Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

How Large Are Human-Capital Externalities? Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Laws

2000; University of Chicago Press; Volume: 15; Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3585383

1537-2642

Daron Acemoğlu, Joshua D. Angrist,

Labor market dynamics and wage inequality

Many economists and policymakers believe that education creates positive externalities. Indeed, average schooling in U.S. states is highly correlated with state wage levels, even after controlling for the direct effect of schooling on individual wages. We use variation in child labor laws and compulsory attendance laws over time and across states to investigate whether this relationship is causal. Our results show external returns to education around 1% and not significantly different from zero.