Forced to be Rich? Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Britain

Citation

Devereux PJ & Hart RA (2010) Forced to be Rich? Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Britain. Economic Journal, 120 (549), pp. 1345-1364. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=yv4JPVwI&eid=2-s2.0-78649423713&md5=4a3d218e8e6ac6a79239922e8f6792a8; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02365.x

Abstract
Do students benefit from compulsory schooling? In an important article, Oreopoulos (2006) studied the 1947 British compulsory schooling law change and found large returns to schooling of about 15% using the General Household Survey (GHS). Re-analysing this dataset, we find much smaller returns of about 3% on average with no evidence of any positive return for women and a return for men of 4-7%. Additionally, we utilise the New Earnings Survey Panel Data-set (NESPD) that has earnings information superior to that in the GHS and find similar estimates: zero returns for women and returns of 3 to 4% for men.

Keywords
; Education, Higher Great Britain Education Great Britain Education, Compulsory Great Britain

Journal
Economic Journal: Volume 120, Issue 549