A structural model of the demand for college attendance is derived from the theory of comparative advantage and recent statistical models of self-selection and unobserved components. Estimates from NBER-Thorndike data strongly support the theory. First, expected lifetime earnings gains influence...

The chapter presents a survey and exposition of the development of the earnings function as an empirical tool for the analysis of the determinants of wage rates. Generically, the term earnings function has come to mean any regression of individual wage rates or earnings on a vector of personal,...

A structural model of the demand for college attendance is derived from the theory of comparative advantage and recent statistical models of self-selection and unobserved components. Estimates from NBER-Thorndike data strongly support the theory. First, expected lifetime earnings gains influence...