Estimation of Sheepskin Effects and Returns to Schooling Using he Old and the New CPS Measures of Educational Attainment

Author
Abstract

This study uses direct information on years of schooling and degree attainment taken from a special
Current Population Survey (CPS) to test for sheepskin effects. I find significant earnings gains of
approximately 9, 11, and 21 percent for achieving a high school diploma, an associate’s degree, and
a bachelor’s degree, respectively. I also use the data to impute a traditional measure of years of
schooling (corresponding to the education information on the CPS prior to 1992) from the new
CPS question on degrees. The imputation is found to be relatively accurate and to lead to similar
estimates of the return to schooling.

Year of Publication
1994
Number
338
Date Published
08/1994
Publication Language
eng
Citation Key
Economics Letters, Vol. 50, No. 3, 1996
URL
Working Papers