Changes in Returns to Education in India, 1983-94: By Gender, Age-Cohort and Location

There is hardly any estimate of the returns to schooling in India based on a national level representative data for the recent period. This paper provides estimates of the returns to education in India by gender, age cohort and location (by rural-urban) for the most recent period 1993/4, and also evaluates the changes in returns over a period of time from 1983-94 using a large national level household survey data. The data show that the returns to education increases up to the secondary level and declines thereafter. There is evidence of substantial gender and rural-urban differences in the returns to schooling. The returns to women's education for the primary and middle levels have declined while those for secondary and college levels have increased during the decade 1983-94.