The Return to Education in the Mid-Twentieth Century: Evidence from Twins

What was the return to education in the United States at mid-century? In 1940, the correlation between years of schooling and earnings was relatively low. In this article, we estimate the causal return to schooling in 1940, constructing a large linked sample of twin brothers to account for differences in unobserved ability and family background. We find that each additional year of schooling increased labor earnings by approximately 4 percent, about half the return found for more recent cohorts in twins studies. These returns were evident both within and across occupations and were higher for sons from lower socio-economic status families.

Estimating Private School Premium for Primary School Children in Ethiopia: Evidence from Individual-level Panel Data

This article presents the first value-added model of private school effect in Ethiopia, using the unique Young Lives longitudinal data. I found a substantial and statistically significant private school premium (about 0.5 standard deviation) in Maths, but not in Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). Private school premium works for both low and high ability children. The results are robust to sorting on unobserved ability, grouping on lag structures and transfer between private and public schools. Combined with available contextual data, empirical evidence suggests that the effectiveness of private primary schools may be due to more learning time and teacher’s attention enjoyed by students. I also attempted to contribute methodologically to the literature by directly testing the structural assumption underpinning value-added models.

Parental Credit Constraints and Child College Attendance

Parents in the United States frequently supplement the student loans available to their children by cosigning on a loan, borrowing against their home equity, or with unsecured debt in their own names. This paper investigates whether some students are constrained from attending and completing college by their parents’ lack of access to credit markets by linking individual parental credit scores to their children's educational attainment. I find that good parental credit significantly improves the child's probability of attending college. Suggestive evidence is provided that the estimated relationship may be causal and not biased by omitted factors, such as unobserved ability or other personality characteristics.