Adult literacy, heterogeneity and returns to schooling in Chile †

We examine the importance of adult functional literacy skills for individuals using a quantile regression methodology. The inclusion of the direct measure of basic skills reduces the return to schooling by 27%, equivalent to two additional years of schooling, while a one standard deviation increase...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sakellariou, Christos, Patrinos, Harry Anthony
Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97879
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/18056
Description
Summary:We examine the importance of adult functional literacy skills for individuals using a quantile regression methodology. The inclusion of the direct measure of basic skills reduces the return to schooling by 27%, equivalent to two additional years of schooling, while a one standard deviation increase in the score increases earnings by 20%. For those who are less skilled, more education contributes little to earnings; rather skills are the key to higher earnings. The nonschooling component of skill is a significant contributor to earnings, but not the component associated with years of schooling.