The return to schooling: Estimates from a sample of young Australian twins

This study uses a sample of young Australian twins to examine whether the findings reported in [Ashenfelter, Orley and Krueger, Alan, (1994). ‘Estimates of the Economic Return to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins’, American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, pp.1157–73] and [Miller, P.W., Mulvey, C and Martin, N., (1994). ‘What Do Twins Studies Tell Us About the Economic Returns to Education?: A Comparison of Australian and US Findings’, Western Australian Labour Market Research Centre Discussion Paper 94/4] are robust to choice of sample and dependent variable. The economic return to schooling in Australia is between 5 and 7 percent when account is taken of genetic and family effects using either fixed-effects models or the selection effects model of Ashenfelter and Krueger. Given the similarity of the findings in this and in related studies, it would appear that the models applied by [Ashenfelter, Orley and Krueger, Alan, (1994). ‘Estimates of the Economic Return to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins’, American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, pp.1157–73] are robust. Moreover, viewing the OLS and IV estimators as lower and upper bounds in the manner of [Black, Dan A., Berger, Mark C., and Scott, Frank C., (2000). ‘Bounding Parameter Estimates with Nonclassical Measurement Error’, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 95, No.451, pp.739–748], it is shown that the bounds on the return to schooling in Australia are much tighter than in [Ashenfelter, Orley and Krueger, Alan, (1994). ‘Estimates of the Economic Return to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins’, American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, pp. 1157–73], and the return is bounded at a much lower level than in the US.     

The economic return to schooling in Ireland

Recent developments in the schooling returns literature have focused on exploiting alternative instruments. A number of instruments are available in an Irish dataset, including parental background variables (social class and educational attainment), and variables measuring changes in the schooling system (the introduction of free secondary schooling in the mid-1960s, accompanied by a rapid rise in educational participation rates, and the raising of the school-leaving age in 1972). The results suggest, however, that OLS estimates of rates of return are not significantly downward biased as would be suggested by recent arguments in the literature.     

Estimates of the return to schooling and ability: evidence from sibling data

We use sibling data on wages, schooling, and aptitude test scores from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to obtain OLS, family fixed effects, and fixed effects instrumental variable estimates of the return to schooling for a large sample of non-twin siblings. Following recent studies that use identical twin samples, we use sibling-reported schooling as an instrument for self-reported schooling. Controlling for aptitude test scores has a substantial impact on estimated returns to schooling even within families, and there is a large return to test scores that is comparable in size within and between families. We also find that the return to schooling is higher for older brothers than for younger brothers and for women than men. Finally, because the NLSY79 contains multiple sibling reports of education for the same individual, we are able to test and reject the overidentifying restrictions for the validity of sibling-reported schooling as an instrumental variable.     

Barriers to capital accumulation in a model of technology adoption and schooling

Standard growth models require large differences in barriers to capital accumulation to reproduce the observed disparities in the wealth of nations. I introduce technology adoption and schooling decisions into a standard growth model and show that the required differences in barriers implied by this model are much smaller. In particular, a calibrated version of the model implies per capita income differences 3 times larger than a standard model. Per capita income differences are amplified by two reinforcing factors: schooling capital differences and aggregate total factor productivity differences. The results suggest caution in the role of factor inputs derived from standard development accounting exercises. A development policy that subsidizes education is not optimal in the presence of barriers to capital accumulation, removing barriers can replicate educational outcomes and generate higher income levels by several orders of magnitude.     

A review of estimates of the schooling/earnings relationship, with tests for publication bias

In this paper we provide an analytical review of previous estimates of the rate of return on schooling investments and measure how these estimates vary by country, over time, and by estimation method. We find evidence of reporting (or “file drawer”) bias in the estimates and, after due account is taken of this bias, we find that differences due to estimation method are much smaller than is sometimes reported, although some are statistically significant. We also find that estimated returns are higher in the US and they have increased in the last two decades.     

Hazard model estimates of the decision to reenroll in school

In a sample of males drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, one-third of the individuals who first leave school between 1978 and 1990 are found to return to school before 1991. In light of this finding, the current study extends the analysis of schooling demand to a dynamic framework in order to consider the timing of the enrollment decision. A semiparametric, proportional hazard model for nonenrollment durations is estimated. The hazard model estimates are consistent with the view that young men reenroll in school when the costs are relatively low and/or the benefits are relatively high. For example, increases in state-wide average tuition levels and current earned wages lower the hazard rate, while increases in unemployment rates have the opposite effect.     

