We apply a new estimator to the measurement of the economic returns to education. We control for endogenous education, unobserved ability and measurement error using only the natural heteroscedasticty of wages and education attainment. Our prefered estimate, 6.07%, is closer to the OLS estimate...

This paper uses cross section data to investigate whether education and ability are substitutes or complements in the determination of earnings. Using a measure of cognitive ability based on tests taken at ages 7 and 11 we find, unlike most of the existing literature, clear evidence that the...

This paper provides evidence of heterogeneity in the returns to higher education in the UK. Attending the most prestigious universities leads to a wage premium of up to 6% for males. The rise in participation in higher education also led to a greater sorting of students and an increase in the...

This paper uses semi-parametric econometric techniques to investigate the relationship between basic skills and earning in three post-communist countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia using the IALS dataset. While the large increases in the returns to education in the new market...

This paper uses a discrete choice approach to investigate factors influencing starting and quitting smoking, in particular the role of tobacco taxes. Standard probit analysis is applied to both starting and quitting. Tobacco taxes appear to exert a negative influence over decisions to start...

This paper uses duration analysis to investigate factors influencing starting and quitting smoking, in particular the role of tobacco taxes. Applying a variety of parametric duration models, including a split population model, to a sample of Irish women, it finds mixed results regarding the...

This paper analyses decisions regarding smoking and drinking for a sample of Irish women. Double-hurdle models are estimated to determine whether decisions to smoke/drink are made independently of how much to smoke/drink. Given the potential complementarities between smoking and drinking a model...

It is clear that education has an important effect on wages paid in the labour market However it not clear whether this is due to the role that education plays in raising the productivity of workers (the human capital explanation) or whether education simply reflects the ability of the worker...

We analyse how progressive taxation and education subsidies affect schooling decisions when the returns to education are stochastic. We use the theory of real options to solve the problem of education choice in a dynamic, life-cycle consistent, stochastic model. We show that education attainment...