Despite the rapid expansion and increasing importance of private education in developing countries, very little is known about the impact of studying in private schools on educational attainment and wages. This paper contributes to fi
lling this gap by estimating the returns to private high schools in Mexico. We construct a unique dataset that combines labor market outcomes and historical school census data, and we exploit changes in the availability and size of public and private high schools across states and over time for identi
cation. We
nd substantial evidence of a positive effect of studying in a private high school on wages after college graduation, and we discuss alternative mechanisms that can explain this
finding.
Authors
Chiara Binelli
Marta Rubio Codina
Research Associate
Marta is a Research Associate, working at the Centre for Evaluation of Development Policies at IFS and at the Inter-American Development.
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.06.004
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Issue
- July 2013
Suggested citation
Binelli, C and Rubio Codina, M. (2013). 'The returns to private education: evidence from Mexico' (2013)
More from IFS
Understand this issue
Council funding is a numbers game in which everybody is losing
comment
"Local government finance is a mess that has been years in the making, but good luck trying to solve it." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.
13 May 2024
Empty defence spending promises are a shot in the dark
comment
"The government’s announcement was misleading and opaque and does nobody any favours." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.
29 April 2024
Public investment: what you need to know
explainer
Everything you wanted to know about UK public investment but were too afraid to ask – including analysis of Labour and Conservative plans.
25 April 2024
Policy analysis
The past and future of UK health spending
report
How has health spending changed over the past seven decades? How does the UK compare to other countries? What is the outlook for health spending?
14 May 2024
NHS spending has risen less quickly than was planned at the last election, despite the pandemic and record waiting lists
press release
Despite a pandemic, record waiting lists and growing rates of ill health, real-terms health spending has risen less quickly than was planned.
14 May 2024
Recent trends in and the outlook for health-related benefits
report
Recipients of and spending on health-related benefits have risen rapidly since the start of the pandemic, posing a serious challenge for policymakers.
19 April 2024
Academic research
The employment and distributional impacts of nationwide minimum wage changes
journal article
We assess the impact of the change in the UK’s minimum wage between 2016 and 2019 on wages, earnings, employment and household incomes.
10 April 2024
Willingness to pay for improved public education and public healthcare systems: the role of income mobility prospects
journal article
These findings are based on more than 19,000 observations from the third round of the Life in Transition Survey.
14 March 2024
Unfunded mandates and taxation
journal article
In mid-2006, the Chinese central government increased the salaries and pensions of civil servants in its coastal areas but a funded mandate in others.
14 March 2024