Article,
Does learning to add up add up? The returns to schooling in aggregate data
Handbook of the Economics of Education, (2006)
Abstract
The theoretical, conceptual, and practical difficulties with the use of cross
national data on schooling are so large it is reasonable to avoid using this type of
aggregate data for any purpose for which individual level data would do. There are,
however, three questions for which the use of cross national data on schooling is
necessary and could potentially help answer interesting questions. First, explaining the
cross national differences in the evolution and dynamics of output growth is an important
agenda. Do differences in the evolution and dynamics of schooling help explain the big
facts about output growth? Largely, no. Second, the existence and magnitude of output
externalities to schooling is an important question with at least normative policy
implications, and evidence for externalities requires at least some level of spatial
aggregation. Does the cross-national data provide support for output externalities?
Largely, no. Third, cross national (or more broadly spatially aggregated) data allows the
exploration of the impact on returns to schooling (or in the gap between private and
social returns) of differences in economic environments. This last question has been and
seems a promising line for future research
