Current earnings, persistence and schooling returns

Abstract

Purpose

The aim is to study the impact of schooling on between-groups wage inequality beyond the lens of the standard approach in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Simple econometric theory is used to make the main point of the paper. Supporting empirical evidence is also presented.

Findings

Disregarding the persistence of current earnings implies a bias in the estimation of the wage return to schooling both at labour-market entry and in the rest of the working life.

Research limitations/implications

The use of current earnings as a dependent variable in wage-schooling models may be problematic and requires specific handling.

Social implications

The impact of schooling on the between-groups dimension of wage inequality may be different than previously thought.

Originality/value

The paper is the first to show that, when current earnings are used as a dependent variable, the identification of a wage-schooling model with the standard (time-invariant external instrument-variable) approach may lead to misleading conclusions.

Citation

Andini, C. and Santos, J.E. (2024), "Current earnings, persistence and schooling returns", Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 319-337. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-12-2022-0630