The gender gap of returns on education across West European countries

In: IAB Discussion Paper: Beiträge zum wissenschaftlichen Dialog aus dem Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Band 20/2011

Open Access

Abstract

"We study the returns on education in Europe in a comparative perspective. We extend
the model of de la Fuente ((2003). Human Capital in a Global and Knowledgebased
Economy. part II: Assessment at the EU Country Level. Report for the European
Commission), by estimating the values of the relevant parameters for men and
women and introducing several variables specifically related to maternity leaves and
benefits. As a preliminary step, we evaluate the effect of education on the wage profile.
We estimate the Mincerian coefficients for 12 West European countries using
the EU-SILC data for 2007 and use them as input in the optimisation problem of the
individual to calibrate the model. Finally, we analyse the impact and relevance of
several public policy variables. In particular, we evaluate the elasticities of the returns
to education with respect to unemployment benefits, marginal and average tax
rates, maternity leave and childcare benefits." (author's abstract)