Abstracts
Abstract
Few empirical studies have analyzed the return to distance higher education in different academic disciplines. This study used quantitative methods, data from a nationwide survey, and Mincerian earnings function to analyze the return to distance higher education among different disciplines in China’s labor market. Results were compared with the return to face-to-face higher education and showed that the returns to face-to-face higher education were higher than those to distance higher education. Returns to the disciplines of economics and management were at a high level in both face-to-face and distance education; returns to the disciplines of literature, as well as education and law, were at a low level in both face-to-face and distance education. The returns to the disciplines of science and engineering were higher in face-to-face education than in distance education. This paper proposes several recommendations. Adults who do not have higher education degrees should invest in distance higher education to obtain considerable monetary returns, particularly in the disciplines with higher returns such as management and economics. China’s distance education institutions should improve the quality of teaching in science and engineering education and find ways to provide high-quality experimental teaching practices. At the same time, they should scale back on instruction of literature, as well as education and law.
Keywords:
- distance education,
- face-to-face education,
- disciplines,
- return to education
Appendices
Bibliography
- Abel, J. R., & Deitz, R. (2014). Do the benefits of college still outweigh the costs? Current Issues in Economics and Finance, 20(3), 1-11. https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/current_issues/ci20-3.pdf
- Altonji, J. G. (1993). The demand for and return to education when education outcomes are uncertain. Journal of Labor Economics, 11(1), 48-83. https://doi.org/10.1086/298317
- Angle, J., & Wissmann, D. A. (1981). Gender, college major, and earnings. Sociology of Education, 54(1), 25-33. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112510
- Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resource and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
- Becker, G. S. (1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. Columbia University Press.
- Bell, C. M. (2010). Graduate education attainment and salary: An examination of institutional type, major choice, gender, race/ethnicity, parental education and work experience differences (Publication No. ED519348) [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=ohiou1273520207&disposition=inline
- Bottomley, A., & Dunworth, J. (1974). Rate of return analysis and economies of scale in higher education. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 8(5), 273-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0121(74)90012-3
- Carnoy, M. (1995). Rates of return to education. In M. Carnoy (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of the Economics of Education (pp. 364-369). Elsevier Science Ltd.
- Carnoy, M., Rabling, B. J., Castaño‐Muñoz, J., Montoliu, J. M. D., & Sancho‐Vinuesa, T. (2012). Does on‐line distance higher education pay off for adult learners? The case of the Open University of Catalonia. Higher Education Quarterly, 66(3), 248-271. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2012.00520.x
- Castaño-Muñoz, J., Carnoy, M., & Duart, J. M. (2016). Estimating the economic payoff to virtual university education: A case study of the Open University of Catalonia. Higher Education, 72(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9935-1
- Chen, X., Chen, L., & Xia, C. (2003). Rates of return to schooling in urban China: Changes in the 1990s. Peking University Education Review, 2, 65-72. https://www.cnki.net/kcms/doi/10.19355/j.cnki.1671-9468.2003.02.011.html
- Cooper, J., & Davis, L. (2017). Exploring comparative economic theories: Human capital formation theory vs. screening theory. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 19(6). https://articlegateway.com/index.php/JABE/article/view/732
- Del Rossi, A. F., & Hersch, J. (2008). Double your major, double your return? Economics of Education Review, 27(4), 375-386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.03.001
- Ding, X., Yu, H., & Yu, Q. (2012). Private returns to different education levels in urban China: 2002-2009. Peking University Education Review, 3, 73-84. https://www.cnki.net/kcms/doi/10.19355/j.cnki.1671-9468.2012.03.008.html
- Feisel, L. D., & Rosa, A. J. (2005). The role of the laboratory in undergraduate engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 121-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00833.x
- Gillies, D. (2017). Human capital theory in education. Encyclopedia of educational philosophy and theory (pp. 1-5). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_254-1
- Glocker, D., & Storck, J. (2014). Risks and returns to educational fields—A financial asset approach to vocational and academic education. Economics of Education Review, 42, 109-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.06.004
- Heckman, J. J., Lochner, L. J., & Todd, P. E. (2006). Earnings functions, rates of return and treatment effects: The Mincer equation and beyond. In E. A. Hanushek, S. J. Machin, & L. Woessmann (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education (pp. 307-458). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0692(06)01007-5
- Hoxby, C. M. (2014). The economics of online postsecondary education: MOOCs, nonselective education, and highly selective education. American Economic Review, 104(5), 528-533. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.5.528
- Huang, B., Tang, J., & Hao, T. (2017). The development of professional degree postgraduate education in China. China Higher Education, 2, 18-24.
- Hulten, C. R. (2018). The Importance of Education and Skill Development for Economic Growth in the Information Era. In: Hulten C. R., & Ramey, V. A. (Eds.), Education, skills, and technical change: Implications for future US GDP growth (pp.115-146). Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.
