Type de document/Document Type	Thèse/Dissertation
Auteur/Author	Mendolicchio, Concetta
URN	BelnUcetd-07292009-160412
Langue/Language	Anglais/English
Titre/Title	Essays on investments in education
Intitulé du diplôme/Degree	ECON 3 - Doctorat en sciences économiques
Département/Department	ESPO/ECON - Département des sciences économiques
Jury/Advisors	Nom Titre Belot, Michèle Membre du jury/Committee Member Decreuse, Bruno Membre du jury/Committee Member Van der Linden, Bruno Membre du jury/Committee Member Weiserbs, Daniel Président du jury/Committee Chair Boucekkine, Raouf Promoteur/Director Vandenberghe, Vincent Promoteur/Director
Mots-clés/Keywords	Returns to education Investment in hunam capital Imperfect labour markets
Date de défense/Defense Date	2009-07-03
Résumé/Abstract Investments in human capital are the central theme of this dissertation. We approach this general theme from two different perspectives. The first two chapters estimate the returns to education for several European countries and for Italy and its regions. The last two chapters are of a more theoretical nature, and study nature and implications of the externalities related to investments in human capital in economies with imperfect labour markets. In Chapter 1, we provide an estimates of the private return for men and women in 14 E.U. countries. Under the assumptions of the model, women's rates of return are higher for most countries. We are also able to indentify the impact of the Mincerian coefficients and other parameters used in the decision model. In Chapter 2, we focus on Italy and its regions and macroareas, using the same theoretical specification of the rates of returns introduced in Chapter 1. Here, we provide and use direct estimates of the Mincerian coefficients by gender and by geographical areas. Also, we explicitly provide some results aiming to evaluate the impact of the public policies on the computed rates of return. In Chapter 3, we consider a random matching model where heterogeneous agents endogenously choose to invest time and real resources in education. The economy is characterized by a Roy type model of investment in education embedded in a two sector random search model of the type originally developed by Mortensen and Pissarides. This set-up allows us to analyze the sources of inefficiency related to investments in education. In the last Chapter, we adopt a simplified (and parametric) one period set-up. Investments in education are described by a two-sector Roy model. Labour markets are imperfect due to random matching. While, in the previous chapter, investment in physical and human capital are perfectly inelastic, a simplified set-up allows us to solve in closed form for the equilibrium of an economy with elastic investments in the two kinds of capital, human and physical. Agents choose the sector they are going to be active in (hence, the kind of capital) and the amount of capital they acquire. Our analysis is mostly devoted to the efficiency properties of the economy.