Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35387 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3906
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Previous studies of labor market outcomes such as employment and wages have mostly been limited to investigating the impact of formal schooling only and, as a consequence, have seldom considered skills or alternative routes to acquiring skills, such as adult literacy programs, or other types of education. This paper examines these issues for Ghana, by estimating the joint effects of formal schooling, literacy and numeracy skills, and adult literacy programs on employment and wage outcomes. Wage and employment status equations are estimated jointly, allowing employment status to be endogenous. Substantial returns to basic cognitive skills are established, while the education system -especially the lower levels of formal education - is found to be relatively successful in creating these skills. At the same time the results hint at there being substantial returns to skills other than basic literacy and numeracy. These skills appear to be produced mostly from technical and vocational education and training and at higher levels of formal education. Adult literacy participants are less likely to be economically inactive and more likely to be self-employed, hinting at the income-generating activities component of these programs having indirect effects on wages through its effect on labor market participation, especially for females, individuals with no formal education, and in urban areas.
Subjects: 
Wage equations
employment status
human capital
literacy and numeracy
cognitive and non-cognitive skills
formal education
adult literacy programs
Ghana
JEL: 
I31
J24
O15
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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