This paper analyses students' application strategies to higher education, the effects of labour market expectations and admission probabilities. The starting hypothesis of this study is that students consider the expected utility of their choices, a function of expected net lifetime earnings and the probability of admission. Based on a survey…

Measures the relative influence of engaging in various learning activities--spanning the "life-wide" spectrum of learning--on economic and social benefits. Finds that relationship between formal education and economic and social outcomes is complex, with confounding effects, indicating that different types of learning activities taken…

Examines the relationship between returns to education and family background using samples of male and female workers drawn from the Spanish Survey on Class Structure. Results for males show a positive relationship between parents' education (or occupation) and returns to schools. Returns for females are mixed: Least-squares estimates show…

Results of study of personal return on investment in years of schooling in Libya indicate that association is nonlinear, unlike the results of similar studies, which found a linear association between level of schooling and earnings. Finds largest marginal return after 8 years of schooling, a nondiploma year. (Contains 17 references.) (PKP)

This study compares the growth in salaries across three spatial regions in China during the period 1993-1998, when economic reforms were implemented nationwide. Our study compares the impact of three forms of education and training on salary growth, namely pre-job formal schooling, on-the-job-training provided by employers, and adult education…

This study proposes a model to estimate the demand for higher education. The present model is characterized by an ability-based distribution of high school graduates who choose between entering the labor market and beginning post-secondary schooling. In addition to estimating the demand for higher education, this model also derives a test of the…

Demonstrates that popular assertions regarding the social benefits of additional higher education are dubious. Reveals four decisive factors: presumed economic growth; changes in graduates' and nongraduates' relative earnings; differences between the marginal and average student; and belief in scale economies. Unless economic growth favors…

Provides statistical evidence that college athletics may enhance higher education's mission, using National Collegiate Athletic Association data and an alternative measure that captures athletic success for universities over time. Shows that basketball success at colleges and universities has an "advertisement effect" that helps these…

This paper examines the relationship between the incentives to work and to invest in human capital through education in a lifecycle optimizing model. These incentives are shown to be mutually reinforcing in a simple stylized model. This theoretical prediction is investigated empirically using three large micro datasets covering a broad range of…

Using 1990 US census data, examines the relationship between overeducation and earnings focusing on individuals with postcollege schooling. Finds that being overeducated increases the wages of men working at a job requiring a bachelor's degree. Compares results with findings in Canada and the United Kingdom. Suggests that overeducation contributes…

At regular intervals during the past 20 years, George Psacharapoulos has presented aggregate rates of return (RORs) to investments in education for each major geographical region. He claims high aggregate social RORs for primary education throughout the world. Reexamination of the data shows that none of Psacharapoulos's ROR patterns exist in…

Returns to investment in education based on human capital theory have been estimated since the late 1950s. In the 40-plus year history of estimates of returns to investment in education, there have been several reviews of the empirical results in attempts to establish patterns. Many more estimates from a wide variety of countries, including…

Investigates the importance of time in contributing to the efficiency of the educational process by developing a typology for the addition of the time variable in the production of education. Includes a literature review, outlines the conceptual frameworks surrounding time and education, and then draws on international evidence. Conclude that time…

Provides cross-country estimates on private rates of return to higher-education qualifications across various transitional economies spanning Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Union. Rates tend to rise in most transitional economies over the period considered. Rate variabilities help explain variabilities in wage…

Explores relationship between education and earnings in Singapore. Uses Labor Force data to obtain estimates of private returns to investment in formal and technical/vocational education. Some results confirm earlier patterns from other countries, whole others make Singapore a world outlier, with very high private returns to schooling in relation…