Search Results

Author: Vytlacil, Edward
Resulting in 16 citations.
1. Carneiro, Pedro
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Estimating Marginal Returns to Education
NBER Working Paper No. 16474, National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2010.
Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16474
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): College Enrollment; Educational Returns; Variables, Instrumental

This paper estimates the marginal returns to college for individuals induced to enroll in college by different marginal policy changes. The recent instrumental variables literature seeks to estimate this parameter, but in general it does so only under strong assumptions that are tested and found wanting. We show how to utilize economic theory and local instrumental variables estimators to estimate the effect of marginal policy changes. Our empirical analysis shows that returns are higher for individuals with values of unobservables that make them more likely to attend college. We contrast the returns to well-defined marginal policy changes with IV estimates of the return to schooling. Some marginal policy changes inducing students into college produce very low returns.
Bibliography Citation
Carneiro, Pedro, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Estimating Marginal Returns to Education." NBER Working Paper No. 16474, National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2010.
2. Carneiro, Pedro
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Evaluating Marginal Policy Changes and the Average Effect of Treatment for Individuals at the Margin
Econometrica 78,1 (January 2010): 377–394.
Also: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctppca/chv_econometrica.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Average Marginal Treatment Effect; Effects of Marginal Policy Changes; Marginal Policy Relevant Treatment Effect; Marginal Treatment Effect

This paper develops methods for evaluating marginal policy changes. We characterize how the effects of marginal policy changes depend on the direction of the policy change, and show that marginal policy effects are fundamentally easier to identify and to estimate than conventional treatment parameters. We develop the connection between marginal policy effects and the average effect of treatment for persons on the margin of indifference between participation in treatment and nonparticipation, and use this connection to analyze both parameters. We apply our analysis to estimate the effect of marginal changes in tuition on the return to going to college.
Bibliography Citation
Carneiro, Pedro, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Evaluating Marginal Policy Changes and the Average Effect of Treatment for Individuals at the Margin." Econometrica 78,1 (January 2010): 377–394. A.
3. Cawley, John
Conneely, Karen
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Cognitive Ability, Wages, and Meritocracy
In: Intelligence, Genes, and Success: Scientists Respond to THE BELL CURVE. B. Devlin, et al, eds., New York, NY: Springer Verlag, 1997.
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Cognitive Ability; Demography; Education; Gender Differences; Genetics; I.Q.; Intelligence; Racial Differences; Statistical Analysis; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wages

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

Previously issued as: NBER Working Paper No. W5645, Issued in July 1996. A scientific response to the best-selling The Bell Curve which set off a hailstorm of controversy upon its publication in 1994. Much of the public reaction to the book was polemic and failed to analyse the details of the science and validity of the statistical arguments underlying the book conclusion. Here, at last, social scientists and statisticians reply to The Bell Curve and its conclusions about IQ, genetics and social outcomes. Contents: Part I Overview: 1 Reexamining The Bell Curve, Stephen E. Fienberg and Daniel Resnick: 2 A Synopsis of The Bell Curve, Terry W. Belke: Part II The Genetics-Intelligence Link: 3 Of Genes and IQ, Michael Daniels, Bernie Devlin,and Kathryn Roeder: 4 The Malleability of Intelligence is Not Constrained by Heritabiligy, Douglas Waslsten: 5 Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Health: Environmental, Psychosocial,and Physiological Pathways, Burton Singer and Carol Ryff: Part III Intelligence and the Measurement of IQ: 6 Theoretical and Technical Issues in Identifying a Factor of General Intelligence: 7 The Concept and Utility of Intelligence, Earl Hunt: 8 Is There a Cognitive Elite in America?, Nicholas Lemann: Part IV Intelligence and Success: Reanalyses of Data From the NLSY: 9 Cognitive Ability, Wages,and Meritocracy, John Cawley, Karen Conneely, James Heckman,and Edward Vytacil: 10 The Hidden Gender Restriction: The Need for Proper Controls When Testing for Racial Discrimination, Alexander Cavallo, Hazem El-Abbadi,and Randal Heeb: 11 Does Staying in School Make You Smarter? The Effect of Education on IQ in The Bell Curve, Christoper Winship and Sanders Korenman: 12 Cognitive Ability, Environmental.
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, Karen Conneely, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Cognitive Ability, Wages, and Meritocracy" In: Intelligence, Genes, and Success: Scientists Respond to THE BELL CURVE. B. Devlin, et al, eds., New York, NY: Springer Verlag, 1997.
4. Cawley, John
Conneely, Karen
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Measuring the Effects of Cognitive Ability
NBER Working Paper No. 5645, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1996.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5645
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Cognitive Ability; Demography; Gender Differences; Intelligence; Occupational Choice; Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials; Wage Rates

