Education and Earnings in Transition: The Case of Lao*

This paper is a study on the returns to education in Lao, a country that has been largely neglected by the published literature. The authors found that the private rates of returns to education have risen significantly with economic transition. In particular, returns for young workers are considerably higher than for older workers. Although large earnings premiums are generally received by workers with high levels of education, the most profitable investment in education for a large number of paid employees is still the primary level. Moreover, there are the significant public–private sector wage differentials. The research findings have important implications for public sector salaries and the financing of education in Lao.     

A comparison of the wage structure between the public and private sectors in Japan

This study compares the wages in the public and private sectors in Japan. In addition to comparing overall wage levels, we examine the differences in the wage structures, specifically, the relative wages by gender, age, education, and region. The size of the public sector wage premium depends crucially on the size of the private companies chosen as the comparison group. Wage gaps by gender and educational attainment are smaller in the public sector than they are in private companies. The public sector's age–wage profile is steeper than that of the private sector. Public sector wages are more compressed. In other words, the wages are relatively higher at the lower end of the wage distribution and relatively lower at the higher end. The regional wage differentials are smaller in the public sector. Here, the wage levels of public sector workers are relatively higher in rural regions and relatively lower in large metropolitan regions. To ensure the efficient provision of public services, it is inappropriate to compare only mean wages.     

Wage Returns to Schooling in Nigeria

Abstract: In the last two decades, primary and secondary school enrollment rates have declined in Nigeria while enrollment rates in post‐secondary school have increased. This paper estimates from the General Household Survey for Nigeria the private returns to schooling associated with levels of educational attainment for wage and self‐employed workers. The estimates for both men and women are small at primary and secondary levels, 2–4 percent, but are substantial at post‐secondary education level, 10–15 percent. These schooling return estimates may account for the recent trends in enrollments. Thus, increasing public investment to encourage increased attendance in basic education is not justifiable on grounds of private efficiency, unless investments to increase school quality have higher private returns. With high private returns to post‐secondary schooling, students at this level should pay tuition, to recoup more of the public costs of schooling, which may be redistributed to poor families through scholarships.     

数字经济背景下互联网的使用对民营企业员工性别工资差距的影响——基于员工受教育层次差异化特征的分析

基于2017年中国综合社会调查的民营企业员工数据,使用稳健最小二乘回归与Oaxaca分解法研究发现:互联网的使用将对未接受过教育以及仅接受过私塾扫盲班/小学教育的民营企业员工工资产生显著的负向影响;互联网的使用将对接受过初中及以上教育的民营企业员工工资产生显著的正向影响;随着民营企业员工受教育水平的提升,互联网的使用对民营企业女性员工工资的弹性影响远超男性;互联网的使用将扩大未接受过教育的民营企业女性员工与男性员工的工资差距;互联网的使用将缩小接受过私塾扫盲班/小学及以上教育的民营企业女性员工与男性员工的工资差距。据此提出,应加大公益互联网使用培训力度,以提升女性的互联网理性使用水平、加强清扫虚假网络平台以防止受教育层次较低女性误入歧途、鼓励女性自主接受多元化再教育以提升自身互联网理性使用水平等,以缩小民营企业员工性别工资差距。     

Economic subsidies and incentives in education for low-income people

Conclusion First, education is both a private and a public good. We may specify a social welfare function for education as a social good with externalities and internalities, social costs, and social benefits. We may also analyze education as a private good and specify production functions, consumption functions, investment functions, and capital accumulation functions for it. Both micro and macro relations are involved in its production and use. Stock-flow-stock variables are involved in the theory and applications. Economic education is no less important for low income people than it is for the nonpoor and the rich in a conservative capitalistic system.     

Who benefits from household energy transition? A cost-benefit analysis based on household survey data in China

Aiming to alleviate air pollution and carbon emissions from heating, Northern China mandatorily converted household heating energy from coal to electricity (Coal to Electricity), natural gas (Coal to Gas), and clean coal (Clean Coal Replacement). Based on large-scale household survey data in Beijing, this study provides a cost-benefit analysis of the transition program and distinguishes between social and private benefits. The results show that all three programs improve the welfare of society and households. Compared to the Clean Coal Replacement program, Coal to Electricity and Coal to Gas programs provide higher environmental benefits while bringing about larger costs, and thus the benefit-to-cost ratios are lower. We also find that private net benefits are lower than social net benefits, and household satisfaction with the programs is positively determined by private net benefits rather than social net benefits. Furthermore, households with lower income and larger housing areas are more likely to be harmed by the programs by a larger burden from the heating energy transition. These findings call attention to inequity issues during the household energy transition.     

