Endogeneity Of Education Research Articles

Education and vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic

We estimate the influence of education on vaccine hesitancy focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic. To address the bias arising from the endogeneity of education, we leverage the variation introduced by an extension in school-leaving age that took place in the UK in 1972 and employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. We find evidence that an additional year of schooling decreases Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Education increases patience: Evidence from a change in a compulsory schooling law

I investigate the causal effect of education on time preferences. To deal with the endogeneity of education, I exploit exogenous variation in education imposed by a Turkish school reform that raised compulsory education from five to eight years. I find that education causes individuals to make more patient inter-temporal choices but does not induce them to report being more patient. I also provide evidence that the effect of education on patient inter-temporal choices does not operate through changes in financial well-being.

Things Have Changed: Returns to Education in Thailand

This study examines the developments in educational attainment and education returns of wage earners in Thailand over the period 1994–2002. In so doing, several potential weaknesses of previous studies on the topic — as well as, more generally, applied econometrics analyses — are addressed. One contribution of this paper is to gather and re-emphasize the importance of several important estimation issues frequently overlooked by researchers. The results imply that the returns to education in Thailand over the period are substantial, peaking in 2000. Taking into account the possible endogeneity of education using household fixed effects, education returns are substantially dampened, relative to the baseline ordinary least squares estimates. This indicates that previous studies for Thailand and elsewhere — when not taking endogeneity into account — may have overestimated the returns to education substantially.

Transforming Lives: The Impact of Compulsory Schooling on Hope and Happiness

This is the first article examining the causal impact of mandatory extended primary schooling on happiness (sense of well being) of young adults. We rely on a law change that raised compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years in Turkey to address the endogeneity of education to happiness. Our study shows that, for females, earning at least a middle school diploma increases the likelihood of being happy and the probability of being satisfied with various life domains. Descriptive tests suggest that being hopeful about one’s own future well being partly explains the relationship between women’s schooling and happiness. For males, although relatively imprecisely estimated, we find evidence that earning at least a middle school degree results in a decline in subjective well being. Supplemental analysis develops evidence consistent with the view that an imbalance between aspirations and attainments, flowing from extended primary schooling, may be the reason behind this counterintuitive finding among men.

Where Does Education Pay Off in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Two Cities of the Republic of Congo

Using first-hand data from the 2009 Employment and Informal Sector Survey (EESIC) in the two largest cities of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, we analyze the impact of education on labour market outcomes, and identify the segments where education pays off the most. Multivariate analyses of the risk of unemployment and sectoral choice indicate that young people face serious difficulties in the labour market: for most of them, their only choice is to remain unemployed or to join the informal sector. To measure the specific impact of schooling on earnings, we address issues related to sample selection and endogeneity of education in the earnings function. The results shed light on heterogeneity in the returns to schooling across the two main cities and institutional sectors. An important finding is that the informal sector does not systematically lag behind the formal sectors in terms of returns to education. We emphasize convex returns to education, meaning that the last years in secondary and tertiary schooling yield the highest returns, while those of primary education are generally lower. This convexity is also apparent in the informal sector, where education (albeit on another scale) again appears as an important determinant of earnings.

Semiparametric one-step estimation of a sample selection model with endogenous covariates

This paper considers semiparametric estimation of a sample selection model with endogenous covariates. In contrast to the existing literature, endogenous covariates are explicitly allowed in the main equation of interest as well as in the selection equation. A one-step GMM estimator based on polynomial approximations of unknown functions is proposed. It is shown that the estimator is consistent and has an asymptotic normal distribution. A small-scale simulation study indicates that the estimator performs well in finite samples and that estimators which do not account for the joint presence of sample selectivity and endogeneity of covariates are biased if both sample selectivity and endogeneity of covariates are indeed present. In an empirical application, it is demonstrated that the female returns to education are underestimated if one does not control for the joint presence of sample selectivity and endogeneity of education in main and selection equation.

