A rising educational tide lifts most boats. At least that's the implication of a study examining the effects of a college degree on those without one. (click below to read more)
The paper relied on Census statistics for 283 metropolitan areas and found that less-educated Americans get significant employment gains when others in the area have a four-year college degree.
Indeed, a 10% increase in the number of people with a four-year degree in a given metro area was associated with a two-percentage-point rise in the overall employment rate from 1980 to 2000.
The benefit was particularly large for women with a high-school diploma or less. "The results are consistent," the author writes, "with the hypothesis that individuals accumulate greater skills from working in labor markets" alongside highly educated and trained workers.
"Human Capital Externalities and Employment Differences Across Metropolitan Areas of the USA," John V. Winters, Journal of Economic Geography
No comments:
Post a Comment