基地动态

We examine heterogeneous returns to post-compulsory education attainment (high school degree or above) in China by exploiting the variation in the educational attainment caused by a reform that introduces compulsory education with different implementation dates across provinces. Using data from China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), we find that individuals who are less likely to have post-compulsory education have higher returns to education. This finding contradicts the common conclusion on post-compulsory education that individuals select them into education based on gains. One explanation for this pattern is that children who are less likely to be enrolled in the education system have more disadvantaged backgrounds and lower wages without educational attainment. Education acts as an equalizer that leads to more homogeneous wages, resulting in larger returns for children who are less likely to be reached by post-compulsory education.

张亿，中央财经大学人力资本与劳动经济研究中心助理教授，于2020年获得荷兰蒂尔堡大学经济学博士学位。目前研究兴趣为健康经济学，劳动经济学和教育经济学。其研究包括退休政策对医疗服务利用的影响、荷兰残疾保险改革对劳动力供给和福利替代效应的研究等。主持国家自然科学基金青年项目、日本一桥大学共同研究项目等，参与各级课题多项。其研究发表于Journal of Health Economics，Health Economics，China Economic Review，Applied Economics，Empirical Economics等。