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J Econ Growth (2006) 12:101158
DOI 10.1007/s10887-007-9016-0
Chad Turner Robert Tamura Sean E. Mulholland Scott Baier
Published online: 13 June 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
Abstract This article introduces original annual average years of schooling measures for each state from 1840 to 2000. Our methodology results in state estimates similar to those reported in the United States Census from 2000 back to 1940 and national, turn of the century estimates strikingly close to those presented by Schultz (Schultz, T. (1961). In N. B. Henry (Ed.), Social forces inuencing American education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.) and Fishlow (Fishlow, A. (1966). In H. Rosovsky (Ed.), Industrialization in two systems. John Wiley & Sons). To further determine the validity of our state schooling estimates, we rst combine original data on real state per worker output with existing data to provide a more comprehensive series of real state output per worker from 1840 to 2000. We then estimate aggregate Mincerian earnings regressions and discover that the return to a year of schooling for the average individual in a state ranges from 11% to 15%. This range is robust to various time periods, various estimation methods, various assumptions about the endogeneity of schooling and is in line with the body of evidence from the labor literature.
Keywords State years of schooling State real output per worker
All views expressed here are the authors and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta or the Federal Reserve System.
C. Turner
Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA, USA
R. Tamura (B) S. Baier
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
R. Tamura S. Baier
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, Atlanta, GA, USA
S. E. Mulholland
Mercer University, Macon, GA, USA
Education and income of the states of the United States: 18402000
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1 Introduction
This paper makes two fundamental contributions: (1) it introduces original annual years of schooling and average years of experience measures in the labor force for each of the states of the United States, generally from 1840 to 2000, and (2) it constructs original real state per worker output estimates for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1890 and 1910, and combines them with existing data for 1840, 1880, 1900 and 1920 and 1929 through 2000....