Investment profitability in higher education from graduates at Universidad Continental

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the main academic factors which positively impact the university education return in the Informatics Engineering, Business Management and Accounting Professional Schools’ graduates from the Universidad Continental in 2006-2007. Methods: Using ordinary least squares (OLS) with panel data through Mincer equations and revenue generatrix functions, for the estimated private profitability in education. Results: The main factors that positively impact the university education return are the years of education, years of experience working and years of experience expressed in work hours. It was determined that there are differences in educational performance rates by gender, income level of men is higher than women’s; also there are wage differences between part or full time contracts, so variables that control the total number of worked hours should be used. Conclusions: The profitability’s determining variables are: attained education level, wages, work experience, age and gender. The variable that negatively affects wage is the work experience and the variables that positively affect wages are age and gender. A year of additional education negatively impacts the probability of labour market’s participation, this because for an educated person is important to continue with education. This is in line with the human capital theory and its vision of education as an investment. Formal education increases the reservation wage and discourages people to work. Experience encourages people to enter in the labour market.