What drives social returns to education? A meta-analysis

B-Tier
Journal: World Development
Year: 2021
Volume: 148
Issue: C

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Education can generate important externalities that contribute towards economic growth and convergence. In this paper, we study such externalities and their drivers by conducting the first meta-analysis of the social returns to education literature. We analyse over 1,000 estimates from 32 journal articles published since 1993, covering 15 countries of different levels of development. Our results indicate that: (1) there is publication bias (but not citation bias) in the literature; (2) spillovers slow down with economic development; (3) tertiary schooling and schooling dispersion increase spillovers; and (4) spillovers are smaller under fixed-effects and IV estimators but larger when measured at the firm level.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:wdevel:v:148:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x21002667
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25