Returns on Investment in Education: Evidence from Turkey by Education Level and by Higher Education Program*

This paper estimates private and social returns on investment in education in Turkey, by level of education and by higher education program, using the 2008-2016 Household Labor Force Survey and Income and Living Conditions Survey panel datasets. The paper uses panel econometrics with the Hausman-Taylor and instrumental variable methods dealing with the endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity problems. The private returns on investment in higher education tend to be higher as compared to the private returns on investment in non-tertiary education. The results indicate that the private returns on investment from various higher education programs are significantly different across various higher education programs. Based on the empirical findings, a number of policy recommendations are developed.