The (non-)Keynesian effects of fiscal austerity: New evidence from a large sample

We empirically assess whether the negative response of private consumption and private investment to fiscal consolidation usually expected is reversed. We focus on a sample of 174 countries between 1970 and 2018 to determine episodes of fiscal consolidations using three alternative measures of the cyclically adjusted primary balance: (1) an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Economic Outlook (WEO) based measure, (2) a Hodrick-Prescott–based measure, and (3) a measure based on Hamilton (2018). We find that, first, increases in government consumption have a Keynesian effect on real per capita private consumption; second, tax increases have a positive effect on private consumption when a fiscal consolidation occurs; and, third, fiscal contraction has a crowding-in effect on private investment. Moreover, expansionary fiscal consolidations occur in highly indebted advanced economies, in particular, after an increase in taxes. We conclude that the negative effects of taxation on private consumption are larger when developing economies are experiencing a financial crisis and are not consolidating.     

Some remarks concerning the quotient of sample median and sample range for a sample of size 2n+1 from a normal distribution

Consider an ordered sample ₍₁₎, ₍₂₎,…, _(2n+1) of size 2 n +1 from the normal distribution with parameters μ and . We then have with probability one
₍₁₎ < ₍₂₎ < … < (2 n +1).
The random variable
_n =_(n+1)/_(2n+1)-(1)
that can be described as the quotient of the sample median and the sample range, provides us with an estimate for μ/, that is easy to calculate. To calculate the distribution of h _n is quite a different matter***. The distribution function of h₁, and the density of h₂ are given in section 1. Our results seem hardly promising for general h_n. In section 2 it is shown that h_n is asymptotically normal.
In the sequel we suppose μ= 0 and = 1, i.e. we consider only the "central" distribution. Note that h_n can be used as a test statistic replacing Student's t. In that case the central h_n is all that is needed.     

Multidimensional skills and the returns to schooling: Evidence from an interactive fixed-effects approach and a linked survey-administrative data set

This paper presents new evidence on returns to schooling based on an interactive fixed-effects framework that allows for multiple unobserved skills with potentially time-varying prices as well as individual-level heterogeneity in returns. This constitutes a substantive generalization of most existing approaches. Our empirical analysis employs a unique linked survey-administrative panel data set on education and earnings. We find average marginal returns to schooling of about 2.8–4.4% relative to least squares/instrumental variable estimates between 7.7% and 12.7%. Omitted ability accounts for a larger fraction of the aggregate least squares bias compared to heterogeneity. We also find considerable heterogeneity in individual returns.     

Property rights protection,financial access and corporate R&D: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms

The motivation of this paper is to explore why corporate R&D investments are significantly different under similar institutional backgrounds. Our estimates not only confirm a positive relationship from property rights protection (hereafter PRP) to corporate R&D, but also show the mediation effect of financial access on this positive relationship. Thus, we use financial access to explain the variant effect of PRP on corporate R&D. With exogenous instrumental variables, our estimates are robust to endogeneity issues.     

Identifying restrictions in limited information analysis of the schooling coefficient in a wage equation

Identifying restrictions underlying limited information estimates of the coefficients of a wage equation are considered from a Bayesian point of view. Within this framework ‘exclusion’ restrictions need not be imposed exactly, and it becomes possible to consider the marginal densities of interesting coefficients as functions of the tightness of these restrictions. In the application considered here the posterior mean for the schooling and test-score coefficients in a wage equation are examined as identifying restrictions are relaxed. The paper also serves as an example of the feasibility of Bayesian limited information analysis of a current economic issue.     

The Environmental Outcome of Emissions-intensive Economic Growth: A Critical Look at Official Growth Projections for Sweden up to the Year 2000

Implications for carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions from the Swedish government's medium-term economic projections are assessed, considering Sweden's environmental goals. Data from the first environmental accounting matrix of Sweden are exploited within the framework of the interindustry model to give emission multipliers for various components of aggregate demand. In view of these emission multipliers, it is evident that the outlined macro-economic development does not conform with Sweden's environmental goals. The oil price and the structural changes assumed in the economic projections stress still further the need for strong environmental policy measures to attain the emission goals. The allocation of total expenditure is shown here to be a critical factor for bringing down the emissions to accepted levels.     