中国农村地区教育私人收益率低的制度归因

与国际标准模型相比,中国农村教育私人收益率仍然偏低。转轨阶段双重分割的社会结构扭曲了劳动力的价格、日益凋敝的农村和农业以及城市偏向的教育投资政策增加了农村私人教育成本,抑制了农村教育私人收益率的提高。由此导致的人力资本投资不足是农民在既定制度约束下理性选择的结果。     

Returns to private and public education in Bangladesh and Pakistan: A comparative analysis

This paper documents wage differentials between private and public school graduates in Bangladesh and Pakistan. While evidence in support of a wage advantage of private school graduates in Bangladesh is lacking, Pakistani private school graduates are found to earn more than their public school counterparts. This finding has important implications for the current debate over the effectiveness of private schools in South Asia. To the extent the wage premium arises owing to education in private schools, our result suggests relative superiority of private schools in Pakistan and are consistent with extant studies that have assessed private school quality using test scores of students. The difference in the performance of private schools in the two countries, however, remains a puzzle. This difference, we conjecture, may be partly explained by the between-country differences in public policy towards private schools and, therefore, the regulatory regime facing these schools.     

The Determinants of Nonfarm Income Diversification in Rural Peru

This paper shows that in Peruvian rural areas, there has been substantial growth over the past decade in household employment outside of own-farming. At present 51% of the net income of rural households comes from these off-farm activities, and thus they certainly cannot be considered as “marginal.” The reasons households diversify their incomes are several. Access to public assets such as roads and private assets such as education and credit is an important factor in diversification. Increasing access to these assets will help rural households to increase their self-employment as well as wage employment in the nonfarm sector.     

Adverse Selection in Private Annuity Markets and the Role of Mandatory Social Annuitization

We study the effects on the macroeconomic equilibrium, the wealth distribution, and welfare of adverse selection in private annuity markets in a closed economy inhabited by overlapping generations of heterogeneous agents who are distinguished by their health status. If an agent’s health type is private information there will be a pooling equilibrium in the private annuity market. We also study the implications for the macro-economy and welfare of a social security system with mandatory contributions that are constant across health types. These social annuities are immune to adverse selection and therefore offer a higher rate of return than private annuities do. However, they have a negative effect on the steady-state capital intensity and welfare. The positive effect of a fair pooled rate of return on a fixed part of savings and a higher return on capital in equilibrium is outweighed by the negative consequences of increased adverse selection in the private annuity market and a lower wage rate.     

江苏高等教育投入现状分析及政策建议

“十五”以来,江苏省的高等教育投入总量逐年增加,但生均经费增长缓慢,多元化筹资格局形成任重道远。“综合定额加专项补助”的拨款标准导致部分高校的盲目扩张,与兄弟省市比较也不具有优势。江苏应当进一步完善高等教育投入增长机制,引导和鼓励社会投资高等教育,改革政府拨款制度和方式,提高教育经费的使用效率等,以推动高等教育事业的健康发展,促进江苏由高教大省向高教强省转变。     

Effects of state-sponsored human capital investment on the selection of training type

Since the 1990s, firms in Japan have reduced their human capital investment in the workplace to minimize costs. Moreover, in response to the increase in the number of non-regular employees and turnover rates, workers need to have greater incentive to make the self-motivated investment in themselves for their self-protection. In this study, we first estimate the effects of workers’ self-motivated investment in themselves on wage rates. Next, we explore who is likely to participate in which training type and accordingly estimate the effects of the self-motivated investment on wage rates by training type. Our estimates controlling for individual-level fixed-effects indicate that the return is significantly positive and particularly high for practical training related to workers’ current jobs, and regular workers tend to self-select these higher-returns programs, while non-regular workers are more likely to enroll in lower-returns programs, such as schooling. This trend in investment in oneself could potentially increase the wage inequality between regular and non-regular workers through the self-selection of training types. Our estimates reveal that receiving the training and education benefit raises the likelihood for workers to participate in a high-return training program regardless of whether they are non-regular or regular workers. This suggests that government benefits on self-investment change workers’ self-selection of training type and serve to promote practical trainings that lead to high returns.     

Gender Difference in Returns to Education Independent of Gender Wage Gap in Korea*

This study examined the difference between male and female groups’ return on investment (ROI) in education independent of the average gender wage gap. Women’s additional ROI in education was significant and positively estimated. Furthermore, the ROI in women’s education was consistently higher than that in men regardless of educational stage, except for graduate education. These gender differences were greater in the younger generation than in the older generation and have decreased significantly in the recent ten years in high school education. Although the additional ROI in women’s education was positive in the field of culture and arts, education’s effect on wage increases in professional occupations was less than in men, especially in the fields of law and medicine. In addition, we show that gender differences in ROI in education were countercyclical. A base effect, large wage declines for low‐educated women during recessions, could explain this phenomenon. However, coinciding with the existence of positive cash flow news in the stock market that promises good business performance, a significant wage increase among highly educated women was found.     

