What drives social returns to education? A meta-analysis

Arbeitspapier

Education can generate important externalities that contribute towards economic growth and convergence. In this paper, we study the drivers of such externalities by conducting the first meta-analysis of the social returns to education literature. We analyse over 1,000 estimates from 31 articles published since 1993 that cover 15 countries. Our results indicate that: 1) spillovers slow down with economic development; 2) tertiary schooling and schooling dispersion increase spillovers; 3) spillovers are smaller under fixed-effects and IV estimators but larger when measured at the firm level; and 4) there is publication bias (but not citation bias).

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 706

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Returns to Education ; Education: Government Policy ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
• Subject: returns to education ; education externalities

Contributors, Location and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cui, Ying ; Martins, Pedro S.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/225637
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET