College Loans and Human Capital Investment

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Fu, Chao; Lin, Hsuan-Chih (Luke); Tanaka, Atsuko
• 署名单位: University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; National Bureau of Economic Research; National Taiwan University; University of Calgary
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/iere.70080
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: borrowing constraints; credit constraints; life-cycle; earnings; income; MODEL; INEQUALITY; enrollment; WEALTH; RISK

摘要

College loans facilitate access to education, but the repayment burden may distort posteducation human capital investment. We examine the role of college loans and loan repayment policies through a structural model of individuals' dynamic decisions on borrowing/saving, labor supply, and costly human capital investment. We estimate two versions of the model using data from NLSY79: one with natural borrowing limits and another with parameterized limits. Counterfactual simulations suggest that, relative to the standard fixed repayment plan, income-driven repayment (IDR) plans modestly increase educational attainment, lifetime earnings, and individual welfare; accounting for lifetime income taxes, they also increase government revenue.