tailieunhanh - THE EVIDENCE ON CREDIT CONSTRAINTS IN POST-SECONDARY SCHOOLING*

The primary purpose of this study is to measure the level of disproportionate impact between credit scores and race/ethnicity, and credit scores and socioeconomic status. Disproportionate impact is defined as the bivariate relationship between credit scores and the independent variable of interest, such as race/ethnicity or income. That is, for purposes of measuring the level of disproportionate impact, no attempt is made to control for possible confounding variables, or factors that might explain a disproportionate impact should one be identified. A secondary purpose of this study—for which. | The Economic Journal 112 October 989-1018. Royal Economic Society 2002. Published by Blackwell Publishers 108 Cowley Road Oxford OX4 1JF UK and 350 Main Street Malden MA 02148 USA. THE EVIDENCE ON CREDIT CONSTRAINTS IN POST-SECONDARY SCHOOLING Pedro Carneiro and James J. Heckman This paper examines the family income-college enrollment relationship and the evidence on credit constraints in post-secondary schooling. We distinguish short run liquidity constraints from the long term factors that promote cognitive and noncognitive ability. Long run factors crystallised in ability are the major determinants of the family income - schooling relationship although there is some evidence that up to 8 of the total US population is credit constrained in a short run sense. Evidence that IV estimates of the returns to schooling exceed OLS estimates is sometimes claimed to support the existence of substantial credit constraints. This argument is critically examined. This paper interprets the evidence on the relationship between family income and college attendance. Fig. 1 displays aggregate time series college participation rates for 18-24 year old American males classified by their parental income. Parental income is measured in the child s late adolescent years. There are substantial differences in college participation rates across family income classes in each year. This pattern is found in many other countries see the essays in Blossfeld and Shavit 1993 . In the late 1970s or early 1980s college participation rates start to increase in response to rising returns to schooling but only for youth from the top income groups. This differential educational response by income class promises to perpetuate or widen income inequality across generations and among race and ethnic groups. There are two not necessarily mutually exclusive interpretations of this evidence. The common interpretation and the one that guides policy is the obvious one. Credit constraints facing families in a .