Credential Effects and the Returns to Education in China

Using the C hina H ousehold I ncome P roject ( CHIP ) data for 1995 and 2002, we examine the returns to education in C hina, separating out credential effects from pure years‐of‐schooling effects. The results are broadly consistent with the implications of C hina moving towards a market‐oriented economy: increasing returns to education where both years of schooling and credentials from completing key phases are rewarded; a decline in the...