Quantile Regression Evidence on Italian Education Returns

This study intends to provide some updated empirical evidence on Italian Education Returns through Quantile Regression. Such a methodology enables us to explore the (Quantile Treatment) Effect of Schooling on the (shape of) income conditional distribution (viewed as reflecting the distribution of unobservable ability), and to analyze indirectly the education-ability interaction in the generation of human capital, and its effect on earnings. We obtain estimates displaying a U-shaped pattern, i.e. higher returns at the highest and lowest quantiles of income, suggesting substitution among human capital factors for low ability individuals, and complementarity for high ability earners.