Adult Literacy, Heterogeneity and Returns to Schooling in Chile

We examine the importance of adult functional literacy skills for individuals using a quantile regression methodology. The inclusion of the direct measure of basic skills reduces the return to schooling by 27 percent, equivalent to two additional years of schooling, while a one standard deviation increase in the score increases earnings by 20 percent. For those who are less skilled, more education contributes little to earnings; rather skills are the key to higher earnings. The non-schooling component of skill is a significant contributor to earnings, but not the component associated with years of schooling.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Patrinos, Harry Anthony, Sakellariou, Chris
Format: Journal Article biblioteca
Language:en_US
Published: Taylor and Francis 2013-08-06
Subjects:returns on education, education returns, quantile regression,
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16187
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Summary:We examine the importance of adult functional literacy skills for individuals using a quantile regression methodology. The inclusion of the direct measure of basic skills reduces the return to schooling by 27 percent, equivalent to two additional years of schooling, while a one standard deviation increase in the score increases earnings by 20 percent. For those who are less skilled, more education contributes little to earnings; rather skills are the key to higher earnings. The non-schooling component of skill is a significant contributor to earnings, but not the component associated with years of schooling.