Harry Anthony Patrinos

Returns to Investment in Education: A Further Update

Returns to investment in education based on human capital theory have been estimated since the late 1950s. In the 40-plus year history of estimates of returns to investment in education, there have been several reviews of the empirical results in attempts to establish patterns. Many more estimates from a wide variety of countries, including over time evidence, and estimates based on new econometric techniques, reaffirm the importance of human capital theory. The suthors review and present the latest estimates and patterns as found in the literature at the turn of the century. However, because the availability of rate of return estimates has grown exponentially, the authors include a new section on the need for selectivity in comparing returns to investment in education and establishing related patterns.

Indigenous people and poverty in Latin America : an empirical analysis

Indigenous people make up a large and distinct portion of Latin Americas population. While the incidence of poverty is high in Latin America, it is particularly severe and deep among the indigenous population. There is a very strong correlation between schooling attainment and ethnicity, and between schooling attainment and poverty incidence. This report documents that equalization of income-generating characteristics would boost the productivity of the indigenous population in their market and non-market activities and lead to a considerable reduction in inequality and poverty. This suggests that the socioeconomic condition of indigenous people can be improved since policy-influenced variables such as eduction are largely responsible for differences in observed earnings. This unrealized potential provides considerable hope for the future. The challenge that remains, however, is to devise the means by which to enhance the human capital endowments of the indigenous population and create the circumstances by which the indigenous population can derive the maximum benefit from their productivity-enhancing attributes according to their individual and collective predisposition.

Educational performance and child labor in Paraguay

Abstract In this paper, the schooling attainment and labor characteristics of those aged 12–19 years is assessed using data from the 1990 household survey from Paraguay. Although schooling is compulsory to age 13, it was found that 28% of those 12 years of age are already out of school. Among those out of school, 19% work formally in the labor market and contribute about a quarter of total family income. Among the 12-year-olds still in school, one-quarter have repeated a grade or more. The analysis suggests that language strongly influences school attainment and performance. Those who speak only Guarani at home may receive equal access to schooling, but their performance in school (in terms of years of attainment and grade repetition), is considerably inferior to that of Spanish-only and bilingual pupils. The number of siblings was found not to have had much of an effect on school enrollment, although it did have a significant impact on the probability of child labor. These findings may be evidence of ‘specialization’ in the household, whereby some children work, while their siblings are permitted to attend school and concentrate on studying. The results indicate that subsidies to poor households may be necessary to enable them to maintain their children in school for at least the duration of the primary cycle.

The role and impact of public-private partnerships in education

The book examines five ways through which public-private contracts can help countries meet education goals. First, public-private partnerships can increase access to good quality education for all, especially for poor children who live in remote, underserved communities and for children in minority populations. Second, lessons for innovative means of financing education can be particularly helpful in post-conflict countries undergoing reconstruction. Third, lessons about what works in terms of public-private partnerships contribute to the development of a more differentiated business model especially for middle-income countries. Fourth, the challenge of meeting the education Millennium Development Goals in less than a decade is a daunting one in the poorest countries. Understanding new partnership arrangements within a broad international aid architecture in education can help bring us closer to those goals. Fifth, some very innovative public-private partnership arrangements are happening in Arab countries, and lessons can be drawn from their experience.

Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Human Development in Latin America: 1994-2004

This report covers the five countries in Latin America with the largest indigenous populations, which include Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. The purpose of this report is to answer whether changes on the national and international front have been accompanied by actual improvements in material conditions among indigenous people, presenting a regional picture of the evolution of socio-economic conditions among indigenous people in Latin America over the past decade. The report argues on whether poverty rates decreased among indigenous populations, and if so, how does this compare to changes observed in poverty rates for the rest of the population. It focuses on the main human capital indicators (education and health outcomes) as it concerns improvements, or not, over the period for indigenous and non-indigenous groups, and what are the factors explaining those trends. Furthermore, it stipulates income (and therefore, income poverty) is to a large extent determined by human capital, and, questions how have the income returns to human capital changed for indigenous, and non-indigenous people, and, how does access to major social and poverty reduction programs differ between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Decentralized Decision-making in Schools: The Theory and Evidence on School-based Management

