This paper uses a new data-set for cumulative national investment in formal schooling and a new instrument for schooling to estimate the national return on investment in 61 countries. These estimates are combined with data on the private rate of return on investment in schooling to estimate the external rate of return. In 1990 the external rate of…

Explains overeducation as an economic phenomenon using several labor-market models. Establishes theoretically the effect of overeducation on production, using a production function model that characterizes production as a two-phase process. (PGD)

The viability of Freeman's Recursive Adjustment Model as a management tool for explaining and predicting enrollments and the job market is examined using macro and micro cases. To establish a relationship between college attendance and the college job market, Freeman employed a 3-equation model to analyze the causative supply and demand…

Uses National Longitudinal Study of Youth data to determine how estimated returns to schooling are influenced by career starting date choice. Defines schooling and experience measures for four alternative starting dates. Uses results to estimate standard wage model for samples of white and nonwhite men. Returns to schooling increase dramatically…

Examines the importance of declining economic conditions in school attendance decision making for households with teenagers aged 12-17 in Costa Rica, using a reduced-form model. The 1981-83 economic recession coincided with a large attendance drop. Household labor market characteristics and student characteristics also significantly determine…

Presents an economic model of the relationship among educational effort, ability, employment qualifications, and productivity. Suggests that occupational competency requirements may encourage applicants to restrict their investments in education to the minimum necessary to obtain certification, rather than striving for competency levels that would…

Regression analysis of 1956-79 data on high school and college enrollment among males aged 16-21, minimum wage levels, military draft requirements, unemployment rates, family income, high school graduation, and job opportunities indicates that male enrollment rates respond strongly to changes in the expected rate of financial return to schooling.…

Investigates determinants behind the spectacular higher education enrollment growth in Belgium since 1953, using a demand model that integrates consumption and investment aspects and empirically tests time-series data specifications between 1953 and 1992. Income and foregone earnings are driving enrollments. Income, opportunity costs, and the wage…

Data from a 1974 national survey of blue-collar workers were used to test the effects of occupational hazards on health while controlling for earnings and schooling. Among the findings were that schooling has no effect on job health (hours lost while sick), either directly or indirectly through job choice. (Author/RW)

Studies the relationship between education level and probability of re-employment, using Labor Ministry data on 2,077 Finnish unemployed persons. Models of search theory predict that those with less than nine years of education and those with master's, licentiate, or doctor's degrees have the lowest re-employment probabilities. Unemployed persons…

This special issue was inspired by Greg Duncan and Saul Hoffman's 1981 article on the "incidence and wage effects of overeducation." These researchers used a Mincer earnings equation to determine that a substantial number of American workers were over- or under-educated for their chosen occupations. (MLH)

A direct empirical test of one of the main tenets of the human capital model is offered, which shows that after completion of their compulsory education, English pupils in general are aware of the relationship between educational qualifications and average earnings. Perceived rates correspond to the actual rates estimated by earlier studies.…

Estimates earnings reported by 219 recent college graduates and earnings expected by 248 college seniors, considering seven variables. Although students' expectations generally accord with recent graduates' marketplace experiences, students underestimate the earnings outcome of working more hours and overestimate age effects. The model holds truer…

Drawing on empirical studies from five countries (Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, and United States), over 2 decades, outlines irregularities in the incidence of over- and under-education and consequences for individual earnings. The overall incidence of overeducation in the labor market is about 26 percent. (Contains 33 references.)…

Develops an empirical model for heterogeneous human capital investment decisions, using survey data from a cohort of Dutch workers. Applies the model to investment in three forms of enterprise-related training: technical, economic-administrative, and other. Results show that technical training yields the lowest wage gain, while other…