%0 Report
        %A Winters, John V.
        %T Estimating the Returns to Schooling Using Cohort-Level Maternal Education as an Instrument
        %D 2014
        %8 2014 Nov
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 8616
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp8616
        %X Formal education is widely thought to be a major determinant of individual earnings. This paper uses the American Community Survey to examine the effect of formal schooling on worker wages. Given the potential endogeneity of education decisions, I instrument for individual schooling using cohort-level mean maternal years of schooling from previous decennial censuses. The instrumental variables results suggest that schooling has a significant positive effect on worker wages. Specifically, an additional year or schooling is estimated to increase hourly wages by 10 percent for men and 12.6 percent for women.
        %K human capital
%K education
%K returns to schooling
%K wages
%K maternal education