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Estimating Returns to Schooling from State-Level Data: A Macro-Mincerian Approach

  • Steven J Yamarik
Published/Copyright: August 29, 2008
The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics
From the journal The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics Volume 8 Issue 1

In this paper, we use information from U.S. states to determine the social return to schooling. We estimate a macro-Mincerian model where aggregate earnings (or income) depend upon physical capital, labor, average years of schooling and average labor force experience. We find that the social return to U.S. schooling is 9 to 16 percent, which matches estimates of the private return found in the labor literature. Our results therefore provide evidence that U.S. schooling is indeed productive, but generates no positive externalities.

Keywords: macro-Mincerian; schooling; social returns
Published Online: 2008-8-29

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2202/1935-1690.1571
Keywords for this article
macro-Mincerian; schooling; social returns

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Topics Article
  2. The Importance of Industrial Policy in Quality-Ladder Growth Models
  3. The Evolution of International Output Differences (1970-2000): From Factors to Productivity
  4. Non-Linearities and Unit Roots in G7 Macroeconomic Variables
  5. Mitigating the Growth-Effects of Inflation through Financial Development
  6. The Dynamics of European Inflation Expectations
  7. Target Saving in an Overlapping Generations Model
  8. Inequality, Volatility and Labour Market Efficiency
  9. Expected Equity Returns and the Demand for Money
  10. Forecasting with DSGE Models: The Role of Nonlinearities
  11. Job Reallocation, Unemployment and Hours in a New Keynesian Model
  12. Consolidation of Student Loan Repayments and Default Incentives
  13. Advent of Industrial Mass Production: Three Stages of Economic Development
  14. The Japanese Depression in the Interwar Period: A General Equilibrium Analysis
  15. Determinants of Bilateral Remittance Flows
  16. Cyclical Behavior of Unemployment and Job Vacancies: A Comparison between Canada and the United States
  17. Economic and Socio-Political Determinants of de Facto Monetary Institutions and Inflationary Outcomes
  18. On Equilibrium Determinacy in New Keynesian Models with Staggered Wage and Price Setting
  19. Contributions Article
  20. Growth-Led Exports: Implications for the Cross-Country Effects of Shocks to Potential Output
  21. Monetary Policy and Fiscal Rules
  22. Choosing Longevity with Overlapping Generations: To Be or Not to Be in Diamond's Model
  23. Nonlinear Taylor Rules and Asymmetric Preferences in Central Banking: Evidence from the United Kingdom and the United States
  24. Baumol's Diseases: A Macroeconomic Perspective
  25. Employment Growth in the American Urban Hierarchy: Long Live Distance
  26. Endogenous Persistence and the Performance of Inertial Targeting Rules
  27. Unemployment, Imperfect Risk Sharing, and the Monetary Business Cycle
  28. Technological Progress and the Urbanization Process
  29. Convergence by Parts
  30. Estimating Returns to Schooling from State-Level Data: A Macro-Mincerian Approach
  31. Great Moderation(s) and US Interest Rates: Unconditional Evidence
  32. Advances Article
  33. Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity in the OECD
  34. Monetary Policy under Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity
  35. Africa: Is Aid an Answer?
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