Can education compensate for low ability? Evidence from British data (version 3.1)

Kevin Denny and Vincent O'Sullivan

No 200420, Working Papers from School of Economics, University College Dublin

Abstract: This paper uses cross section data to investigate whether education and ability are substitutes or complements in the determination of earnings. Using a measure of cognitive ability based on tests taken at ages 7 and 11 we find, unlike most of the existing literature, clear evidence that the return to schooling is lower for those with higher ability indicating that education can act as a substitute for observed ability. We also estimate quantile regression functions to examine how the return to schooling varies across the conditional distribution of earnings. The results show that the return is lower for higher quantiles, suggesting that education is also a substitute for unobserved ability. This paper forms part of the Policy Evaluation Program at the Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) at UCD.

Keywords: Earnings; Education; Ability; Education; Ability; Wages--Effect of education on (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-07
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://hdl.handle.net/10197/942 First version, 2004 (application/pdf)

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