TY - JOUR
T1 - The nonmarket benefits of education and ability
AU - Heckman, James J.
AU - Humphries, John Eric
AU - Veramendi, Gregory
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper was presented at the Becker Friedman Institute conference in honor of Gary Becker, Friday, October 16, 2015. We thank the editor, Isaac Ehrlich, the associate editor who handled this paper, Edward Vytlacil, and two anonymous referees for valuable comments. This research was supported in part by the American Bar Foundation; the Pritzker Children’s Initiative; the Buffett Early Childhood Fund; National Institutes of Health grants NICHD R37HD065072 and NICHD R01HD054702; an anonymous funder; Successful Pathways from School to Work, an initiative of the University of Chicago’s Committee on Education funded by the Hymen Milgrom Supporting Organization; and the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, an initiative of the Center for the Economics of Human Development, affiliated with the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics and funded by the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Humphries acknowledges the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the funders or the official views of the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health. The appendix is available at https://cehd.uchicago.edu/?page _idp276#non-market_benefits.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - This paper analyzes the nonmarket benefits of education and ability. Using a dynamic model of educational choice, we estimate returns to education that account for selection bias and sorting on gains. We investigate a range of nonmarket outcomes, including incarceration, mental health, voter participation, trust, and participation in welfare. We find distinct patterns of returns that depend on the levels of schooling and ability. Unlike the monetary benefits of education, the benefits to education for many nonmarket outcomes are greater for low-ability persons. College graduation decreases welfare use, lowers depression, and raises self-esteem more for less-able individuals.
AB - This paper analyzes the nonmarket benefits of education and ability. Using a dynamic model of educational choice, we estimate returns to education that account for selection bias and sorting on gains. We investigate a range of nonmarket outcomes, including incarceration, mental health, voter participation, trust, and participation in welfare. We find distinct patterns of returns that depend on the levels of schooling and ability. Unlike the monetary benefits of education, the benefits to education for many nonmarket outcomes are greater for low-ability persons. College graduation decreases welfare use, lowers depression, and raises self-esteem more for less-able individuals.
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U2 - 10.1086/697535
DO - 10.1086/697535
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85048203977
SN - 1932-8575
VL - 12
SP - 282
EP - 304
JO - Journal of Human Capital
JF - Journal of Human Capital
IS - 2
ER -