Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/64740 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
cemmap working paper No. CWP01/09
Publisher: 
Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (cemmap), London
Abstract: 
This paper extends the method of local instrumental variables developed by Heckman and Vytlacil (1999, 2001, 2005) to the estimation of not only means, but also distributions of potential outcomes. The newly developed method is illustrated by applying it to changes in college enrollment and wage inequality using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1979. Increases in college enrollment cause changes in the distribution of ability among college and high school graduates. This paper estimates a semiparametric selection model of schooling and wages to show that, for fixed skill prices, a 14% increase in college participation (analogous to the increase observed in the 1980s), reduces the college premium by 12% and increases the 90-10 percentile ratio among college graduates by 2%.
Subjects: 
comparative advantage
composition effects
local instrumental variables
marginal treatment effect
semiparametric estimation
wage inequality
JEL: 
C14
C31
J31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.