Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/66862 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1240
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
Applying a financial assets approach, we analyze the returns and earnings risk of investments into different types of human capital. Even though the returns from investing in human capital are extensively studied, little is known about the properties of the returns to different types of human capital within a given educational path. Using information from the German Micro Census, we estimate the risk and returns to around 70 fields of education and differentiate between vocational and academic education. We identify fields of education that are efficient investment goods, i.e. high returns at a given level of risk, and fields that are chosen for other (non-monetary) reasons. Furthermore, we rank fields of education by their return per unit of risk and find that university education is not always superior to other educational paths.
Subjects: 
Educational Choice
Human Capital Investment
Returns to Schooling
Mean-Variance Analysis
JEL: 
I21
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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