Why the Rate of Return to Education Is Apparently Higher in LDCs than in Developed Countries: A Note

Based on the view that education is partly a superior consumption-good generating the pleasure of higher status, indicates that the measured rate of return to education ignoring utility benefits from education is generally an underestimated indicator of the real rate of return. Further, indicates that, in developed countries where utility benefits are much larger, the rate of return is more heavily underestimated than in developing countries. Proposes this as another reason why the observed rate of return is much higher in LDCs than in developed countries.