Returns to Schooling in China Under Planning and Reform

28 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2004

See all articles by Belton M. Fleisher

Belton M. Fleisher

Ohio State University (OSU) - Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Xiaojun Wang

University of Hawaii - Department of Economics

Date Written: June 2004

Abstract

We estimate returns to schooling using a retrospective work history survey covering more than 4,000 workers over the period 1950 to 1994, with particular emphasis to the returns to schooling for workers who attended institutes of higher education and who graduated from college. We find evidence that schooling returns declined throughout the period leading up to the Cultural Revolution (CR), with returns for workers who did not attend college becoming negligible. Returns to those with some college education remained positive, but low compared to other countries. Consistent with other studies, we find that returns to schooling did not recover from their CR low until the 1990s. Increases in the return to schooling during the transition following the CR were not associated directly with workers changing jobs or with taking "new-economy" jobs but appear to have occurred for most workers across all ownership categories. Workers most likely to leave jobs in the traditional ownership sector for jobs in the private or joint venture categories were those who entered the labor force prior to 1967. We do not find evidence supporting other studies' finding that schooling returns for college graduates increased more than for workers with lower levels of schooling attainment.

Keywords: Returns to schooling, skills, China

JEL Classification: J31, J24, O15

Suggested Citation

Fleisher, Belton M. and Wang, Xiaojun, Returns to Schooling in China Under Planning and Reform (June 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=566083 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.566083

Belton M. Fleisher (Contact Author)

Ohio State University (OSU) - Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/Fleisher/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Xiaojun Wang

University of Hawaii - Department of Economics ( email )

Honolulu, HI 96822
United States
808-956-7721 (Phone)
808-956-4347 (Fax)

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