Arbeitspapier
Selection bias, comparative advantage and heterogeneous returns to education: Evidence from China in 2000
This paper uses newly available Chinese micro data to estimate the return to college education for late 20th century China when allowing for heterogeneous returns among individuals selecting into schooling based on these differences. We use recently developed semiparametric methods to identify the parameters of interest. We demonstrate that heterogeneity among people in returns to schooling is substantial. People sort into schooling on the basis of the principle of comparative advantage, which we document to be an empirically important phenomenon in modern Chinese labor markets. Standard least squares or instrumental variable methods do not properly account for this sorting. Using new methods that do, we estimate the effect on earnings of sending a randomly selected person to college is a 43 % increase in lifetime earnings (nearly 11 % annually) in 2000 for young people in urban areas of six provinces of China. The effect of college on those who go is 13 %. Our evidence, and simple least squares evidence, suggests that after 20-plus years of economic reform with market orientation, the return to education has increased substantially in China, compared to the returns measured in the 1980s and the early 1990s.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Series: Working Paper ; No. 2003:17
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
- Subject
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Education
returns to education
- Event
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Heckman, James
Li, Xuesong
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU)
- (where)
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Uppsala
- (when)
-
2003
- Handle
- Last update
-
10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Heckman, James
- Li, Xuesong
- Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU)
Time of origin
- 2003
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Selection Bias, Comparative Advantage and Heterogeneous Returns to Education: Evidence from China in 2000
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Selection Bias, Comparative Advantage and Heterogeneous Returns to Education: Evidence from China in 2000
The Return to College: Selection Bias and Dropout Risk
Heterogeneous Returns to Human Capital and Dynamic Self-Selection
Comparative advantage and heterogeneous firms
Testing for Selection Bias
Assessing Selection Bias in Non-experimental Estimates of the Returns to Workplace Training
Assessing Selection Bias in Non-Experimental Estimates of the Returns to Workplace Training
Selection and comparative advantage in technology adoption
Persistence Bias and Schooling Returns
Selection, Selection, Selection: the Impact of Return Migration
Selection and Absolute Advantage in Farming and Entrepreneurship
Selection bias in historical housing data
Selection Bias, Comparative Advantage and Heterogeneous Returns to Education: Evidence from China in 2000
The Return to College: Selection Bias and Dropout Risk
Heterogeneous Returns to Human Capital and Dynamic Self-Selection
Comparative advantage and heterogeneous firms
Testing for Selection Bias
Assessing Selection Bias in Non-experimental Estimates of the Returns to Workplace Training
Assessing Selection Bias in Non-Experimental Estimates of the Returns to Workplace Training
Selection and comparative advantage in technology adoption
Persistence Bias and Schooling Returns
Selection, Selection, Selection: the Impact of Return Migration
Selection and Absolute Advantage in Farming and Entrepreneurship