Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72388
Year of Publication: 
2003
Series/Report no.: 
Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series No. WP03/02
Publisher: 
University College Dublin, Department of Economics, Dublin
Abstract: 
We analyse how progressive taxation and education subsidies affect schooling decisions when the returns to education are stochastic. We use the theory of real options to solve the problem of education choice in a dynamic, life-cycle consistent, stochastic model. We show that education attainment will be an increasing function of the risk associated with education. Furthermore, this result holds whether or not agents can borrow in order to pay for education and regardless of the degree of risk aversion. We also examine the link between consumption over the life-cycle and education choice to show that higher initial wealth will usually - but not always - have a positive effect on education attainment. Finally we show that progressive taxes will tend to reduce education attainment for the poor but increase it for the rich.
Subjects: 
Education Choice
Dynamic Optimization
Optimal Stopping
Uncertainty
JEL: 
J24
C61
D81
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
580.33 kB





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