An article examined the impact of higher education qualifications on the earnings of graduates. There were high returns for women in all subjects. Degree class and postgraduate study had large effects in all subjects. A large rise in tuition fees had only a modest impact on relative returns.
Source: Ian Walker and Yu Zhu, 'Differences by degree: evidence of the net financial rates of return to undergraduate study for England and Wales', Economics of Education Review, Volume 30 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
An article examined the effects of the large expansion in British education that took place for cohorts born between 1970 and 1975. The expansion caused people to increase education by about a year. Post-expansion cohorts achieved about 8 per cent higher wages as a result.
Source: Paul Devereux and Wen Fan, 'Earnings returns to the British education expansion', Economics of Education Review, Volume 30 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper estimated the returns to higher education qualifications for graduates with different degree majors, class of first degree, and postgraduate qualifications.
Source: Ian Walker and Yu Zhu, Differences by Degree: Evidence of the net financial rates of return to undergraduate study for England and Wales, Working Paper 33, AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium (Italy)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Nov
A study examined the impact of higher education for part-time undergraduate students. There were significant employment advantages to those who improved their skills by upgrading their existing qualifications from below a level 3 through part-time study.
Source: Claire Callender, David Wilkinson, Abigail Gibson, and Caroline Perkins, The Impact of Higher Education for Part-Time Students, Evidence Report 36, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Date: 2011-Oct
A new book examined the links between education and national economic performance.
Source: Alison Wolf, Roy Griffiths, and Sandra McNally (eds.), Education and Economic Performance, Edward Elgar Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Oct
A paper examined returns to education in Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. There was a high variation in the effect of education on unemployment duration. Overall, the returns to education were estimated to be highest in the UK, and lowest in Sweden.
Source: Daniela Glocker and Viktor Steiner, Returns to Education Across Europe: A comparative analysis for selected EU countries, Discussion Paper 2011/15, School of Business and Economics, Freie Universitat Berlin
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Oct
A paper examined the effect of lifelong learning on women's employment and wages. Once employment effects were taken into account, all forms of lifelong learning showed substantial returns.
Source: Richard Dorsett, Silvia Lui, and Martin Weale, Estimating the Effect of Lifelong Learning on Women's Earnings Using a Switching Model, LLAKES Research Paper 30, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Oct
A study found that there were positive employment and earnings returns for the 'vast majority' of vocational qualifications gained in adulthood.
Source: Returns to Intermediate and Low Level Vocational Qualifications, Research Report 53, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Sep
A paper examined the effect of increases in postgraduate education on wage inequality. Workers with a postgraduate qualification had seen their relative wages rise over time as compared with all workers, and more specifically compared with graduates with only a college degree.
Source: Joanne Lindley and Stephen Machin, Rising Wage Inequality and Postgraduate Education, DP1075, Centre for Economic Performance (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Sep
A study of 12 European countries found that one additional year of education reduced self-reported poor health by 7.1 per cent for females and by 3.1 per cent for males.
Source: Giorgio Brunello, Margherita Fort, Nicole Schneeweis, and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, The Causal Effect of Education on Health: What is the role of health behaviors?, Discussion Paper 5944, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Aug
A paper examined the effects of the large expansion in educational attainment that took place for cohorts born between 1970 and 1975. The expansion caused men to increase education by about 1 year on average and gain about 8 per cent higher wages; women obtained a slightly greater increase in education and a similar increase in wages.
Source: Paul Devereux and Wen Fan, Earnings Returns to the British Education Expansion, Working Paper WP11/11, Centre for Economic Research (University College Dublin)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jul
An article examined the returns to higher education as indicated by chances of access to the professional and managerial salariat. There was no evidence of any increase in education-based, meritocratic selection to the salariat. Rather, the growth of the salariat appeared to be associated with some decline in its selectivity in terms of both qualifications and cognitive ability, with this decline being more marked in its managerial than in its professional components.
Source: Erzsebet Bukodi and John Goldthorpe, 'Social class returns to higher education: chances of access to the professional and managerial salariat for men in three British birth cohorts', Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, Volume 2 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-May
A paper said that there were 'sizeable returns' to academic qualifications – increasing the probability of employment by 40 percentage points. This was more than 70 per cent of the estimated return based on the raising of the school leaving age in 1973, suggesting that qualifications drove most – but not all – of the returns to education.
Source: Matt Dickson and Sarah Smith, What Determines the Return to Education: An Extra Year or Hurdle Cleared?, Working Paper 11/256, Centre for Market and Public Organisation (University of Bristol)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Apr
A report set out a model designed to measure the economic value of the government-funded qualifications provided by the post-19 further education sector – including colleges, private training providers, and voluntary and charity sector providers. Further education participants generated an additional £75 billion for the economy over their lifetimes, with apprenticeships generating around £40 for each £1 of government investment.
Source: Measuring the Economic Impact of Further Education, Research Report 38, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report | DBIS press release
Date: 2011-Mar
A paper examined levels of over-education, and wage returns to education, for males across eleven regions of the United Kingdom, using Labour Force Survey data. Significant regional differences were found in the probability of being over-educated. Regional differences were also found in the return to the 'correct' level of education – in each case associated with flexibility of movement between and into particular regions, which determined the ease of job matching. Evidence was found that, after controlling for the level of education acquired, there was a wage premium for the 'correct' level of education, which varied between regions.
Source: Pamela Lenton, Overeducation Across British Regions, SERP 2011001, Department of Economics, University of Sheffield
Links: Paper
Notes: Over-education was considered to exist where the level of qualification held by an employee was greater than that needed for the job.
Date: 2011-Jan
