2018/09/10 by John Giles, Albert Park, Meiyan Wang · 40 citations
Social Sciences · #China #China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance #Cultural revolution #Demographic economics #Economic growth #Economics #Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies #Labour economics #Law #Political science #Productivity #Proletariat #Quality (philosophy) #Sample (material) #Selection bias #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies #Variation (astronomy)
paper · doi:10.1086/700568
published in Economic Development and Cultural Change 68(1), 131-164 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 2018/09/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
This paper provides new evidence on educational disruptions caused by the Cultural Revolution and identifies the returns to schooling in urban China by exploiting individual-level variation in the effects of citywide disruptions. The return to college is estimated at 49.8% using a conventional Mincer-type specification and averages 37.1% using supply shocks as instruments and controlling for ability and school quality, suggesting that high-ability students select into higher education. Additional tests show that the results are unlikely to be driven by sample selection bias associated with migration or alternative pathways through which the Cultural Revolution influenced adult productivity.