This paper presents new evidence from the NLSY on the importance of meritocracy in American society. In it, we find that general intelligence, or "g"--a measure of cognitive ability--is dominant in explaining test score variance. The weights assigned to tests by "g" are similar for all major demographic groups. These results support Spearman's theory of "g." We also find that "g" and other measures of ability are not rewarded equally across race and gender, evidence against the view that the labor market is organized on meritocratic principles. Additional factors beyond "g" are required to explain wages and occupational choice. However, both blue collar and white collar wages are poorly predicted by "g" or even multiple measures of ability. Observed cognitive ability is only a minor predictor of social performance. White collar wages are more "g" loaded than blue collar wages. Many noncognitive factors determine blue collar wages. Full-text available on-line: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5645. See also, "Cognitive Ability, Wages, and Meritocracy" published in: Intelligence, Genes, and Success. Devlin, Bernie etal. ed.
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, Karen Conneely, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Measuring the Effects of Cognitive Ability." NBER Working Paper No. 5645, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1996.
5. Cawley, John
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Cognitive Ability and the Rising Return to Education
NBER Working Paper No. 6388, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 1998.
Also: http://papers.nber.org/papers/W6388
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Cognitive Ability; Gender Differences; I.Q.; Intelligence; Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials; Wage Rates

This paper examines the contribution of the rise in the return to ability to the rise in the economic return to education. All of the evidence on this question comes from panel data sets in which a small collection of adjacent birth cohorts is followed over time. The structure of the data creates an identification problem that makes it impossible to identify main age and time effects and to isolate all possible age-time interactions. In addition, many education-ability cells are empty due to the stratification of ability with educational attainment. These empty cells or identification problems are literature and produce a variety of different estimates. We test and reject widely used linearity assumptions invoked to identify the contribution of the return to ability on the return to schooling. Using nonparametric methods find little evidence that the rise in the return to education is centered among the most able.
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Cognitive Ability and the Rising Return to Education." NBER Working Paper No. 6388, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 1998.
6. Cawley, John
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Meritocracy in America: Wages Within and Across Occupations
NBER Working Paper No. 6446, National Bureau of Economic Research, March 1998.
Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w6446
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Gender Differences; Modeling; Occupational Choice; Racial Differences; Simultaneity; Wage Determination; Wages

In The Bell Curve, Hermstein and Murray argue that the U.S. economy is a meritocracy in which differences in wages (including differences across race and gender) are explained by differences in cognitive ability. In this paper we test their claim for wages conditional on occupation using a simultaneous model of occupation choice and wage determination. Our results contradict Herrnstein and Murray's claim that the U.S. labor market operates only on meritocratic principles. Full-text available on-line: http://nberws.nber.org/papers/W6446
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Meritocracy in America: Wages Within and Across Occupations." NBER Working Paper No. 6446, National Bureau of Economic Research, March 1998.
7. Cawley, John
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Notes: On Policies to Reward the Value Added by Educators
The Review of Economics and Statistics 81,4 (November 1999): 720-727.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2646720
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Socioeconomic Factors; Teachers/Faculty; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

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

One current educational reform seeks to reward the "value added" by teachers and schools based on the average change in pupil test scores over time. In this paper, we outline the conditions under which the average change in scores is sufficient to rank schools in terms of value added. A key condition is that socioeconomic outcomes be a linear function of test scores. Absent this condition, one can still derive the optimal value-added policy if one knows the relationship between test scores and socioeconomic outcomes, and the distribution of test scores both before and after the intervention. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find a nonlinear relationship between test scores and one important outcome: log wages. We find no consistent pattern in the curvature of log wage returns to test scores (whether percentiles, scaled, or raw scores). This implies that, used alone, the average gain in test scores is an inadequate measure of school performance and current value-added methodology may misdirect school resources. [ABI/Inform]
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Notes: On Policies to Reward the Value Added by Educators." The Review of Economics and Statistics 81,4 (November 1999): 720-727.
8. Cawley, John
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
On Policies to Reward the Value Added by Educators
Review of Economics and Statistics 81,4 (November 1999): 720-727.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2646720
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Education; Socioeconomic Factors; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wages

