In a recent, and widely cited, paper, Ashenfelter & Krueger (1994) use a new sample of identical twins to investigate the contribution of genetic ability to the observed cross-sectional return to schooling. This paper re-examines Ashenfelter & Krueger's estimates using three additional years of the same twins survey. I find that the return to schooling among identical twins is about 10\% per year of schooling completed. Most importantly, unlike the results reported in Ashenfelter and Krueger, I find that the within-twin regression estimate of the effect of schooling on the log wage is smaller than the cross-sectional estimate, implying a small upward bias in the cross-sectional estimate. Ashenfelter & Krueger's measurement error corrected estimates are insignificantly different from those presented here, however. Finally, there is evidence of an important individual-specific component to the measurement error in schooling reports. JEL: J24, I21
%0 Journal Article
%1 rouse_further_1999
%A Rouse, Cecilia Elena
%D 1999
%J Economics of Education Review
%K Education Measurement Returns Twins schooling
%N 2
%P 149--157
%R 10.1016/S0272-7757(98)00038-7
%T Further estimates of the economic return to schooling from a new sample of twins
%U http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775798000387
%V 18
%X In a recent, and widely cited, paper, Ashenfelter & Krueger (1994) use a new sample of identical twins to investigate the contribution of genetic ability to the observed cross-sectional return to schooling. This paper re-examines Ashenfelter & Krueger's estimates using three additional years of the same twins survey. I find that the return to schooling among identical twins is about 10\% per year of schooling completed. Most importantly, unlike the results reported in Ashenfelter and Krueger, I find that the within-twin regression estimate of the effect of schooling on the log wage is smaller than the cross-sectional estimate, implying a small upward bias in the cross-sectional estimate. Ashenfelter & Krueger's measurement error corrected estimates are insignificantly different from those presented here, however. Finally, there is evidence of an important individual-specific component to the measurement error in schooling reports. JEL: J24, I21
@article{rouse_further_1999,
abstract = {In a recent, and widely cited, paper, Ashenfelter \& Krueger (1994) use a new sample of identical twins to investigate the contribution of genetic ability to the observed cross-sectional return to schooling. This paper re-examines Ashenfelter \& Krueger's estimates using three additional years of the same twins survey. I find that the return to schooling among identical twins is about 10\% per year of schooling completed. Most importantly, unlike the results reported in Ashenfelter and Krueger, I find that the within-twin regression estimate of the effect of schooling on the log wage is smaller than the cross-sectional estimate, implying a small upward bias in the cross-sectional estimate. Ashenfelter \& Krueger's measurement error corrected estimates are insignificantly different from those presented here, however. Finally, there is evidence of an important individual-specific component to the measurement error in schooling reports. {[JEL:} J24, I21]},
added-at = {2012-12-02T20:59:59.000+0100},
author = {Rouse, Cecilia Elena},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/29360eb6b6af0885ab1a8b40e1cc27f75/hackstutz},
doi = {10.1016/S0272-7757(98)00038-7},
file = {ScienceDirect Snapshot:/home/hackstutz/.mozilla/firefox/oebsu7ym.default/zotero/storage/X3BHEP7H/S0272775798000387.html:text/html},
interhash = {19294de68eb62e3fcc2960dafa092c72},
intrahash = {9360eb6b6af0885ab1a8b40e1cc27f75},
issn = {0272-7757},
journal = {Economics of Education Review},
keywords = {Education Measurement Returns Twins schooling},
month = apr,
number = 2,
pages = {149--157},
timestamp = {2012-12-04T23:33:32.000+0100},
title = {Further estimates of the economic return to schooling from a new sample of twins},
url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775798000387},
urldate = {2012-12-02},
volume = 18,
year = 1999
}