The Irish health care system offers a tax financed, universal entitlement to public care at a nominal user fee, nonetheless 50% of the Irish population purchase private health insurance. This paper empirically models the propensity to insure as a function of individual and household...

In this paper a rich and innovative dataset, the International Adult Literacy Survey, is used to examine the impact of functional literacy on earnings. The IALS surveys 12 OECD countries and sub-regions via a consistent questionnaire and includes a number of tests of numeracy and literacy, as...

Education and Earnings in Europe is based on a two year pan-European research programme and presents an in-depth analysis of the returns to education in Europe. The book begins with a critical review of the literature which compares and contrasts the issues involved in the estimation of these...

Given the presence of significant returns to education, it would seem logical to query why individuals choose to leave school early. This paper examines the evidence on this issue, dealing with both methodological and evidence-based findings. Drawing on existing research in the area of schooling...

Irish third-level graduates benefit significantly from their education in the form of higher earnings. This private "rate of return" is higher in Ireland than in most other OECD countries. This implies a strong case in equity terms for tuition fees. The abolition of fees in 1994 did not increase...