Effects of family background on earnings and returns to schooling : evidence from Brazil
ResearchPublished 1996
The authors investigate whether omitted family background variables are responsible for high returns to schooling estimated in Brazil. Returns to schooling fall by about one-third when parental schooling is added to wage equations. Surprisingly, the schooling of fathers-in-law has larger effects on wages than the schooling of fathers. On the basis of a model of assortative mating, the authors interpret this as evidence that parental characteristics represent unobservable worker attributes rather than nepotism in the labor market. The authors conclude that the "family background bias" in returns to schooling is modest and need not imply returns to family connections.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Year: 1996
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 31
- List Price: Free
- Document Number: RP-531
Originally published in: Journal of Political Economy, v. 101, no. 4, August 1993, pp. 710-740.
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