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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.]
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