Earnings Differentials and Returns to Education in China, 1995-2008

Yuling Cui (yuling.cui@mq.edu.au), Daehoon Nahm and Max Tani
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Yuling Cui: Macquarie University, Sydney
Daehoon Nahm: Macquarie University, Sydney

No 7349, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper estimates the returns to education of rural-urban migrants during the period of transition of China's economy between 1995 and 2008. Using data from CHIP and RUMiC, we find that rural migrants' earning differentials with urban residents are substantial and mainly depend on the type of occupation, industry, and employers' ownership, rather than the level of education completed. Returns to formal schooling for migrants remained stable at approximately 3% and 5% throughout the period, and differences across quantiles are generally statistically insignificant. Increasing gaps in the return to schooling by gender have instead emerged. These results raise questions about the incentives to invest in human capital for rural migrants and for the governments funding education in emigration regions.

Keywords: returns to education; rural migrants; quantile regression; ownership enterprises; China; returns to schooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 J24 J61 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2013-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-dev, nep-edu, nep-lab, nep-lma, nep-mig and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - revised version published in : Australian Economic Review, 2015, 48, 382 –399

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