The Return to Education in the Mid-Twentieth Century: Evidence from Twins

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Boston University; National University of Singapore
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050720000492
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 1101-1142
• 关键词: UNITED-STATES; economic return; wage structure; mobility; school; sample; earnings; ability; income; name

摘要

What was the return to education in the United States at mid-century? In 1940, the correlation between years of schooling and earnings was relatively low. In this article, we estimate the causal return to schooling in 1940, constructing a large linked sample of twin brothers to account for differences in unobserved ability and family background. We find that each additional year of schooling increased labor earnings by approximately 4 percent, about half the return found for more recent cohorts in twins studies. These returns were evident both within and across occupations and were higher for sons from lower socio-economic status families.