplete or overly assumption-reliant econometric models derived previously. We streamline the procedures for estimating the parameters of a one-person, one-period housework production function such that the system of equations may be specified with a single, literature-based assumption. Our estimation of the production function parameter that measures the effect of education on housework productivity suggests that authors in the non-economics literature may have a point; the relationship between education and housework productivity may be negative due to “morale” effects.     

College quality and early adult outcomes

This paper estimates the effects of various college qualities on several early adult outcomes, using panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study. I compare the results using ordinary least squares with three alternative methods of estimation, including instrumental variables, and the methods used by Dale and Krueger [(2002). Estimating the payoff to attending a more selective college: An application of selection on observables and unobservables. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4), 1491–1528.] and Black and Smith [(2004). How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching. Journal of Econometrics, 121, 99–124.]. I find that college quality does have positive significant effects on most outcomes studied using OLS. While there is some evidence of positive selection bias in the OLS results, the alternative methods rarely produce findings that are significantly different from the OLS estimates. Furthermore, alternative methods have their own limitations, which are discussed. Across methods of estimation, there is solid evidence of positive effects of college quality on college graduation and household income, and weaker evidence of effects on hourly wages.     

The demand for higher education in The Netherlands, 1950–1999

This paper investigates the role of economic factors in the university enrollment decision for the post-war period in The Netherlands. We include those factors standing at the heart of the idea that education is an investment. The econometric results suggest that students are not responsive to tuition fees, but financial support (the sum of loans and grants), the college premium on future labor market earnings, and the alternative wage are important in the enrollment decision.     

The public returns to public educational investments in African-American males

This paper calculates the public savings (financial benefits) from greater public investments in the education of African-American males. Over one-fifth of each age cohort of black males in US is not a high school graduate. We identify five interventions that would—based on credible research—increase the graduation rate; we also report the public cost of each intervention. We then calculate the lifetime public benefits in terms of increased tax revenues and lower spending on health and crime. In present values, for a black male aged 20, these public benefits amount to $256,700 per new graduate and the median intervention would cost only $90,700. The benefit/cost ratio is 2.83. Simply equating the high school graduation rate of black males with that of white males would yield public savings of $3.98 billion for each age cohort. These results suggest that increased investments in education for black males at risk of dropping out of high school should be an economic priority.     

From “time pass” to transformative force: School-based human rights education in Tamil Nadu, India

This article presents data collected at the level of practice to highlight one non-governmental organization's approach to human rights education and how household-, school-, and community-level factors mediated student impact. Findings suggest that a variety of factors at the three levels contribute to the program's successful implementation in government schools serving marginalized students (where most HRE programs are in operation in India today). These responses emerge along a continuum from ‘time pass’—a commonly used term in India for anything that does not directly contribute to greater performance on high-stakes exams—to ‘transformative force’, wherein students internalize knowledge and values related to human rights and take action based on it. Responses to HRE were characterized in four areas and representative examples are provided of each: (1) personal changes; (2) attempts to intervene in situations of abuse; (3) reporting (or threatening to report) abuse; and (4) spreading awareness about human rights.     

Influences on the intention to enter higher education: the importance of expected returns

Research points to several determinants of the private demand for higher education, which include individual, social, economic, and institutional variables. Of these variables, economic factors are considered to be highly relevant, especially in the current financial crisis. The paper investigates the link between expected rates of return to higher education and the intention of secondary education graduates to pursue university studies. The effect of additional variables influencing the choice of higher education (ability, gender, socioeconomic status [SES], type of secondary school, area of residence) is also examined. The findings show a significant link between the perceived rates of return and the intention of secondary school graduates to enter tertiary education. With the exception of residence, all independent variables are strong determinants of the intention to enter higher education. The paper also points to the considerable effect of the financial crisis on students’ expectations in that respondents reported lower perceived rates of return compared to previous estimates in the same country. The implications of the findings for higher education policy are discussed.     