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

One current educational reform seeks to reward the value added by teachers and schools based on the average change in pupil test scores over time. The conditions under which the average change in scores is sufficient to rank schools in terms of value added are outlined. A key condition is that socioeconomic outcomes be a linear function of test scores. Absent this condition, one can still derive the optimal value-added policy if one knows the relationship between test scores and socioeconomic outcomes, and the distribution of test scores both before and after the intervention. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a nonlinear relationship is found between test scores and one important outcome: log wages.
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "On Policies to Reward the Value Added by Educators." Review of Economics and Statistics 81,4 (November 1999): 720-727.
9. Cawley, John
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Understanding the Role of Cognitive Ability in Accounting for the Recent Rise in the Economic Return to Education
In: Meritocracy and Economic Inequality. K. Arrow, S. Bowles, and S. Durlauf, eds. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Cognitive Ability; Educational Returns; Gender Differences; I.Q.; Intelligence; Occupational Choice; Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials; Wage Rates; Wages

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

Previously issued as "Cognitive Ability and the Rising Return to Education", Working Paper No. 6388, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 1998. This chapter examines the contribution of the rise in the return to ability to the rise in the economic return to education. All of the evidence on this question comes from panel data sets in which a small collection of adjacent birth cohorts is followed over time. The structure of the data creates an identification problem that makes it impossible to identify main age and time effects and to isolate all possible age-time interactions. In addition, many education-ability cells are empty due to the stratification of ability with educational attainment. These empty cells or identification problems are literature and produce a variety of different estimates. We test and reject widely used linearity assumptions invoked to identify the contribution of the return to ability on the return to schooling. Using nonparametric methods find little evidence that the rise in the return to education is centered among the most able.
Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Understanding the Role of Cognitive Ability in Accounting for the Recent Rise in the Economic Return to Education" In: Meritocracy and Economic Inequality. K. Arrow, S. Bowles, and S. Durlauf, eds. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000
10. Eisenhauer, Philipp
Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
The Generalized Roy Model and the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Social Programs
Journal of Political Economy 123,2 (April 2015): 413-443.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/679509
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): College Education; Educational Returns; Heterogeneity; Modeling

The literature on treatment effects focuses on gross benefits from program participation. We extend this literature by developing conditions under which it is possible to identify parameters measuring the cost and net surplus from program participation. Using the generalized Roy model, we nonparametrically identify the cost, benefit, and net surplus of selection into treatment without requiring the analyst to have direct information on costs. We apply our methodology to estimate the gross benefit and net surplus of attending college.
Bibliography Citation
Eisenhauer, Philipp, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "The Generalized Roy Model and the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Social Programs." Journal of Political Economy 123,2 (April 2015): 413-443.
11. Heckman, James J.
Tobias, Justin L.
Vytlacil, Edward
Four Parameters of Interest in the Evaluation of Social Programs
Southern Economic Journal 68,2 (October 2001): 211-223.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1061591
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Keyword(s): College Education; Evaluations; Sociability/Socialization/Social Interaction

This paper reviews four treatment parameters that have become commonly used in the program evaluation literature: 1. the average treatment effect, 2. the effect of treatment on the treated, 3. the local average treatment effect, and 4. the marginal treatment effect. The paper derives simply computed closed-form expressions for these treatment parameters in a latent variable framework with Gaussian error terms. These parameters can be estimated using nothing more than output from a standard two-step procedure. It also briefly describes recent work that seeks to go beyond mean effects and estimate the distributions associated with various outcome gains. The techniques presented in the paper are applied to estimate the return to some form of college education for various populations using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.
Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J., Justin L. Tobias and Edward Vytlacil. "Four Parameters of Interest in the Evaluation of Social Programs." Southern Economic Journal 68,2 (October 2001): 211-223.
12. Heckman, James J.
Tobias, Justin L.
Vytlacil, Edward
Simple Estimators for Treatment Parameters in a Latent Variable Framework with an Application to Estimating the Returns to Schooling
NBER Working Paper No. W7950, National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2000.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W7950
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); College Education; Earnings; Education; Educational Returns; Modeling; Schooling; Selectivity Bias/Selection Bias; Siblings

