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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.

Debt Markets --- Education --- Education for All --- Education Reform & Management --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Investments in Education --- Primary Education --- Returns to Experience --- Returns to Schooling --- Teaching and Learning

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Cost-benefit analysis in education is an important tool in the economists' arsenal. However, it is essential that research, especially on the social benefits of education, make further progress to make cost-benefit more analysis. There is a need for more research on the effects of policy interventions on outcomes beyond access to a year in school and what they earn as a result, such as on what children actually learn. Such research should focus on ensuring that the interventions are attributable to outcomes. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to go through the discipline of noting the benefits and costs, even if social rates of return cannot be calculated robustly.

Access and Equity in Basic Education --- Average schooling --- Education --- Education for All --- Education Policy --- Effective Schools and Teachers --- Investments in education --- Job training --- Primary Education --- Primary levels --- Primary schools --- Schooling --- Social benefits --- Social benefits of education --- Tertiary Education --- Textbooks

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This paper examines the financing of tertiary education in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, comparing the affordability and accessibility of tertiary education with that in high-income countries. To measure affordability, the authors estimate education costs, living costs, grants, and loans. Further, they compute the participation rate, attainment rate, and socio-economic equity index in education and the gender equity index as indicators of accessibility. This is the first study attempting to estimate affordability of tertiary education in Latin America within a global context. The analysis combines information from household surveys, expenditure surveys, and administrative and institutional databases. The findings show that families in Latin America have to pay 60 percent of per-capita income for tertiary education per student per year compared with 19 percent in high-income countries. Living costs are significant, at 29 percent of gross domestic product per capita in Latin America (19 percent in high-income countries). Student assistance through grants and loans plays a marginal role in improving affordability. Moreover, the paper confirms previous findings of low access to tertiary education in the region. One policy implication of the findings is that Latin American governments could take steps to make tertiary education more affordable through student assistance.

Access and Equity in Basic Education --- Access to Finance --- Access to tertiary education --- Education --- Education Sector --- Effective Schools and Teachers --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Gender equity --- Human Development --- Investments in education --- Papers --- Primary Education --- Student assistance --- Student Loan --- Tertiary Education --- Workers

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The human consequences of the current global financial crisis for the developing world are presumed to be severe yet few studies have quantified such impact. The authors estimate the additional number of infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa likely due to the crisis and discuss possible mitigation strategies. They pool birth-level data as reported in female adult retrospective birth histories from all Demographic and Health Surveys collected in sub-Saharan Africa nations. This results in a data set of 639,000 births to 264,000 women in 30 countries. The authors use regression models with flexible controls for temporal trends to assess an infant's likelihood of death as a function of fluctuations in national income. They then apply this estimated likelihood to expected growth shortfalls as a result of the crisis. At current growth projections, their estimates suggest there will be 30,000 - 50,000 excess infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these additional deaths are likely to be poorer children (born to women in rural areas and lower education levels) and are overwhelmingly female. If the crisis continues to worsen the number of deaths may grow much larger, especially those to girls. Policies that protect the income of poor households and that maintain critical health services during times of economic contraction should be considered. Interventions targeted at female infants and young girls may be particularly beneficial.

Child development --- Developing countries --- Dropout --- Health services --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Human development --- Infant --- Infant death --- Infant deaths --- Infant mortality --- Investments in education --- Number of deaths --- Nutrition --- Policy research --- Policy research working paper --- Population Policies --- Progress --- Public services --- Rural areas --- Unemployment --- Vital statistics --- Young girls

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Under some conditions, macroeconomic crises can have a positive effect on the accumulation of human capital because they reduce the opportunity cost of schooling. This has profound implications for the design of appropriate social protection policies. The impact of macroeconomic crises on parents' investments in the human capital of their children is a widely contested issue. Schady analyzes the effects of the profound macroeconomic crisis in Peru in 1988-92 on the schooling and employment decisions made by urban school-age children. He arrives at two basic findings: First, the crisis had no effect on the attendance rates of school-age children. But the share of children who were both employed and in school fell significantly during the crisis; Second, mean educational attainment was significantly higher for children who were exposed to the crisis than for those who were not. Schady argues that these findings may be related: children who are not employed have more time available and may therefore put more effort into school. He concludes with a discussion of the implications of his findings for the design of appropriate social protection policies. This paper-a product of the Poverty Sector Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region-is part of a larger effort in the region to understand the effects of macroeconomic crises on households, and to design appropriate policies to mitigate their costs.

Adults --- Attendance Rate --- Attendance Rates --- Disability --- Education --- Education for All --- Education of Parents --- Educational Attainment --- Effective Schools and Teachers --- Enrollment Rates --- Enrolment Rates --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Literacy --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Investments In Education --- Labor Policies --- Parental Education --- Population Policies --- Primary Education --- Primary School --- Provision Of Education --- Public Expenditures On Education --- Public School --- School --- School Attendance --- School Enrollment --- School Year --- Schooling --- Secondary School --- Social Protections and Labor --- Street Children --- Tertiary Education --- Urban Development --- Youth and Government