On 17 November 2022, the 22nd Xi Xian Academic Luncheon, co-hosted by IIDPF and the School of Public Finance and Taxation, was successfully held in Conference Room 119 of Wenqin Building. As the keynote speaker of the luncheon, Associate Professor Yan Weibo from the School of Public Finance and Taxation delivered a keynote speech entitled "College Expansion and Heterogeneous College Premiums: Evidence from the Marginal Treatment Effect in China". More than 40 faculty members and students, including Professor Lu Yuanping, Executive Director of IIDPF, Professor Ye Jingjing from the School of Public Finance and Taxation, Associate Professor Wang Junpeng from the School of Public Administration and Base Researcher Dr Gao Sihan, attended the luncheon.
The impact of higher education expansion on socio-economics has attracted attention from various quarters as higher education has become more popular in China. Associate Professor Weibo Yan's study analyses the impact of HE expansion on the HE education return premium in China based on a heterogeneous returns to education framework, estimating the marginal treatment effect of this impact. There are three main findings in Mr. Yan's study: firstly, the article captures the heterogeneous HE education return premium following HE expansion, particularly the impact of the premium in urban and areas providing abundant education resources. Secondly, the order of quantification of treatment effect estimates follows "ATT (average treatment effect in intervention group) > LATE (local average treatment effect) > ATE (overall average treatment effect) > TNT (average treatment effect in control group)", which explains the fact that the instrumental variable estimates in the literature are always larger than the ordinary least squares estimates. Finally, by evaluating several potential education policies, the article finds that policies that proportionally increase university enrolment are ineffective and can even lead to misallocation of resources.
Associate Professor Yan Weibo gave a fascinating talk to the audience and also stimulated in-depth thinking on the research topic. During the discussion session, the audience spoke enthusiastically and had an active and interactive exchange of views on the background of the study, the empirical model and the research findings. Professor Yan's sharing not only deepened the audience's understanding of the cost of education, but also provided a new perspective on the impact of university expansion on the quality mechanism of education return premiums in universities.