Where Does Education Pay Off in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Two Cities of the Republic of Congo

Using first-hand data from the 2009 Employment and Informal Sector Survey (EESIC) in the two largest cities of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, we analyse the impact of education on labour market outcomes, and identify the segments where education pays off the most. Multivariate analyses of the risk of unemployment and sectoral choice indicate that young people face serious difficulties in the labour market: for most of them, their only choice is to remain unemployed or to join the informal sector. To measure the specific impact of schooling on earnings, we address issues related to sample selection and endogeneity of education in the earnings function. The results shed light on heterogeneity in the returns to schooling across the two main cities and institutional sectors. An important finding is that the informal sector does not systematically lag behind the formal sectors in terms of returns to education. We emphasize convex returns to education, meaning that the last years in secondary and tertiary schooling yield the highest returns, while those of primary education are generally lower. This convexity is also apparent in the informal sector, where education (albeit on another scale) again appears as an important determinant of earnings.

A comparison of approaches for estimating the effect of women's education on the probability of using modern contraceptive methods in Malawi

The aim of this study is to estimate the effect of education on the probability of married Malawian women using modern contraceptive methods by accounting for both observed and unobserved confounders. We conduct a sensitivity analysis and compare the results of naive models with instrumental variable models to account for the potential endogeneity of education. Our findings demonstrate conflicting results between the two modelling approaches. The naive models report smaller education effects on the probability of using modern contraceptive methods compared to instrumental variable models. We also find that by relaxing the functional form assumption on the effect of continuous covariates, using a flexible instrumental variable model, the education's effect follows a positive, nonlinear pattern. This finding is not observed with a classic instrumental variable model.

The effect of education on fertility: Evidence from a compulsory schooling reform

This paper investigates the effect of education on fertility under inflexible labor market conditions. We exploit exogenous variation from a German compulsory schooling reform to deal with the endogeneity of education. By using data from two complementary datasets, we examine different fertility outcomes over the life cycle. In contrast to evidence for other developed countries, we find that increased education causally reduces completed fertility. This negative effect operates through a postponement of first births away from teenage years and no catch-up later in life. We attribute these findings to the particularly high opportunity costs of childrearing in Germany.

The Effect of Education on Fertility: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform

This paper investigates the effect of education on fertility under inflexible labor market conditions. We exploit exogenous variation from a German compulsory schooling reform to deal with the endogeneity of education. By using data from two complementary data sets, we examine different fertility outcomes over the life cycle. In contrast to evidence for other developed countries, we find that increased education causally reduces completed fertility. This negative effect operates through a postponement of first births away from teenage years, and no catch-up later in life. We attribute these findings to the particularly high opportunity costs of child-rearing in Germany.

Effects of Education on Job Quality in Colombia

This paper analyzes the quality of jobs in Colombia in 2009. The results shows progress with the quality of jobs in Colombia, but the level is not enough to secure employment of quality. We also, test endogeneity of education and propose a way to correct endogeneity and obtain consistent and efficient estimators of job quality.

The impact of education on unemployment incidence and re-employment success: Evidence from the U.S. labour market

This study investigates the causal effects of education on individuals' transitions between employment and unemployment, with particular focus on the extent to which education improves re-employment outcomes among unemployed workers. Given that positive correlations between education and labour force transitions are likely to be confounded by the endogeneity of education, we make use of data on compulsory schooling laws and child labour laws as well as conscription risk in the Vietnam War period to create instrumental variables to identify the causal relationships. Results indicate that education significantly increases re-employment rates of the unemployed. Particularly large impacts are found in the neighborhoods of 12 and 16 years of schooling. Evidence on the impact of formal schooling on unemployment incidence is mixed.

Education, Job Search and Re-Employment Outcomes Among the Unemployed

This study assesses the effects of education on both job search intensity and re-employment success for unemployed workers. Given that the positive correlation between education and job search intensity or re-employment success is likely to be confounded by the endogeneity of education, we make use of data on compulsory schooling laws to create instrumental variables to assess the causal effects of education. Based on data from the Labour Force Survey and the Canadian Census, we find that education both significantly increases job search intensity and significantly improves re-employment success for the unemployed. The evidence on job search intensity provides insights into one potential mechanism through which education may increase the probability of re-employment following unemployment.