- Johnes, G., Johnes, J., & López-Torres, L. (2017). Human capital and returns to education. In G. Johnes, J. Johnes, T. Agasisti, & L. López-Torres (Eds.), Handbook of contemporary education economics (pp. 1-20). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781785369063/9781785369063.xml
- Koch, J. V. (1972). Student choice of undergraduate major field of study and private internal rates of return. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 26(1), 680-685. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001979397202600106
- ISSS, Peking University. (2013). Introduction of CFPS. http://www.isss.pku.edu.cn/cfps/en/index.htm?CSRFT=9OAW-DUVP-I5WW-JFGK-XEZH-JRL2-S420-1OLY
- Lemckert, C., & Florance, J. (2002). Real-Time Internet mediated laboratory experiments for distance education students. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(1), 99-102. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8535.00243
- Lemieux, T. (2014). Occupations, fields of study and returns to education. Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d’économique, 47(4), 1047-1077. https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12116
- Li, D. (2017). The comparison of regional disparity of returns to education in China-An empirical study based on CHIP data [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Dongbei University of Finance Economics.
- Li, F. L. (2017). The economics of distance education. In G. Johnes, J. Johnes T. Agasisti, & J. López-Torres (Eds.), Handbook of contemporary education economics (pp. 381-397). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Li, F. L. (2018). The expansion of higher education and the returns to distance education in china. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(4), 242-256.
- Li, F. L., Li, Y. Y., & Zhang, S. G. (2015). The effect of distance higher education on the individual income: from the perspective of rural-urban difference and gender difference. e-Education Research, 2015(7), 49-54.
- McRae, J. A. (2019). Estimating the financial return to education between fields of study. SURG Journal, 11. https://doi.org/10.21083/surg.v11i0.5354
- Mertens, A., & Röbken, H. (2013). Does a doctoral degree pay off? An empirical analysis of rates of return of German doctorate holders. Higher Education, 66(2), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9600-x
- Mincer, J. (1974). Schooling, experience and earnings. Columbia University Press.
- Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. (2012). Some opinions of the Ministry of Education on how to comprehensively improve the quality of higher education. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/s7056/201203/t20120316_146673.html
- National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2018). Annual data (2018). https://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=C01
- Psacharopoulos, G., & Patrinos, H. A. (2004). Returns to investment in education: A further update. Education Economics, 12(2), 111-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/0964529042000239140
- Pullen, J. M. (2001, February). Applicability of Internet video in distance education for engineering [Paper presentation]. Frontiers in Education Conference, Reno, USA. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2001.963893
- Rudas, J., & Horváth, L. (2004). Course model based distance higher education of engineering modeling. WSEAS Transactions on Advances in Engineering Education, 1(1), 67-72.
- Romele, L. (2014). Estimation of rates of return to investments in education in Latvia. Regional Formation and Development Studies, 11(3), 146-151. https://doi.org/10.15181/rfds.v11i3.623
- Rumberger, R. (1984). The changing economic benefits of college graduates. Economics of Education Review, 3(1), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7757(84)90003-7
- Rumberger, R., & Thomas, S. (1993). The economic returns to college quality, major, and performance: A multilevel analysis of recent graduates. Economics of Education Review, 12(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7757(93)90040-N
- Saha, B., & Sensarma, R. (2011). Academic specialisation and returns to education: Evidence from India. Journal of Education and Work, 24(5), 501-520. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2011.573775
- Salas-Velasco, M. (2006). Private returns to a university education: An instrumental variables approach. Higher Education, 51(3), 411-438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6413-6
- Schultz, T. W. (1961). Investment in human capital. American Economic Review, 51(1), 1-17.
- Siphambe, H. K. (2000). Rates of return to education in Botswana. Economics of Education Review, 19(3), 291-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(99)00042-4
- Soysal, O. A. (2000). Computer integrated experimentation in electrical engineering education over distance. https://peer.asee.org/computer-integrated-experimentation-in-electrical-engineering-education-over-distance.pdf
- Spence, M. (1973). Job market signaling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(3), 355-374. https://doi.org/10.2307/1882010
- Stella, A., & Gnanam, A. (2004). Quality assurance in distance education: The challenges to be addressed. Higher Education, 47(2), 143-160. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000016420.17251.5c
- Striegel, A. (2001). Distance education and its impact on computer engineering laboratories. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2493514. http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/FIE.2001.963707
- Thomas, S. L. (2000). Deferred costs and economic returns to college major, quality, and performance. Research in Higher Education, 41(3), 281-313. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007003510102
- Wang, G. G., & Holton, E. F., III. (2005). Neoclassical and institutional economics as foundations for human resource development theory. Human Resource Development Review, 4(1), 86-108. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484304273733
- Wang, G. G., & Sun, J. Y. (2009). Clarifying the boundaries of human resource development. Human Resource Development International, 12(1), 93-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678860802638875
- Webber, D. (2014, October). Is the return to education the same for everybody? IZA World of Labor. https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/92/pdfs/is-the-return-to-education-the-same-for-everybody.pdf
- Woodley, A., & Simpson, C. (2001). Learning and earning: Measuring ‘rates of return’ among mature graduates from part-time distance courses. Higher Education Quarterly, 55(1), 28-41. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2273.00172
- Wu, C. T., & Tang, C. W. (2020). The impact of the expansion of higher education on the rate of return to higher education in Taiwan. In G. Fan & T. S. Popkewitz (Eds.), Handbook of education policy studies (pp. 137-147). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8343-4_7
- Yang, C. H., Lin, C. H. A., & Lin, C. R. (2011). Dynamics of rate of returns for postgraduate education in Taiwan: The impact of higher education expansion. Asia Pacific Education Review, 12(3), 359-371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-010-9132-y