Large rural surveys from Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Paraguay were used to examine education's role. Education has a consistently important effect that differs across countries. It is strongest in the modernizing environment context and consistently related to social differentiation, except in Guatemala. Productivity effects…

Uses 1990 Household Survey data for Paraguay to analyze the education-earnings relationship. Human capital characteristics account for about 40% of individual earnings variance; each extra year of schooling yields a private return rate of 11.5%. Social and private return rates are highest for primary education, followed by secondary education.…