The Assessment: Education

Research on the economics of education increasingly influencesthe design of education policy. The framework for the analysisis provided by human capital theory, in which education is interpretedas an investment, raising the future productivity of the individualand bringing other private and social benefits. Estimates ofthe private and social returns to education, and of the effectivenessof schools and teachers, can be used to guide the allocationof resources within the public sector; in addition, policy reformsin the UK have attempted to make public providers of educationmore responsive to the preferences of parents and students.There is evidence that pupil attainment has risen in recentyears, but that the education system fails to provide equalityof access or opportunity and may reinforce social and economicinequality.     

调整政府支出结构促进居民消费增长——基于政府支出与居民消费互补性关系的分析

本文主要从政府支出与居民消费的互补性关系出发,提出政府支出结构调整的三个主要方面,即加大农村基础设施的投资、加大教育和健康服务等优效品的支付以及加大社会保障和收入支持的支出,以此促进居民消费快速增长,推动经济增长由主要依靠投资和出口拉动向主要依靠内需特别是消费拉动转变。     

我国高等教育服务贸易的SWOT分析

全球教育产业是一个规模惊人的行业,教育服务业已在许多发达国家的经济中扮演着重要作用,但与此同时我国仍未摆脱教育服务贸易的逆差状态。文章基于SWOT分析,认为我国高等教育服务贸易的发展战略应该建立在“经济效益-社会效益”双重目标下,涵益从内部拓展投资渠道、提升服务能力;从外部开发教育服务市场、建立质量保障体系两个层面四个着眼点。     

Do Wages Continue Increasing at Older Ages? Evidence on the Wage Cushion in the Netherlands

In this study, we investigate the anatomy of older workers’ wages. The central question is whether the wage cushion—i.e., the difference between actual wages and collectively agreed-upon (maximum) contractual wages—contributes to the fact that wages continue increasing at older ages. We follow the wages of individual workers in twenty-two sectors of industry in the Netherlands using administrative data for the period 2006–2010. In the public sector, we find no evidence of a wage cushion. Wage scale ceilings set in collective agreements are guiding for older workers’ wages, and workers earning a contractual wage equal to a wage scale ceiling are not compensated with higher additional wages. In the private sector, we do find evidence of a wage cushion. Wage scale ceilings are less restrictive and workers earning a contractual wage exceeding the highest wage scale ceiling experience higher contractual wage growth. The private sector wage cushion enhances wage differentiation and allows for wages that continue increasing at older ages.     

Structural characteristics of firms and industries and black and white wage inequality in the U.S. economy: 1988

The effects of firm and job characteristics on the wages of blacks and whites are analyzed using data from the 1988 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1997]. This study focuses on 2,370 full-time private sector employees. The results show that, first, blacks are disproportionately employed in large establishments despite their lower cognitive achievements. Second, blacks do not enjoy significant wage premiums associated with supervisory positions. Third, although the wage gap between blacks and whites is reduced considerably, controlling for education and cognitive skills, the gap increases significantly when structural attributes are included in the wage regressions despite the large wage premiums associated with employment in large establishments.     

Quantifying Foreign Direct Investment Productivity Spillovers in China: A Computable General Equilibrium Model

For the purposes of this study, we will construct a static monopolistically‐competitive computable general equilibrium model to quantify the endogenous productivity spillovers from foreign and domestic firms, using the Chinese economy as a case study. Our simulation results indicate: (i) that the net spillover effects are positive in terms of national total output, GDP and welfare; (ii) that both state‐owned and privately‐owned firms benefit, but that private firms benefit more; (iii) that industries with large volumes of foreign direct investment (FDI) do not necessarily observe the largest spillover effects; and (iv) that the spillover effects become more prominent when the initial market structure is more concentrated.     

How would Capital Account Liberalization Affect China＇s Capital Flows and the Renminbi Real Exchange Rates？

In this paper we study the determinants of gross capital flows, project the size of China's international investment position in 2020, and analyze the implications for the renminbi real exchange rate if China liberalizes the capital account. We assume in this exercise that the renminbi will have largely achieved capital account convertibility by the end of the current decade, a timetable consistent with recent proposals by the People's Bank of China. Our analysis shows that if the capital account were liberalized, China's gross international investment position would grow significantly, and inflows and outflows would become much more balanced. The private sector would turn its net liability position into a balanced position, and the official sector would reduce its net asset position significantly, relative to the country's GDP. Because of the increasing importance of private sector foreign claims and the decreasing importance of official foreign reserves, China would be able to earn higher net investment income from abroad. Overall, China would continue to be a net creditor, with the net foreign asset position as a share of GDP remaining largely stable through this decade. These findings suggest that the renminbi real exchange rate would not be particularly sensitive to capital account liberalization as capital flows are expected to be two‐sided. The renminbi real exchange rate would likely be on a path of moderate appreciation as China is expected to maintain a sizeable growth differential with its trading partners.