Employers often use education and other ability measures as indicators of unmeasured ability dimensions. This paper presents tests of signaling, relying on differences in earnings functions for salaried individuals in screened occupations versus self-employed individuals in unscreened positions. Vocational associate degrees and high school grades…

Employs Portuguese data to test competing hypotheses about effects of over- and under-education on earnings. The human capital trade-off theory seems irrelevant. The hypothesis of technology-produced pockets of over- and under-education is consistent with Portugal's efforts to promote economic growth, modernize industry, and upgrade educational…

Examines gender differences in college attendance decisions, employing National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. Uses a human-capital model stressing family characteristics and expected future earnings differential between college and high school graduates. The higher the college wage premium, the more likely men are to attend college. Women's…

Assesses the relative value to Register Nurses of associate degree, baccalaureate degree, and nursing diploma. Finds that while lifetime return for baccalaureate degree is less than the associate degree, 30 percent of new nurses choose to obtain baccalaureate degrees because of personal characteristics and increased likelihood of obtaining career…

Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data, this study finds that education rates of return vary across racial/ethnic groups because of differing human capital investments made by families in each group. School quality also matters. Nearly the entire white/black earnings gap would disappear if black children had school and home…

Examines relationship between overeducation and enterprise-related schooling, using data from a 1983 Dutch study of 43-year-old employees. Correctly allocated workers have the highest probability of participation in enterprise-related schooling, whereas undereducated workers have the lowest probability. The average rate of return on a year of…

Hypothesizes that the labor market recognizes differences in the educational quality and quantity of urban and suburban education and rewards young workers accordingly. Estimating earnings equations for African-American and white youths shows that attendance at a central city high school does, indeed, lower earnings between 4 and 10 percent. (12…

Examines labor market outcomes of individuals with various types of postsecondary educational experiences, highlighting differences between students who have pursued technical programs, those who have pursued academic programs and those who have not pursued postsecondary education. Employs a triage model suggesting that employer-employee matches…

Estimates a fixed-effects model of pay determination for five Ph.D.-granting departments of economics in large midwestern state universities. Departments' reward structures vary widely. Second sabbatical leaves are associated with higher pay. In estimating rewards for research, returns to quality overwhelm returns to quantity at four universities.…

Applies comparative techniques originated by K. Wolpin and G. Psacharopulos to discriminate between the "weak" and "strong" screening hypotheses, employed to determine whether societal investment in upgrading or expanding education is justified. Controlling for sample selection, this study finds evidence for weak screening in…

Using Botswana household income data, shows that education's rates of return rise by education level. The human capital model remains robust. Education is not income-equalizing; women are paid less than men despite being more highly educated. Private educational financing, job creation, and increased gender equity are needed. (Contains 27…

This special issue was inspired by Greg Duncan and Saul Hoffman's 1981 article on the "incidence and wage effects of overeducation." These researchers used a Mincer earnings equation to determine that a substantial number of American workers were over- or under-educated for their chosen occupations. (MLH)

Investigates whether structural changes in the U.S. labor market affected the rewards and penalties associated with having too much or too little schooling for a job. Applies U.S. results to Germany's more structured ambience. In all cases, productivity and wages were affected by workers' education levels. (Contains 34 references.) (MLH)

Estimates separate earnings equations by employment sector and gender in Spain and identifies returns to human capital, based on 1990-91 household survey data. Public wages are higher, and civil servants more highly educated. However, the public sector pays lower returns to education and experience. Earnings advantage is largest for least skilled…

Uses individual-level 1990 census data to estimate multinomial logit models (featuring county-level averages) of young men's and women's educational enrollment and employment behavior. Estimates indicate that high-school leavers are sensitive to earnings opportunities. For graduates, increases in current earnings modestly reduce enrollments and…