We use a unique data set about the wage distribution that Swiss students expect for themselves ex ante, deriving parametric and non-parametric measures to capture expected wage risk. These wage risk measures are unfettered by heterogeneity which handicapped the use of actual market wage dispersion as risk measure in earlier studies. Students in…

We report evidence that university reputation affects wages of bachelors in China. An unconditional difference between a top-100 university and a top 400-500 university of 23% is increased to some 28% by adding controls. Within the top-100 there is no differentiation in pay-off. Self-rated quality of high school, while affecting quality of…

Skill development involves important choices for individuals and school designers: should individuals and schools specialize, or should they aim for an optimal combination of skills? We analyze this question by employing mean-standard deviation analysis and show how cost structure, benefit structure and risk attitudes jointly determine the optimal…

We use Dutch panel data in which students have been asked to state their expected starting salary and confront these with realisations four years later. Both level and structure of expectations and realisations are remarkably close: we barely find systematic under- or overestimation effects.

Uses human-capital theory to model and estimate the school enrollment and length of schooling decisions of Sri Lankans. Finds a positive association between family background and education decisions. In particular, mother's education and parents' income have a strong effect on the education decisions. (Contains 26 references.) (Authors/PKP)

Drawing on empirical studies from five countries (Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, and United States), over 2 decades, outlines irregularities in the incidence of over- and under-education and consequences for individual earnings. The overall incidence of overeducation in the labor market is about 26 percent. (Contains 33 references.)…

Explores schooling's effect on health, wealth, and happiness for a cohort of Dutch individuals born around 1940. Uses observations on childhood IQ and family background. The group with a nonvocational, intermediate-level education scored highest on all three factors. IQ affects health, not wealth or happiness. Family background increases wealth,…

Large changes in educational composition of the Netherlands labor force in the past two decades have produced marked changes in the distribution of individuals by education level across job levels. Undereducation has been reduced, and overeducation has been increased. The latter situation does not imply inefficiency because even years of…

This article develops a model of household decision-making on educational participation. The model distinguishes between students and parents as decision-makers and assumes the capital market is inaccessible for financing an education. The implications of the model, problems of calculating compensating variation, and an illustrative case are…