Post-elementary education,poverty and development in India

There is a general presumption among many policy makers that secondary and higher education is not necessary for economic growth and development. On the other hand, it is literacy and primary education that is argued to be important. Estimates on internal rate of return also contributed to strengthening of such a presumption. Accordingly, secondary and higher education do not figure on the poverty reduction agenda of many poor countries and of the international aid organisations. The Indian experience also testifies to all this. Secondary and more strikingly higher education has been subject to neglect by the government. Using most recent statistics, it is attempted here to show that the general presumption on the weak or negligible role of secondary and higher education in development is not valid and that post-elementary education is important for reduction in poverty, in improving infant mortality and life expectancy, and for economic growth.     

The private returns to education in rural Bangladesh

This study estimates the private average rate of return (ARR) and internal rate of return (IRR) to education in rural Bangladesh. Using data from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2015, we estimate average returns using the Mincerian method and IRR using the full method, accounting for both the direct and indirect costs of schooling. To account for endogeneity and selection bias, we use parental education as an instrumental variable and apply the Heckman correction method. We find an average return of 18 %, an IRR of 12 % for tertiary education, 4.86 % for secondary, and 5.24 % for primary. In the agricultural sector specifically, however, returns to tertiary education are more in line with primary and secondary education.     

College majors and the knowledge content of jobs

College students select majors for a variety of reasons, including expected returns in the labor market. This paper demonstrates an empirical method linking a census of US degrees and fields of study with measures of the knowledge content of jobs. The study combines individual wage and employment data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) with ratings on 27 knowledge content areas from the Occupational Information Network (O^*NET), thus providing measures of the economy-wide knowledge content of jobs. Fields of study and corresponding BA degree data from the Digest of Education Statistics for 1976–1977 through 2001–2002 are linked to these 27 content areas. We find that the choice of college major is responsive to changes in the knowledge composition of jobs and, more problematically, the wage returns to types of knowledge. Women's degree responsiveness to knowledge content appears to be stronger than men's, but their response to wage returns is weak.     

Searching for sexual revolutions in India: non-governmental organisation-designed sex education programmes as a means towards gender equality and sexual empowerment in New Delhi,India

At the foundation of most inequalities in expression of sexuality lie social constructions of gender. In this paper, sex education is considered as a possibility to challenge sexism and promote healthy and self-affirmative sex lives. In the past decade, the discourse of sex education in India has become a ‘battle of morality’ where concerned citizens condemn sex education on the grounds it may encourage sexual activity and immoral conduct (e.g. promiscuity or infidelity). The work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is an alternative to the governmental national curriculum plan. This paper discusses NGO potential in terms of sexual empowerment by examining beliefs and understanding, choices of information, strategies and methods, and approaches apparent in sex education programmes and projects. Through qualitative data, findings were analysed by constructing a sexual empowerment model that divides components of sex education into four parts and utilises theories of empowerment. The main findings include that all four components of sex education – foundation, content, strategies and approaches – show great potential to challenge gender inequalities in regard to sexuality. Sexual health programmes and projects are seen to be highly participatory, deliberative and encouraging of critical thinking. Some concerns are highlighted: the strong focus on girls as the main actors of change, and external limitations such as parents and institutions.     

Changes in the returns to education and college quality

This paper estimates changes in the effects of educational attainment and college quality on three cohorts of students observed during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Consistent with most of the prior literature, I find that educational attainment and college quality raise earnings, and the magnitudes of these effects have increased over time. The new contributions of this paper are the following: (1) changes in these effects are disaggregated by sex, race, and parent's SES, and include estimates of effects on earnings, labor force participation, family formation, and civic participation; (2) evidence of larger increases in the effects of education on earnings and labor force participation for men, Blacks, and Hispanics; (3) declining effects of educational attainment on voter registration; and (4) increasing effects of college quality on delaying marriage and childbearing, particularly for males.     

Knowing what it takes: The effect of information about returns to studying on study effort and achievement

We study the effect of providing students with information on the returns to study effort in a large introductory microeconomics course. To do so, we use historical time-use data from the course’s online homework module to estimate the association between study time and course performance. We measure the impact of providing students this information on subsequent study effort, class attendance, homework scores, and exam performance using a randomized research design. Results show that the information contained in our intervention increased time spent studying by approximately 7% throughout the entire course, though this effect is imprecisely measured. However, when examining shorter-run outcomes (prior to the next exam) we find larger and more precisely estimated treatment effects on time spent on homeworks (12%) and homework scores (14% of a standard deviation). Treatment effects on longer run outcomes in the course are negligible. We additionally estimate large, but somewhat imprecise, average treatment effects on class attendance and small positive and insignificant average treatment effects on exam performance throughout the course.     