The school-based management (SBM) has become a very popular movement over the last decade. The World Banks work on school-based management emerged from a need to better define the concept, review the evidence, support impact assessments in various countries, and provide feedback to project teams. The authors took detailed stock of the existing literature on school-based management and then identified several cases that the Bank was supporting in various countries. The authors present as well general guidance on how to evaluate school-based management programs. The Bank continues to support and oversee a number of impact evaluations of school-based management programs in an array of countries. Despite the clear commitment of governments and international agencies to the education sector, efficient, and equitable access remains elusive for many populations - especially for girls, indigenous peoples, and other poor and marginalized groups. Many international initiatives focus on these access issues with great commitment, but even where the vast majority of children do have access to education facilities, the quality of that education often is very poor. This fact increasingly is apparent in the scores from international learning assessments on which most students from developing countries do not excel. Evidence has shown that merely increasing resource allocation without also introducing institutional reforms in the education sector will not increase equity or improve the quality of education. One way to decentralize decision-making power in education is known popularly as SBM. There are other names for this concept, but they all refer to the decentralization of authority from the central government to the school level. SBM emphasizes the individual school (represented by any combination of principals, teachers, parents, students, and other members of the school community) as the main decision-making authority, and holds that this shift in the formulating of decisions will lead to improvement in the delivery of education.

The Changing Pattern of Wage Returns to Education and its Implications

It is commonly believed that labour-market returns to education are highest for the primary level of education and lower for subsequent levels. Recent evidence reviewed in this article suggests that the pattern is changing. The causes of such changes, and their implications for both education and labour-market policy, are explored.

Indigenous Language Skills and the Labor Market in a Developing Economy: Bolivia

This paper examines the relationship between language use and labor market activities (participation and earnings) in a developing economy where many speak an indigenous language. The application is to men and women age 15 and over in Bolivia?s department capital cities, using the 1993 Encusesta Integrade de Hogares (Integrated Household Survey). The use of Spanish is found to be more prevalent among those more active in the labor market, among those who have had more exposure to Spanish, and among those who are more efficient in acquiring language skills. The effects of Spanish and indigenous language usage on labor force participation and on earnings are analyzed. When other variables are held constant, including level of schooling, among both men and women monolingual Spanish speakers earn about 25 percent more than bilingual Spanish-indigenous language speakers. Among women, those who speak only an indigenous language earn about 25 percent less than those who are bilingual. The lower earnings of the bilingual speakers may be due to their poorer proficiency in Spanish.

Comparable Estimates of Returns to Schooling Around the World

Rates of return to investments in schooling have been estimated since the late 1950s. In the 60-plus year history of such estimates, there have been several attempts to synthesize the empirical results to ascertain patterns. This paper presents comparable estimates, as well as a database, that use the same specification, estimation procedure, and similar data for 139 economies and 819 harmonized household surveys. This effort to compile comparable estimates holds constant the definition of the dependent variable, the set of control variables, the sample definition, and the estimation method for all surveys in the sample. The results of this study show that (1) the returns to schooling are more concentrated around their respective means than previously thought; (2) the basic Mincerian model used is more stable than may have been expected; (3) the returns to schooling are higher for women than for men; (4) returns to schooling and labor market experience are strongly and positively associated; (5) there is a decreasing pattern over time; and (6) the returns to tertiary education are highest.

Education and Earnings in a Transition Economy: The Case of Vietnam.

Abstract Major economic reforms in Vietnam since 1986 have included a number of measures to liberalize the labor market. It is too soon to assess the full impact of these reforms, but this paper represents a first attempt to analyze the returns to education, establishing a benchmark for future work. On average the estimates of rates of return are relatively low, which is not surprising since salary reforms were not introduced until 1993. Private rates of return to primary and university education average 13 and 11%, but only 4 to 5% at secondary and vocational levels. Returns to higher education are higher for females (12%) than for males (10%).