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dc.titleUnbundling Returns to Degrees and Skills: Evidence from Postsecondary Education in Colombia
dc.contributor.authorBusso, Matías
dc.contributor.authorMuñoz, Juan Sebastián
dc.contributor.authorMontaño, Sebastián
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageColombia
dc.date.available2020-01-06T00:00:00
dc.date.issue2020-01-03T00:00:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper shows that returns to education are not enough to capture all the returns to human capital. Using longitudinal data of all college graduates in Colombia, we estimate labor market returns to postsecondary degrees and to various skillsincluding literacy, numeracy, foreign language, field-specific, and non-cognitive skills. Graduates of longer programs, of private institutions, and of schools with higher reputation earn higher wages. Even after controlling for all the characteristics of the degree, a one standard deviation increase in each skill predicts an average wage increase of two percent. Returns to skills vary along the wage distribution, with tenure, with the field of specialization and the type of job obtained immediately after graduation.
dc.format.extent50
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0002121
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Unbundling_Returns_to_Degrees_and_Skills_Evidence_from_Postsecondary_Education_in_Colombia_en.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectHuman Capital
dc.subjectSkilled Labor
dc.subjectLabor Market
dc.subjectWage
dc.subjectFoundational Skills
dc.subject.jelcodeI24 - Education and Inequality
dc.subject.jelcodeJ24 - Human Capital • Skills • Occupational Choice • Labor Productivity
dc.subject.jelcodeI20 - Education and Research Institutions: General
dc.subject.jelcodeJ31 - Wage Level and Structure • Wage Differentials
dc.subject.keywordsReturns to skills; Returns to education; Numeracy; Literacy; Foreign language; Specific skills; Non-cognitive; Colombia
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01089
idb.operationRG-T2764
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