30202

SoSe 19: Labor Market Returns to Education

Heike Solga, Alessandra Rusconi

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The seminar explores answers to the question “Why, and to what extent, is education rewarded on labor markets?” We will address several issues with the seminar readings and our discussion: the issue of selection processes into different educational groups from the two sides of matching processes (i.e., individuals and relevant organizations, such as firms), the relationship between different dimensions of education (e.g., educational certificates and skills), and how this relationship varies by education systems. We will reflect the normative foundations of the role of “education” in modern societies. Insights into these issues deliver important information to better understand the eventual labor market returns to education and their variation across different institutional contexts.
Students will be expected to have mastered the assigned readings for each session and to actively participate throughout. We pay specific attention to theoretical frameworks, research designs, and empirical findings. A major goal of the readings and discussions in class is to improve your scholarly skills in formal and statistical reasoning. Two times (as homework and as requirement for “active participation”) students will formulate an open research gap and justify why it is a research gap, based on the readings and seminar discussion. close