Economics of Higher Education in the UK

• Main Author: Ji, Sisi
• Published: Cardiff University 2016
• Subjects: 338.4; HB Economic Theory
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.685512

The thesis examines both pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefits to higher education in the UK and empirically tests the model of demand for higher education. The leading theme in this research is the interest in the microeconomic aspect of higher education at empirical level. It sets out to investigate the expectations of individuals in terms of what they can gain from education. It considers various aspects of higher education, including casual effect on pecuniary and non pecuniary returns and demand of higher education participation. This thesis is based on 1958 British National Child Development Survey in the UK. It is composed by three empirical chapters, each on corresponding to a self-contained paper, applying different methodologies and making a unique contribution of these overall objectives. The first empirical chapter focus on the returns to education justified by the importance accorded as an explanation of wage differentials. The second empirical chapter deals with the returns to higher education on health. The third empirical chapter explores the relationship between higher education decision and expected wage income and personal and family characteristics. The main powerful findings of this thesis are: First, the economic return of education rises with the greater disparity of the educational groups as age increases. Females attending higher education usually enjoy higher returns than males, and the gap constantly increases over the years. Second, attending higher education may be an effective way to improve population health and reduce the likelihood of health damaging behaviours. Third, the hypothesis that individuals’ higher education decision only depends on their expectation on future wage income is highly rejected.