The Impact of Education on Unemployment Incidence and Re-Employment Success: Evidence from the U.S. Labour Market

This study investigates the causal effects of education on individuals' transitions between employment and unemployment, with particular focus on the extent to which education improves re-employment outcomes among unemployed workers. Given that positive correlations between education and labour force transitions are likely to be confounded by the endogeneity of education, we make use of data on compulsory schooling laws and child labour laws as well as conscription risk in the Vietnam War period to create instrumental variables to identify the causal relationships. Results indicate that education significantly increases re-employment rates of the unemployed. Particularly large impacts are found in the neighborhoods of 12 and 16 years of schooling. Evidence on the impact of formal schooling on unemployment incidence is mixed.

Gender, Generations, and Non-Farm Participation

This paper presents an empirical analysis of intergenerational linkages in non-farm participation with a focus on gender effects. The evidence, using survey data from Nepal, shows that the mother exerts strong influence on a daughter's employment choice: having a mother in non-farm sector raises a daughter's probability of non-farm participation by 200 percent. The effects are truly dramatic for skilled non-farm jobs; having a mother in skilled job raises daughter's probability by 1200 percent. Having a father in non-farm, on the other hand, does not have any significant effect on a son's probability of non-farm participation when the endogeneity of education and assets is corrected for by Two Stage Conditional Maximum Likelihood approach. However, a moderate positive intergenerational correlation between fathers and sons exists for skilled jobs.

The Effect of Education on Smoking Behavior: New Evidence from Smoking Durations of a Sample of Twins

This paper analyses the effect of education on starting and quitting smoking, using longitudinal data of Australian twins. The endogeneity of education, censoring of smoking durations and the timing of starting smoking versus that of completion of education are taken into account by the flexible Mixed Proportional Hazard specification. Unobserved effects are assumed to be twin specific and possibly correlated with completed education years. We find that one additional year of education reduces the duration of smoking with 9 months but has no effect on the decision to start smoking.

Capital humain et croissance : l’apport des enquêtes internationales sur les acquis des élèves

L’estimation de la relation entre éducation et croissance économique est traversée de contradictions. Celles-ci ont notamment souligné le manque de précision dans les indi­cateurs mesurant le capital humain. Cet article introduit de nouveaux indicateurs, construits à partir des enquêtes inter­nationales sur les acquis des élèves. Ainsi, notre nouvelle base de données, qui regroupe 105 pays, permet de tester la relation entre éducation et croissance. Au final, après avoir pris en compte l’endogénéité de l’éducation, il en ressort un effet positif : les indicateurs qualitatifs du capital humain permettent d’expliquer la croissance économique des pays entre 1960 et 2000. L’estimation de la contribution de l’édu­cation à la croissance est significative, tant d’un point de vue quantitatif que qualitatif.

State Dependence in a Multi-State Model of Employment Dynamics

A multinomial choice framework is used to investigate the nature of women's transitions between full-time employment, part-time employment and non-employment. The stochastic framework allows time varying and time invariant unobserved preferences, and also controls for the possible endogeneity of education, fertility and non-labor income. Significant positive true state dependence is found in both full-time and part-time employment. This finding is robust to the specification of unobserved preferences. The results are used to assess the dynamic effects of three temporary wage subsidies. All three policies have substantial effects on employment behavior for up to 6 years. However, obtaining a permanent increase in employment requires sustained or repeated interventions.

Returns to education in Spain: Some evidence on the endogeneity of schooling

In this article, rates of return to education for Spanish male employees are calculated and compared using different methods. We derive rates of return from the estimation of three alternative models of human capital. The rates of return obtained by each of these models are different when they are calculated by least squares. Nevertheless, when the endogeneity of education is considered, the rates of return obtained from each of these models are approximately the same, reaching a value close to 9%. In addition, we compute internal rates of return on investments in education. We find that, on average, social returns are about two points lower than private ones.