Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/106557 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8616
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Formal education is widely thought to be a major determinant of individual earnings. This paper uses the American Community Survey to examine the effect of formal schooling on worker wages. Given the potential endogeneity of education decisions, I instrument for individual schooling using cohort-level mean maternal years of schooling from previous decennial censuses. The instrumental variables results suggest that schooling has a significant positive effect on worker wages. Specifically, an additional year or schooling is estimated to increase hourly wages by 10 percent for men and 12.6 percent for women.
Subjects: 
human capital
education
returns to schooling
wages
maternal education
JEL: 
J24
J31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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