The effects of affirmative action on the incentives to human capital accumulation are ambiguous from a theoretical perspective and the scarce empirical evidence on the matter provides mixed results. In this paper, we address this issue by investigating the impacts of Brazil's Law of Quotas on the students' performance in the college entrance exam,…

This paper develops a new measure of human capital, calculated as a cohort-weighted average of the quality of education (PISA scores) and the quantity of education (mean years of schooling). Contrary to the existing studies, the relative weights of quality and quantity are estimated (and not calibrated). The quality of education is estimated to be…

According to a prominent hypothesis, the occurrence of educational mismatches is consistent with human capital theory since over- and undereducation are substitutes for heterogeneity in the abilities and skills among educational peers. Using German data[superscript 1] of literacy and numeracy test scores, I find evidence that compared to their…

Household income shocks in developing countries are known to have an impact on the education investments for children. In this paper, we explore the effects of various income and expenditure shocks on educational investment and cognitive outcomes of children using three rounds of household-level panel data from Young Lives survey conducted in two…

We examine the importance of adult functional literacy skills for individuals using a quantile regression methodology. The inclusion of the direct measure of basic skills reduces the return to schooling by 27%, equivalent to two additional years of schooling, while a one standard deviation increase in the score increases earnings by 20%. For those…

Does the government control of school systems facilitate equality in school quality? Whether centralized or localized control produces more equality depends not only on what "could" happen in principle, but also on what does happen in practice. We use the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) database to examine the…

Several African countries instituted education reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, there is only little evidence on the effectiveness of these programs. Additionally, most previous studies of the determinants of literacy and numeracy have considered the proficiency in only one language and, possibly, numeracy. This paper examines both of these…

This paper uses linked household, school, and test score data from Madagascar to investigate the relation of household characteristics and school factors to the cognitive skills of children ages 8-10 and 14-16. In contrast to most achievement test studies in developing countries, the study uses representative rather than school-based samples of…

In this study, we explore the role of education in explaining the labour market outcomes for a sample of graduates in medicine. More specifically, the following research question is answered: To what extent are labour market outcomes of physicians explained by the skills acquired in education, as indicated in the theory of human capital, or by…