The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Disruptions to Education, and Returns to Schooling in Urban China

Giles, John; Park, Albert; Wang, Meiyan

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Disruptions to Education, and Returns to Schooling in Urban China

Autores

Giles, John

Park, Albert

Wang, Meiyan

Editor

World Bank, Washington, DC

Descripción

In determining whether a country's higher education system should be expanded, it is important for policymakers first to determine the extent to which high private returns to post-secondary education are an indication of the scarcity of graduates instead of the high unobserved ability of students who choose to attend post-secondary education. To this end, the paper identifies the returns to schooling in urban China using individual-level variation in educational attainment caused by exogenous city-wide disruptions to education during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. For city-cohorts who experienced greater disruptions, children's educational attainment became less correlated with that of their fathers and more influenced by whether their fathers held administrative positions. The analysis calculates returns to college education using data from the China Urban Labor Survey conducted in five large cities in 2001. The results are consistent with the selection of high-ability students into higher education. The analysis also demonstrates that these results are unlikely to be driven by sample selection bias associated with migration, or by alternative pathways through which the Cultural Revolution could have affected adult productivity.

Palabras clave

ABILITY OF STUDENTS, ACCESS TO EDUCATION, ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION, ADULTS, AGE COHORT, AVERAGE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AVERAGE TREATMENT EFFECT, CAREER, CAREER PATHS, CITIZENS, COLLEGE ADMISSIONS, COLLEGE EDUCATION, COLLEGE ENTRANCE, COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAM, COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS, COLLEGES, CULTURAL CHANGE, DEGREE PROGRAMS, DEGREES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DISCRIMINATION, EARLY CHILDHOOD, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATED PARENTS, EDUCATION OFFICIALS, EDUCATION REFORM, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATION VARIABLES, EDUCATIONAL ACCESS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL DISRUPTION, EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, EDUCATIONAL SUPPLY, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, EFFECTS OF EDUCATION, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, EMPLOYMENT, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES, ENROLLMENT OF STUDENTS, ENROLLMENT RATES, EXAMS, FAMILY LIFE, FAMILY SUPPORT, FORMAL EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT OFFICES, GRADUATION RATES, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, HIGH SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION, HIGH SCHOOLS, HIGHER EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION ENTRANTS, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM, HIGHER LEVELS OF EDUCATION, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, ILLNESS, INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, LABOR MARKET, LARGE CITIES, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LITERATURE, LOWER EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, LOWER SECONDARY, MIDDLE SCHOOL, MIGRANTS, MIGRATION, MOTHER, NATIONAL SCHOOL, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, NEW ENTRANTS, NUTRITION, PANDEMIC, PAPERS, PARENT EDUCATION, PARENTAL EDUCATION, PLACE OF RESIDENCE, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POPULATION CENSUS, POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOL, PROGRESS, PUBLIC SCHOOL, PUBLIC SERVICES, RESEARCH GRANTS, RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS, RETURNS TO EDUCATION, RURAL AREAS, RURAL COMMUNITIES, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL LOCATIONS, SCHOLARS, SCHOOL AGE, SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL COMPLETION, SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION, SCHOOL EDUCATION, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, SCHOOL EXPANSION, SCHOOL GRADUATES, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL SYSTEMS, SCHOOL-AGE, SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOLING, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SOCIAL UNREST, SPECIAL EDUCATION, STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITIES, UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, UPPER SECONDARY, URBAN AREAS, URBAN POPULATION, VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL, WAR, WORKERS, YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUTH, YOUTH POPULATION