[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-42828-en":3,"doc-seo-42828-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},42828,1099513958607,"Jiven","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002390cf8733938c?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778829742770036399",8,"Research & Report","Returns to Investment in Education: A Decennial Review of the Global Literature","In the 60-plus year literature on estimates of returns to investment in education, this paper updates earlier reviews and examines recent trends. It analyzes 1120 estimates across 139 countries over the period from 1950 to 2014. The private average global return to one year of schooling is 9% per year. Private returns to higher education have risen, raising concerns for financing and equity, while social returns remain high. Women continue to show higher average returns, underscoring the priority of girls’ education.","Education Economics  \nISSN: 0964-5292 (Print) 1469-5782 (Online) Journal homepage: [http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cede20](http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cede20)  \nReturns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature  \nGeorge Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos  \nTo cite this article: George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos (2018) Returns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature, Education Economics, 26:5, 445-458, DOI: 10. 1080/09645292 .2018.1484426  \nTo link to this article: [https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2018.1484426](https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2018.1484426)  \n View supplementary material   \n\n|  Published online: 07 Jun 2018. |\n| --- |\n|  Submit your article to this journal  |\n|  Article views: 1049 |\n|  View Crossmark data |\n|  Citing articles: 1 View citing articles  |\n\nFull Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cede20](http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cede20)  \nReturns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature  \nGeorge Psacharopoulosa and Harry Anthony Patrinos b  \naSchool of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; bEducation, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA  \n\n|  | ABSTRACT\u003Cbr>In the 60-plus year history of returns to investment in education estimates, there have been several compilations in the literature. This paper updates Psacharopoulos and Patrinos and reviews the latest trends and patterns based on 1120 estimates in 139 countries from 1950 to 2014 . The private average global return to a year of schooling is 9% a year. Private returns to higher education increased, raising issues of financing and equity. Social returns to schooling remain high. Women continue to experience higher average returns to schooling, showing that girls’education remains a priority. |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n|  |  |  |\n\nARTICLE HISTORY  \nReceived 9 April 2018 Accepted 30 May 2018  \nKEYWORDS  \nReturns to schooling; investments in education  \nJEL CODES  \nC13; J31  \nIntroduction  \nWith roots in the writings of classical economists (see, for example, Adam Smith 1776; Marshall 1890) the link between education and earnings only recently emerged. Formal modeling did not take place until much more recently (Schultz 1960, 1961; Becker 1964; Mincer 1974; Chiswick 2003). The study of earnings by schooling has led to several empirical works testing hypotheses on a great variety of social issues. These include, for example, racial and ethnic discrimination, gender discrimination, income distribution, and the determinants of the demand for education. But the dominant application that has used earnings by level of education is the estimation of the rate of return to investment in schooling.  \nThe concept of the rate of return on investment in education is very similar to that for any other investment. It is a summary of the costs and benefits of the investment incurred at different points in time, and it is expressed in an annual (percentage) yield, like that quoted for savings accounts or government bonds. Returns on investment in education based on human capital theory have been estimated since the late 1950s. Human capital theory puts forward the concept that investments in education increase future productivity.  \nEstimation of the returns to education has been a popular subject in the literature (Ashenfelter and Krueger 1994; Becker 1964; Becker and Chiswick 1966; Card and Krueger 1992; Card 2001;Duflo 2001; Heckman, Lochner, and Todd 2006; Oreopoulos 2006; Rosenzweig 1995; Schultz 1961) . Since our last review of the literature, contributions on the subject have grown exponentially, to the point of being difficult to track (for previous compilations see Harmon, Oosterbeek, and Walker 2003; Psacharopoulos 1972, 1973, 198","cbCaiv6PueGLwRtI","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiv6PueGLwRtI","pdf",2582476,1,15,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Background and concept of education returns\n## Why returns to education matter for policy","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of this paper on returns to education?\",\"answer\":\"It updates prior compilations and reviews latest trends and patterns in estimates of returns to education.\"},{\"question\":\"What data scope does the review use for its updated trends?\",\"answer\":\"The analysis is based on 1120 estimates from 139 countries covering 1950 to 2014.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the paper’s results indicate about private returns to schooling?\",\"answer\":\"The private average global return to one year of schooling is 9% per year, and private returns to higher education have increased.\"}]",1783371792,38,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"returns-to-investment-in-education-a-decennial-review-of-the-global-literature","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/returns-to-investment-in-education-a-decennial-review-of-the-global-literature/42828/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-10","2026-07-06",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the main purpose of this paper on returns to education?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It updates prior compilations and reviews latest trends and patterns in estimates of returns to education.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What data scope does the review use for its updated trends?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"The analysis is based on 1120 estimates from 139 countries covering 1950 to 2014.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What do the paper’s results indicate about private returns to schooling?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The private average global return to one year of schooling is 9% per year, and private returns to higher education have increased.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]