城镇居民教育收益率及其分布特征

Return to Education and Its Distribution in Urban China

本文以中国居民收入分配课题组2002年城镇住户调查数据为基础,利用分位回归分析方法讨论城镇居民教育收益率与收入条件分布之间的关联形式。本文的基本结论表明,在收入条件分布较高的分位点上,所对应的教育收益率相对较低,即教育收益率随着收入等级的提高而下降;另一方面,收入函数中引入不同类型的控制变量将会影响到平均的教育收益率估计水平,这也在一定程度上影响到教育收益率的分布特征。就方法论来说,分位回归分析可能为教育收益率估计中如何剔除能力因素所造成的偏差提供了一种解决办法;就政策意义而言,本文的结论表明,教育扩展可能更有利于低收入人口的收入的增长。当然,在施加不同类型控制变量的过程中,我们也发现就业特征对于教育收益率具有非常重要的影响,这不仅表明我国劳动力市场具有分割特性,也可能意味着就业或职业获得成为收入差距扩张的重要因素。

Based on CHIPs 2002, the paper discussed the relation between return to education and the quantiles of income distribution. The findings in this paper show that the return to education is lower for the higher quantiles; while the estimators also depend on the choice of control variables. In methodology, the quantile regression might be a choice to correct the ability bias in the estimation on return to education. The policy implication from the paper shows the education expansion will be benefit to the income growth for those who are in lower quantiles. Additionally, the return to education is also affected by the employment significantly, which might indicate the segmentation in labor market.