Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325111 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 18053
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We study how the returns to higher education evolved in France during a period of educational expansion. We study possible changes in the mix of unobservable characteristics of the graduate population. Using a finite mixture model with latent types, we estimate type-specific log-wage, experience accumulation, and education-choice equations. We find that expected real wages declined for higher-education degrees, and that this result is not driven by adverse selection. Returns to education and experience decreased for certain unobserved types but increased for others. The composition of types among Master's graduates suggests improved student selection over time, despite rising graduate numbers.
Subjects: 
unobserved heterogeneity
selection
human capital
returns to experience
returns to education
wages
finite-mixture models
latent types
JEL: 
C33
I21
I24
I26
J22
J24
J31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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