Trade and Income Growth in Vietnam: Estimates from a New Social Accounting Matrix

Economic reforms and greater outward orientation are giving rise to extensive structural change in the Vietnamese economy. Because of the leverage that global markets can exert on an emerging economy, such adjustments will be particularly significant in the composition of domestic supply and demand. As domestic protection levels are reduced and external market access increases, trade growth and shifting trade patterns will have pervasive effects on income distribution in Vietnam. In this paper, we use a newly estimated Vietnam social accounting matrix to elucidate the links between trade and income in the country. With matrix decomposition methods, we show how the Vietnamese economy propagates the direct effects of external demand across the spectrum of domestic activities, factors, and households. This detailed analysis provides a blueprint for policies to improve economic participation of activities and households with relatively weak linkages to the rest of the economy.     

A small sample study of the moments and distribution of the log likelihood ratio statistic

A study of the first four moments of the log likelihood ratio statistic suggests that a transformed Beta ranks as a serious competitor to the Chi-square as an approximating distribution for certain multinomials. An error analysis of the series approximations of these moments indicates that the equiprobable case is not of sufficient generality for the study of multinomial type statistics. This research was partially supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under grant number AFOSR-85-0161.     

The age-productivity gradient: Evidence from a sample of F1 drivers

Estimating the effect of aging on productivity requires clean measures of productivity. Additionally, one needs to control for unobserved heterogeneity at the worker, firm and worker/firm level, to account for the role of experience and to correct for selection bias. We tackle these issues exploiting a panel of Gran Prix Formula One drivers, which provides a unique setting to single out the data requirements needed to credibly estimate the effect of age on productivity. Results robust to the inclusion of worker, firm and match effects show that the age-productivity link has an inverted U-shape profile with a peak at the age of 30-32. The use of repeated cross-sections of individuals also produces consistent results provided that cohort effects are properly accounted for. Relying on team-average measures of productivity makes instead inference harder.     

On the uniqueness of the solution to a large linear assignment problem

The core of a linear assignment problem contains a continuum of allocations. A model is presented where this core shrinks to a unique solution of the limit problem as the number of agents grows.     

Entrepreneurial renewal in a peripheral region: the case of a winter automotive-testing cluster in Sweden

This research paper generates new insights into renewal processes that may occur in peripheral regions. Key findings are presented from an explorative study on a regionally clustered automotive-testing industry, located in northern Sweden. The findings suggest that despite theoretically unfavourable conditions it is possible to progress regional industry after a peripheral setting's socio-economic relapses. Moreover, this research shows how, notwithstanding the importance of profitable service offerings, an entrepreneurial environment can be encouraged within a peripheral region and subsequent renewal achieved by advancing local networks, improving internationalization and enhancing local infrastructures related to a service-based regional industry. Consequently this research offers us a glimpse into a pioneering service-based renewal case which, in essence, differs from previously reported entrepreneurship scholarship.     

施工企业如何开展铁路项目概算清理工作

铁路项目概算清理是对一个项目总结算的全面清理,是综合反应竣工项目从筹建到竣工交付的全部建设费用、投资效果和财务情况的总结性文件。施工企业在施工过程中会受到各方面因素的影响,如何加强概算清理工作,降低企业成本支出的风险,提高预算收益,是每个施工企业的目标。     

Toward a theory of entrepreneurial behaviour; empirical evidence from Israel,Italy and Sweden

Translated versions of the Miner Sentence Completion Scale-Form T and of the Differential Attribution Questionnaire were administered to entrepreneurs and to managers, in Israel, Northern and Southern Italy and Sweden. The results of this research yield strong support for a framework that integrates affective and cognitive motivational factors. In particular, it found: (1) that the way entrepreneurs deal with negative outcomes explains their perseverance and affects their self-achievement; (2) a risk-avoidance rather than a risk-taking preference distinguishes them; (3) Self-Achievement; Risk-Avoidance and Personal Innovation appear to be major components of Task Motivation. This research appears to move closer toward a more parsimonious and clearer understanding of the behaviour of the central figure in wealth formation, thus providing a framework for the designing of entrepreneurial development programmes.