ERIC Number: ED603918
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jan-30
Pages: 42
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
College Attainment, Income Inequality, and Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise. Upjohn Institute Working Paper 20-319
Hershbein, Brad J.; Kearney, Melissa S.; Pardue, Luke W.
W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
We conduct an empirical simulation exercise that gauges the plausible impact of increased rates of college attainment on a variety of measures of income inequality and economic insecurity. Using two different methodological approaches--a distributional approach and a causal parameter approach--we find that increased rates of bachelor's and associate degree attainment would meaningfully increase economic security for lower-income individuals, reduce poverty and near-poverty, and shrink gaps between the 90th and lower percentiles of the earnings distribution. However, increases in college attainment would not significantly reduce inequality at the very top of the distribution. [This paper was prepared for the 2020 ASSA session, "The Race between Education and Technology Revisited." For the Policy Brief, see ED603920.]
Descriptors: Simulation, Income, Economic Status, Educational Attainment, Associate Degrees, Bachelors Degrees, Low Income Groups, Poverty, Wages, Outcomes of Education, Adults, High School Graduates, Gender Differences, College Graduates, Young Adults
W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. 300 South Westnedge Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49007-4686. Tel: 888-227-8569; Tel: 269-343-4330; Fax: 269-343-7310; Web site: http://research.upjohn.org/upjohn_publications/
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Current Population Survey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A