Global frameworks,local contingencies: policy translations and education development in India

Policies and programmes pursuing the universalisation of elementary education (UEE) in developing nations have been influenced by a set of complex forces in international, state, and local arenas. This paper explores how a large‐scale standardised assessment programme shaped by international and market‐oriented discourses has been differently re‐worked in the south Indian state of Karnataka. We draw on observation and interview data with educators and administrators to shed some light on their roles in reconstituting the meaning and practice of this programme. The intended frameworks of ‘borrowed’ education policies are not always reproduced or sustained in local contexts. Our paper shows how policies, rather than ‘borrowed’ from one context to another, undergo a process of ‘translation’ involving the contextualisation and inevitable transformation of policies.     

Economic development, human capital, and gender earnings differentials in China

Gender earnings differentials in China during the course of development in the post-reform period were examined. The analysis showed that the female–male earnings ratio increased over time in all regions. The region with relatively rapid economic reforms had the highest female–male earnings ratio. Decomposition of the gender earnings differential revealed that in the more developed region a lower percentage of the differential could be explained by gender differences in productive characteristics. Changes in the discriminatory component of the differential by region over time suggested that both the “competition” effect proposed by Becker [The Economics of Discrimination, 1971] and the effects of wage decentralization during economic reforms played a different role in the eastern and central regions versus their role in the western region. Further examination of the sub-components of the explained component of the differential highlighted the minor role of education in explaining the gender earnings differentials.     

George Wallis (1811–1891) and Ernest Beinfeld Havell (1861–1934): Juxtaposing Historical Perspectives on Nineteenth‐Century Drawing Books in England and India

Drawing books can be seen as a vital component to teaching and learning art. They serve as an excellent resource for understanding the historical context of teaching drawing. As the industrial revolution geared forward in the nineteenth century, drawing books became a crucial source for sharing and disseminating educational philosophies for the teaching of drawing as well as understanding artistic practices. Serving many informal and traditional educational contexts, drawing books can be seen as evidence of how people learned or were taught. Although many accounts of teaching of drawing are known, little is documented about the many drawing manuals developed by art educators in England and its colonies, specifically India. This article examines nineteenth‐century drawing books by George Wallis (1811–91) and Ernest Beinfeld Havell (1861–1934) and the subsequent influence of these books on art education in England and India. Through comparison between the different approaches of authoring these drawing books, one could argue that both Havell and Wallis pursued nationalistic and personal goals by juxtaposing the authoring styles of their books. It was evident that George Wallis’ authorship of his drawing books was grounded in his philosophy of education, appreciation for design education, and dedication to England. Havell's drawing books, on the other hand, attempted to provide students with the knowledge of Indian sculpture, architecture and painting thereby exposing them to India's artistic heritage as well as raising awareness about utilising Indian art as the basis of instruction at the Indian art schools as part of the larger Indian nationalist movement against British rule. Their histories cumulatively bring to print a specific account of drawing manuals used during the nineteenth century and their influence on the teaching and learning of drawing in England and India.     

Ethno-cultural diversity education in Canada,the USA and India: the experience of the Tibetan diaspora

Abstract

This paper contrasts approaches to supporting ethno-cultural diversity in education in Canada, the USA and India through the lens of the experiences of the Tibetan diaspora. All three countries self-identify as linguistic and ethnically diverse states that value multiculturalism. These shared values make them insightful comparative cases to consider the role of public education vis-a-vis its impact on ethno-cultural diversity within pluralistic societies. The case used to conduct the comparison is that of the Tibetan diaspora, an ethno-cultural migrant minority found in each country. Three prevailing ethno-cultural diversity orientations are identified – integration, achievement and sustainability – to describe prevalent approaches in Canada, the USA and India, respectively. The paper concludes with implications of the skewed orientations in each context, proposing a more balanced use of all three orientations for more robust and comprehensive supports for ethno-cultural diversity in education.