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Author: Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Resulting in 5 citations.
1. Ashenfelter, Orley
Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Schooling, Intelligence, and Income in America: Cracks in the Bell Curve
NBER Working Paper No. 6902, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 1999.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W6902
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Education; Educational Aspirations/Expectations; Educational Returns; Family Background and Culture; Human Capital; Income; Racial Differences; Schooling

One of the best documented relationships in economics is the link between education and income: higher educated people have higher incomes. Advocates argue that education provides skills, or human capital, that raises an individual's productivity. Critics argue that the documented relationship is not causal. Education does not generate higher incomes; instead, individuals with higher ability receive more education and more income. This essay reviews the evidence on the relationship between education and income. We focus on recent studies that have attempted to determine the causal effect of education on income by either comparing income and education differences within families or using exogenous determinants of schooling in what are sometimes called natural experiments. In addition, we assess the potential for education to reduce income disparities by presenting evidence on the return to education for people of differing family backgrounds and measured ability. The results of all these studies are surprisingly consistent: they indicate that the return to schooling is not caused by an omitted correlation between ability and schooling. Moreover, we find no evidence that the return to schooling differs significantly by family background or by the measured ability of the student.
Bibliography Citation
Ashenfelter, Orley and Cecilia Elena Rouse. "Schooling, Intelligence, and Income in America: Cracks in the Bell Curve." NBER Working Paper No. 6902, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 1999.
2. Barrow, Lisa
Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Do Returns to Schooling Differ by Race and Ethnicity?
Working Paper No. WP-2005-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, February 2005.
Also: http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/workingpapers/wp2005_02.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Keyword(s): Education, Adult; Educational Returns; Ethnic Differences; Racial Differences; Schooling

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using data from the U.S. Decennial Census and the National Longitudinal Surveys, we find little evidence of differences in the return to schooling across racial and ethnic groups, even with attempts to control for ability and measurement error biases. While our point estimates are relatively similar across racial and ethnic groups, our conclusion is driven in part by relatively large standard errors. That said, we find no evidence that returns to schooling are lower for African Americans or Hispanics than for non-minorities. As a result, policies that increase education among the lowskilled have a good possibility of increasing economic well-being and reducing inequality. More generally, our analysis suggests further research is needed to better understand the nature of measurement error and ability bias across subgroups in order to fully understand potential heterogeneity in the return to schooling across the population.
Bibliography Citation
Barrow, Lisa and Cecilia Elena Rouse. "Do Returns to Schooling Differ by Race and Ethnicity?" Working Paper No. WP-2005-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, February 2005.
3. Barrow, Lisa
Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Do Returns to Schooling Differ by Race and Ethnicity?
Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, January 7-9, 2005. Also:
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Economic Well-Being; Educational Returns; Ethnic Differences; Heterogeneity; Hispanics; Racial Differences; Schooling

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using data from the U.S. Decennial Census and the National Longitudinal Surveys, we find little evidence of differences in the return to schooling across racial and ethnic groups, even with attempts to control for ability and measurement error biases. While our point estimates are relatively similar across racial and ethnic groups, our conclusion is driven in part by relatively large standard errors. That said, we find no evidence that returns to schooling are lower for African Americans or Hispanics than for non-minorities. As a result, policies that increase education among the low-skilled have a good possibility of increasing economic well-being and reducing inequality. More generally, our analysis suggests further research is needed to better understand the nature of measurement error and ability bias across subgroups in order to fully understand potential heterogeneity in the return to schooling across the population.
Bibliography Citation
Barrow, Lisa and Cecilia Elena Rouse. "Do Returns to Schooling Differ by Race and Ethnicity?" Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, January 7-9, 2005.
4. Barrow, Lisa
Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Do Returns to Schooling Differ by Race and Ethnicity?
American Economic Review 95,2 (May 2005): 83-87.
Also: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/000282805774670130
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Educational Returns; Ethnic Differences; Hispanics; Racial Differences

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article examines the variations in returns to schooling rates in the U.S. The article further evidence on the variation in returns to schooling by examining whether the benefits vary by race and ethnicity of the individual. Using data from the U.S. Decennial Census and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979, the article find little evidence of differences in the return to schooling across racial and ethnic groups, even with attempts to control for ability and measurement-error biases. As a result, policies that increase education among the low-skilled, who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic, have a good possibility of increasing economic well-being and reducing inequality.
Bibliography Citation
Barrow, Lisa and Cecilia Elena Rouse. "Do Returns to Schooling Differ by Race and Ethnicity?" American Economic Review 95,2 (May 2005): 83-87.
5. Kane, Thomas J.
Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College
American Economic Review 85,3 (June 1995): 600-614.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2118190
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): College Characteristics; College Education; College Graduates; Education; National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS72); Schooling, Post-secondary; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Despite their importance as providers of post secondary education, little is known about the labor-market payoffs to a community-college education. An attempt is made to fill this gap by employing 2 different data sets that allow one to distinguish between 2-year and 4-year college attendance: 1. the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Using the NLS- 72, it is found that the average person who attended a 2-year college earned about 10% more than those without any college education, even without completing an associate's degree. Further, contrary to widespread skepticism regarding the value of a community-college education, the estimated returns to a credit at a 2-year or 4-year college are both positive and remarkably similar: roughly 4%-6% for every 30 completed credits (2 semesters). Evidence is also found of the additional value of an associate's degree for women and a bachelor's degree for men. Photocopy available from ABI/INFORM.
Bibliography Citation
Kane, Thomas J. and Cecilia Elena Rouse. "Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College." American Economic Review 85,3 (June 1995): 600-614.