SCHOOLING AND EARNINGS IN THE UK - EVIDENCE FROM THE ROSLA EXPERIMENT

Recent work by Angrist and Krueger (1991,1992) utilised an ''experiment'' to distinguish an individual's return to schooling where additional schooling is by choice compared to the return when extra schooling is compulsory. Here we use a similar ''experiment'' generated by the raising of the school leaving age (ROSLA) from 15 to 16 in the mid-'70s in England and Wales. Preliminary estimates from the Family Expenditure Survey over the period 1978-1986 suggest that for boys affected by ROSLA the effect of compulsory schooling is significantly less than that for elective schooling. In addition our estimates suggest that the loss of experience associated with this imposed extra year of schooling could well imply a negative net return for boys. However the results for girls suggest that additional compulsory schooling has the same effect as elective schooling.