Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T02:18:20.051Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Return to a University Education in Great Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the rate of return to first degrees, Masters degrees and PhDs in Britain using data from the Labour Force Survey. We estimate returns to broad subject groups and more narrowly defined disciplines, distinguishing returns by gender and controlling for variations in student quality across disciplines. The results reveal considerable heterogeneity in returns to particular degree programmes and by gender, which have important policy implications for charging students for the costs of their education.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Black, D., Sanders, S. and Taylor, L. (2003), ‘The economic reward for studying economics’, Economic Inquiry, 41, pp. 365377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackaby, D., Murphy, P. and O'Leary, N. (1999), ‘Graduate earnings in Great Britain: a matter of degree?’, Applied Economics Letters, 6, pp. 311315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blöndal, S., Field, S. and Girouard, N. (2002), ‘Investment in human capital through post-compulsory education and training: selected efficiency and equity aspects’, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, no. 333.Google Scholar
Blinder, A. (1973), ‘Wage discrimination: reduced form and structural estimates’, Journal of Human Resources, 8, pp. 436455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blundell, R., Dearden, L., Goodman, A. and Reed, H. (2000), ‘The returns to higher education in Britain: evidence from a British cohort’, Economic Journal, 110, pp. F82F99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonjour, D., Cherkas, L., Haskel, J., Hawkes, D. and Spector, T. (2005), ‘Returns to education: evidence from UK twins’, American Economic Review (forthcoming).Google Scholar
Bratti, M. and Mancini, L. (2003), ‘Difference in early occupational earnings of UK male graduates by degree subject: evidence from the 1980-1993 USR’, IZA Discussion Paper, Bonn, no. 890.Google Scholar
Card, D. (1999), ‘The causal effect of education on earnings’, in Ashenfelter, O. and Card, D. (eds), Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 3, Amsterdam, Elsevier Science, pp. 18011863.Google Scholar
Chevalier, A. and Conlon, G. (2003), ‘Does it pay to attend a prestigious university?’, Bonn, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 848.Google Scholar
Chevalier, A. and Walker, I. (2001), ‘The United Kingdom’, in Harmon, C., Walker, I. and Westergaard-Nielson, N. (eds), Education and Earnings in Europe: A Cross Country Analysis of the Returns to Education, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, pp. 302330.Google Scholar
Department for Education and Skills (2003), The Future of Higher Education, HMSO, CM 5735.Google Scholar
Harkness, S. and Machin, S. (1999), ‘Graduate earnings in Britain’, Research Brief No. 95, London, Department for Education and Employment.Google Scholar
Leslie, D. (2003), ‘Using success to measure quality in British higher education: which subjects attract the best-qualified students?Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 166, pp. 329347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oaxaca, R. (1973), ‘Male-female wage differentials in urban labour markets’, International Economic Review, 14, pp. 693709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oaxaca, R. and Ransom, M. (1998), ‘Calculation of approximate variances for wage decomposition differentials’, Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 24, pp. 5561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Leary, N. and Sloane, P. (2005), ‘The changing wage return to an undergraduate education’, mimeo, University of Wales Swansea.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, P. and Rubin, D. (1983), ‘The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects’, Biometrika, 70, pp. 4155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudd, E. (1990), ‘The early careers of social science graduates and the value of a PhD’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 153, pp. 203232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, I. and Zhu, Y. (2003), ‘Education, earnings and productivity: recent UK evidence”, Labour Market Trends, March, pp. 145152.Google Scholar
Weale, M. (1992), ‘The benefits of higher education: a comparison of universities and polytechnics’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 8.2, pp. 3547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar