[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pubeco/v196y2021ics0047272721000074.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Just above the exam cutoff score: Elite college admission and wages in China

Author

Listed:
  • Jia, Ruixue
  • Li, Hongbin
Abstract
A burgeoning literature has documented the importance of elite colleges. Yet, little is known about access to elite education and its labor market implications in China, a country that produces one in every five college graduates in the world. College admission in China is governed by a single exam – the national college entrance exam, and the government sets admission cutoff scores for elite colleges. We examine the impacts of scoring above the elite-tier cutoff on a student’s access to elite colleges and wage outcomes after graduation, using the discontinuity around the cutoff score. By employing hand-collected survey data, we find that scoring above the cutoff not only increases the chance of entering an elite college but also raises a young person’s first-job wages after graduation. We also find that those just above the cutoff have peers with higher scores and better social networks than those below the cutoff, but it is less clear whether the two groups use their time differently in college.

Suggested Citation

  • Jia, Ruixue & Li, Hongbin, 2021. "Just above the exam cutoff score: Elite college admission and wages in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:196:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721000074
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104371
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272721000074
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104371?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Massimo Anelli, 2020. "The Returns to Elite University Education: a Quasi-Experimental Analysis," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2824-2868.
    2. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D. Cattaneo & Rocio Titiunik, 2014. "Robust Nonparametric Confidence Intervals for Regression‐Discontinuity Designs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82, pages 2295-2326, November.
    3. Raj Chetty & John N Friedman & Emmanuel Saez & Nicholas Turner & Danny Yagan, 2020. "Income Segregation and Intergenerational Mobility Across Colleges in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(3), pages 1567-1633.
    4. David S. Lee, 2009. "Training, Wages, and Sample Selection: Estimating Sharp Bounds on Treatment Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(3), pages 1071-1102.
    5. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2009. "The Changing Selectivity of American Colleges," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(4), pages 95-118, Fall.
    6. Seth D. Zimmerman, 2019. "Elite Colleges and Upward Mobility to Top Jobs and Top Incomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(1), pages 1-47, January.
    7. Philip Oreopoulos & Till von Wachter & Andrew Heisz, 2012. "The Short- and Long-Term Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, January.
    8. Guido Imbens & Karthik Kalyanaraman, 2012. "Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(3), pages 933-959.
    9. Stacy Berg Dale & Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1491-1527.
    10. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Shi, Xinzheng & Wu, Binzhen, 2012. "Does attending elite colleges pay in China?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 78-88.
    11. Sheetal Sekhri, 2020. "Prestige Matters: Wage Premium and Value Addition in Elite Colleges," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 207-225, July.
    12. Massimo Anelli, 0. "The Returns to Elite University Education: a Quasi-Experimental Analysis," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2824-2868.
    13. Mark Hoekstra, 2009. "The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 717-724, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hongbin Li & Huan Wang & Claire Cousineau & Matthew Boswell, 2023. "What Can Students Gain from China's Higher Education?," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 18(2), pages 287-304, July.
    2. Lu, Wei & Zhou, Sen & Wei, Yi, 2022. "Government policies and unintended consequences: Rising demand for private supplementary tutoring in China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Si, Ruichao, 2021. "Unexpected pressure? The effect of a curriculum reform on household educational investments and student outcomes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 730-746.
    4. Lin, Jiada & Wan, Haiyuan & Yu, Yangcheng, 2024. "What you breathe makes you poor: The effect of air pollution on income," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Lu, Wei & Yang, Po & Zheng, Shilin & Zhou, Sen, 2023. "Natural disasters and high-stakes exam performance: Evidence from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Canaan, Serena & Mouganie, Pierre & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "The Long-Run Educational Benefits of High-Achieving Classrooms," IZA Discussion Papers 15039, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Fernanda Estevan & Lucas Finamor, 2022. "School closures and educational path: how the Covid-19 pandemic affected transitions to college," Papers 2210.00138, arXiv.org.
    8. Oliver Anderson, 2022. "Walking the line: Does crossing a high stakes exam threshold matter for labour market outcomes?," CEPEO Working Paper Series 22-05, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jul 2024.
    9. Hui Deng & Rui Du & Dongmei Guo & Weizeng Sun & Yuhuan Xia, 2023. "High‐stakes examinations and educational inequality: Evidence from transitory exposure to air pollution," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 546-571, July.
    10. Zhang, Kexin, 2023. "The long-term impact of higher education: Evidence from the Gaokao reinstatement in China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Ma, Liping & Li, Xin & Zhu, Qiong & Ye, Xiaoyang, 2023. "College-major choice to college-then-major choice: Experimental evidence from Chinese college admissions reforms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Liu, Tianze & Meng, Meng, 2024. "You Are the Elite Now: Admission Effects of an Excellence Initiative in the Chinese Higher Education System," SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics 5/2024, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    13. Vu, Tien Manh & Yamada, Hiroyuki, 2022. "Returns to test scores in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 111714, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Borsi, Mihály Tamás & Valerio Mendoza, Octasiano Miguel & Comim, Flavio, 2022. "Measuring the provincial supply of higher education institutions in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Duryea, Suzanne & Ribas, Rafael P. & Sampaio, Breno & Sampaio, Gustavo R. & Trevisan, Giuseppe, 2023. "Who benefits from tuition-free, top-quality universities? Evidence from Brazil," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. Yang, Yu (Alan), 2024. "On the Spatial Allocation of College Seats: Human Capital Production and the Distribution of Skilled Labor," MPRA Paper 120498, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Chen, Yuanyuan & Yuan, Meng & Zhang, Min, 2023. "Income inequality and educational expenditures on children: Evidence from the China Family Panel Studies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Chen, Jidong & Liu, Shenglong & Zhang, Xiaoming & Zhou, Xingyu, 2023. "Building social trust through education," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Du, Xinming, 2023. "Competing with clean air: Pollution disclosure and college desirability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    20. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Mu, Kai & Wang, Shaoda, 2024. "English language requirement and educational inequality: Evidence from 16 million college applicants in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    21. Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Chenhao, 2024. "Centralization and regulatory enforcement: Evidence from personnel authority reform in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    22. Oliver Anderson, 2023. "Walking the line: Does crossing a high-stakes exam threshold matter for labor market outcomes?," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 01, Stata Users Group.
    23. Sirui Li & Philip Verwimp, 2024. "Standardized Testing for College Entrance: Evidence from a Major Examination Reform in China," Working Papers ECARES 2024-17, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    24. Ghazala Azmat & Jack Britton, 2024. "Labour Market Returns to Higher Education," Post-Print hal-04709561, HAL.
    25. Zhao, Nan & Shi, Chunyan & Wang, Chenyang, 2024. "Effects of the “double reduction” policy on the commercial tutoring sector in China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cecilia Machado & Germ'an Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Direct and Spillover Effects of Large-scale Affirmative Action at an Elite Brazilian University," Papers 2305.02513, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    2. Britton, Jack & van der Erve, Laura & Belfield, Chris & Vignoles, Anna & Dickson, Matt & Zhu, Yu & Walker, Ian & Dearden, Lorraine & Sibieta, Luke & Buscha, Franz, 2022. "How much does degree choice matter?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Naven, Matthew & Whalen, Daniel, 2022. "The signaling value of university rankings: Evidence from top 14 law schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Ghazala Azmat & Jack Britton, 2024. "Labour Market Returns to Higher Education," Post-Print hal-04709561, HAL.
    5. Nicolás de Roux & Evan Riehl, 2019. "Isolating Peer Effects in the Returns to College Selectivity," Documentos CEDE 17413, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    6. Montoya, Ana Maria & Noton, Carlos & Solis, Alex, 2018. "The Returns to College Choice: Loans, Scholarships and Labor Outcomes," Working Paper Series 2018:12, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    7. Stéphane Benveniste, 2024. "Political and Business Dynasties: a Social Gradient in Returns to Elite Education," Working Papers hal-04511165, HAL.
    8. Garrett Anstreicher & Lois Miller, 2024. "Who Scars the Easiest? College Quality and the Effects of Graduating into a Recession," Working Papers 24-47, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    9. Choudhury, Prithwiraj & Ganguli, Ina & Gaulé, Patrick, 2023. "Top Talent, Elite Colleges, and Migration: Evidence from the Indian Institutes of Technology," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    10. Silvia Kopecny & Steffen Hillmert, 2021. "Place of study, field of study and labour-market region: What matters for wage differences among higher-education graduates?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Cecilia Machado & Germán Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Efficacy of Large-Scale Affirmative Action at Elite Universities," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0311, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    12. Oliver Anderson, 2022. "Walking the line: Does crossing a high stakes exam threshold matter for labour market outcomes?," CEPEO Working Paper Series 22-05, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jul 2024.
    13. Bordón, Paola & Braga, Breno, 2020. "Employer learning, statistical discrimination and university prestige," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. W. Bentley MacLeod & Miguel Urquiola, 2018. "Is Education Consumption or Investment? Implications for the Effect of School Competition," NBER Working Papers 25117, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Deborah M. Weiss & Matthew L. Spitzer & Colton Cronin & Neil Chin, 2024. "Why college majors and selectivity matter: Major groupings, occupation specificity, and job skills," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(2), pages 278-304, April.
    16. Sandra E. Black & Jeffrey T. Denning & Jesse Rothstein, 2023. "Winners and Losers? The Effect of Gaining and Losing Access to Selective Colleges on Education and Labor Market Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 26-67, January.
    17. Hızıroğlu Aygün, Aysun & Kırdar, Murat Güray & Koyuncu, Murat & Stoeffler, Quentin, 2024. "Keeping refugee children in school and out of work: Evidence from the world's largest humanitarian cash transfer program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    18. Giorgio Brunello & Dimitris Christelis & Anna Sanz‐de‐Galdeano & Anastasia Terskaya, 2024. "Does college selectivity reduce obesity? A partial identification approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(10), pages 2306-2320, October.
    19. Andrews, Rodney J. & Imberman, Scott A. & Lovenheim, Michael F., 2020. "Recruiting and supporting low-income, high-achieving students at flagship universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Seth D. Zimmerman, 2019. "Elite Colleges and Upward Mobility to Top Jobs and Top Incomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(1), pages 1-47, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Elite education; China; College entrance exam; Government intervention in education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:196:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721000074. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505578 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.