Work

Human Capital and Labor Market Effects of Elite Schooling in England, Scotland, and Wales: New Causal Evidence from Nonparametric Bounds

Year: 2026

Type: report

Abstract: We estimate the causal effect of attending elite schools in England, Scotland, and Wales on human capital and labor market outcomes for cohorts of children from the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. For identification, we employ a nonparametric partial-identification approach that provides bounds on the causal effect by assuming that, on average, there is positive selection into elite school attendance, and that attending an elite school does not worsen average potential human capital or labor market outcomes. The bounds indicate that there could possibly be large education and labor market returns from attending an elite school. However, the bounds are also consistent with smaller effects, including no causal effects of elite schooling at all.

DOI: 10.17848/wp26-426

Authors: Zhanhan Yu, Vikesh Amin, Carlos Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Giuseppe Germinario

Institutions: University of Hong Kong, Central Michigan University, California Polytechnic State University, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Language: English

Topic: School Choice and Performance

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: gold

OpenAlex ID: W7128620828

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