Public Education Expansion Policy and the Urban-Rural Differences in the Rate of Return on Education
Based on the data of CHIP 2019,this paper empirically evaluates the individual income increase effect and income distribution effect of the public education expansion policy through the measurement of causality and heterogeneity concerning the rate of return on education.Key findings are summarized as follows:(1)Statistical descriptions reveal that the public education expansion policy has a more significant impact on enhancing the educational attainment of the urban workforce compared to the rural workforce,thereby imbuing the educational function with a distinctly "urban-oriented" characteristic.(2)After using the instrumental variable method to correct endogenous problems,it is found that the public education expansion policy has a stronger individual income increase effect on non-agricultural registered residence.The rate of return on education of rural workforce is higher than that of urban workforce,and the rate of return on university education is higher than on compulsory education.This reveals that the individual income increase effect of the public education expansion policy has a "rural-oriented"characteristic.(3)Using unconditional quantile regression and its treatment effect model,it is found that the reform of compulsory education and the expansion of college enrollment have the income distribution function of narrowing the wage income gap between urban and rural labor groups.
public education expansion policyrate of return on educationurban-rural differencesincome distribution effectunconditional quantile treatment effect
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