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### Education in International Contexts

[**Long, B. T. and Laura Kavazanjian. (2012) Affirmative Action in Tertiary Education: A Meta-Analysis of Global Policies and Practices. World Bank report.**](/file_url/137)

[**Long, B. T. and Anjali Adukia. (2009) The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Tertiary Education World Wide: A Pilot Study. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.**](/file_url/138)

[**Osili, Una Okonkwo and Long, B. T. (2008) “Does Female Schooling Reduce Fertility? Evidence from Nigeria.”** ***Journal of Development Economics,*** **vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 57-75.**](/file_url/139)

Empirical studies generally suggest there is a negative association between female education and fertility. Citing this evidence, policymakers have advocated educating young women to lower rates of population growth and foster sustained economic and social welfare in developing countries. However, little research has been done to test the causal nature of this relationship. This paper addresses this gap by examining an unusual policy experiment in Nigeria. Using a quasi-experimental design, the results suggest that universal education policies can have a substantial impact on female education, and as a result, reduce early fertility.

### The Returns to Education

**Hoxby, Caroline M. and B. T. Long. (1998) “Explaining Rising Income and Wage Inequality among the College-Educated.” National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper No. 6873.**

The incomes and wages of college-educated Americans have become significantly more dispersed since 1970. This paper attempts to decompose this growing dispersion into three possible sources of growth. The first source, or extensive margin,' is the increasing demographic diversity of people who attend college. The second is an increasing return to aptitude. The third, or intensive margin,' combines the increasing self-segregation (on the basis of aptitude) of students among colleges and the increasing correlation between the average aptitude of a college's student body and its expenditure on education inputs. These tendencies are the result of changes in the market structure of college education, as documented elsewhere. We find that about 70% of the growth in inequality among recipients of baccalaureate degrees can be explained with observable demographics, measures of aptitude, and college attributes. About 50% of the growth in inequality among people who have 2 years of college education can be similarly explained. Of the growth that can be explained, about 1/4th is associated with the extensive margin, 1/3rd with an increased return to measured aptitude, and 5/12ths with the intensive margin. If the intensive margin is not taken into account, the role of increasing returns to aptitude is greatly overstated.