This paper derives simply computed closed-form expressions for the Average Treatment Effect (ATE), the effect of Treatment on the Treated (TT), Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) and Marginal Treatment Effect (MTE) in a latent variable framework for both normal and non-normal models. The techniques presented in the paper are applied to estimating a variety of treatment parameters capturing the returns to a college education for various populations using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY).
Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J., Justin L. Tobias and Edward Vytlacil. "Simple Estimators for Treatment Parameters in a Latent Variable Framework with an Application to Estimating the Returns to Schooling." NBER Working Paper No. W7950, National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2000.
13. Heckman, James J.
Urzua, Sergio
Vytlacil, Edward
Supplement to "Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity"
Working Paper, Department of Economics, The University of Chicago, December 2004.
Also: http://jenni.uchicago.edu/underiv/appendixwebpage_all_16_12_04.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, The University of Chicago
Keyword(s): Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Heterogeneity; High School Dropouts; Modeling

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

Supplement available on-line at: http://jenni.uchicago.edu/underiv/appendixwebpage_all_16_12_04.pdf
Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J., Sergio Urzua and Edward Vytlacil. "Supplement to "Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity"." Working Paper, Department of Economics, The University of Chicago, December 2004.
14. Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Identifying the Role of Cognitive Ability in Explaining the Level of and Change in the Return to Schooling
NBER Working Paper No. 7820, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Education; Schooling

This paper considers two problems that arise in determining the role of ability in explaining the level of and change in the rate of return to schooling. (1) Ability and schooling are so strongly dependent that it is not possible, over a wide range of variation in schooling and ability, to independently vary these two variables and estimate their separate impacts. (2) The structure of panel data makes it difficult to identify main age and time effects or to isolate crucial education-ability-time interactions needed to assess the role of ability in explaining the rise in the return to education.
Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J. and Edward Vytlacil. "Identifying the Role of Cognitive Ability in Explaining the Level of and Change in the Return to Schooling." NBER Working Paper No. 7820, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 2000.
15. Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Identifying the Role of Cognitive Ability in Explaining the Level of and Change in the Return to Schooling
Review of Economics and Statistics 83,1 (February 2001): 1-12.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2646685
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Education; Educational Attainment; School Completion; School Dropouts; Schooling

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

This paper considers two problems that arise in determining the role of cognitive ability in explaining the level of and change in the rate of return to schooling. The first problem is that ability and schooling are so strongly dependent that it is not possible, over a wide range of variation in schooling and ability, to independently vary these two variables and estimate their separate impacts. The second problem is that the structure of panel data makes it difficult to identify main age and time effects or to isolate crucial education-ability-time interactions which are needed to assess the role of ability in explaining the rise in the return to education.
Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J. and Edward Vytlacil. "Identifying the Role of Cognitive Ability in Explaining the Level of and Change in the Return to Schooling." Review of Economics and Statistics 83,1 (February 2001): 1-12.
16. Heckman, James J.
Vytlacil, Edward
Urzua, Sergio
Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity
IZA Discussion Paper No. 2320, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), September 2006.
Also: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=936692
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Heterogeneity; High School Completion/Graduates; Variables, Instrumental; Wages

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

This paper examines the properties of instrumental variables (IV) applied to models with essential heterogeneity, that is, models where responses to interventions are heterogeneous and agents adopt treatments (participate in programs) with at least partial knowledge of their idiosyncratic response. We analyze two-outcome and multiple-outcome models including ordered and unordered choice models. We allow for transition-specific and general instruments. We generalize previous analyses by developing weights for treatment effects for general instruments. We develop a simple test for the presence of essential heterogeneity. We note the asymmetry of the model of essential heterogeneity: outcomes of choices are heterogeneous in a general way; choices are not. When both choices and outcomes are permitted to be symmetrically heterogeneous, the method of IV breaks down for estimating treatment parameters.
Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J., Edward Vytlacil and Sergio Urzua. "Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity." IZA Discussion Paper No. 2320, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), September 2006.