Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia

Lifelong learning is increasingly being recognized as a primary factor for knowledge diffusion and productivity growth. However, little economic evidence exists on the economic value of lifelong learning for the individual, especially in developing countries. This paper contributes to remedy this sh...

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Main Authors:	Sohnesen, Thomas Pave, Blom, Andreas
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACCREDITATION ADMINISTRATIVE DATA ADULT EDUCATION ADULT LEARNING ADULT STUDENTS AGE COHORT AGE GROUP AGE GROUPS CAREER CONTINUING EDUCATION COST OF EDUCATION COSTS OF EDUCATION CREDIT TRANSFER CURRICULA CURRICULUM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ECONOMIC GAINS EDUCATION INDICATORS EDUCATION INITIATIVES EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION LEVEL EDUCATION LEVELS EDUCATION SYSTEM EDUCATION INVESTMENTS EDUCATIONAL COSTS EDUCATIONAL FACTORS EDUCATIONAL LEVELS EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT RATES ENROLMENT RATE FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS FORMAL EDUCATION FORMAL EDUCATION SYSTEM FORMAL LEARNING FURTHER EDUCATION GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE GROSS ENROLLMENT HIGH COSTS HIGH EARNERS HIGHER EDUCATION HIGHER ENROLLMENT HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL INCOME LEVELS INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATIN AMERICAN LEARNING LEARNING POLICIES LEAVING SCHOOL LEVEL OF EDUCATION LEVELS OF EDUCATION LIFELONG LEARNING LITERATURE LOCAL LABOR MARKET NET ENROLLMENT PAPERS POOR PEOPLE PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY ENROLLMENT PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS RATES OF RETURN RETURN TO EDUCATION RETURNS TO EDUCATION RURAL POPULATION SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY LEVEL SKILLED WORKERS STUDENT POPULATION TEACHING TERTIARY EDUCATION TERTIARY ENROLLMENT TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS TERTIARY LEVEL TERTIARY STUDENTS TRAINING INSTITUTIONS TUITION TUITION COSTS TUITION FEES UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES URBAN AREAS WORK EXPERIENCE WORKERS WORKING HOURS YOUNG PEOPLE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/12/6479834/formal-lifelong-learning-profitable-investment-all-life-age-education-level-flexibility-provision-affect-rates-return-adult-education-colombia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8558

id	okr-10986-8558
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-85582021-04-23T14:02:43Z Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia Sohnesen, Thomas Pave Blom, Andreas ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACCREDITATION ADMINISTRATIVE DATA ADULT EDUCATION ADULT LEARNING ADULT STUDENTS AGE COHORT AGE GROUP AGE GROUPS CAREER CONTINUING EDUCATION COST OF EDUCATION COSTS OF EDUCATION CREDIT TRANSFER CURRICULA CURRICULUM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ECONOMIC GAINS EDUCATION INDICATORS EDUCATION INITIATIVES EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION LEVEL EDUCATION LEVELS EDUCATION SYSTEM EDUCATION INVESTMENTS EDUCATIONAL COSTS EDUCATIONAL FACTORS EDUCATIONAL LEVELS EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT RATES ENROLMENT RATE FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS FORMAL EDUCATION FORMAL EDUCATION SYSTEM FORMAL LEARNING FURTHER EDUCATION GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE GROSS ENROLLMENT HIGH COSTS HIGH EARNERS HIGHER EDUCATION HIGHER ENROLLMENT HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL INCOME LEVELS INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATIN AMERICAN LEARNING LEARNING POLICIES LEAVING SCHOOL LEVEL OF EDUCATION LEVELS OF EDUCATION LIFELONG LEARNING LITERATURE LOCAL LABOR MARKET NET ENROLLMENT PAPERS POOR PEOPLE PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY ENROLLMENT PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS RATES OF RETURN RETURN TO EDUCATION RETURNS TO EDUCATION RURAL POPULATION SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY LEVEL SKILLED WORKERS STUDENT POPULATION TEACHING TERTIARY EDUCATION TERTIARY ENROLLMENT TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS TERTIARY LEVEL TERTIARY STUDENTS TRAINING INSTITUTIONS TUITION TUITION COSTS TUITION FEES UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES URBAN AREAS WORK EXPERIENCE WORKERS WORKING HOURS YOUNG PEOPLE Lifelong learning is increasingly being recognized as a primary factor for knowledge diffusion and productivity growth. However, little economic evidence exists on the economic value of lifelong learning for the individual, especially in developing countries. This paper contributes to remedy this shortfall. It investigates one aspect of lifelong learning: returns to formal education across ages. In the absence of long-term longitudinal data, the paper estimates rates of return for simulated re-entry into the education system. The estimations use the method of internal rate of return and are based on observed education-age-earnings profiles from the Colombian national household survey. It finds that rates of return to all levels of education are only slightly smaller for 35 year olds than for young people, thus confirming the profitability of investment in adult education. Tertiary education continues to attract a positive return until late in life, 45-50 years, whereas the economic value of re-entering primary and secondary education is positive up till the age of 40-45. So, formal lifelong learning seems to remain a profitable investment for at least half of life. But lack of part-time work, high tuition fees, and prolonged study time reduce the return. The findings suggest that adult formal education initiatives should focus on the 20 to 40 year olds and be designed flexibly to allow learners to work part time. 2012-06-20T19:07:20Z 2012-06-20T19:07:20Z 2005-12 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/12/6479834/formal-lifelong-learning-profitable-investment-all-life-age-education-level-flexibility-provision-affect-rates-return-adult-education-colombia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8558 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3800 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Latin America & Caribbean Colombia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACCREDITATION ADMINISTRATIVE DATA ADULT EDUCATION ADULT LEARNING ADULT STUDENTS AGE COHORT AGE GROUP AGE GROUPS CAREER CONTINUING EDUCATION COST OF EDUCATION COSTS OF EDUCATION CREDIT TRANSFER CURRICULA CURRICULUM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ECONOMIC GAINS EDUCATION INDICATORS EDUCATION INITIATIVES EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION LEVEL EDUCATION LEVELS EDUCATION SYSTEM EDUCATION INVESTMENTS EDUCATIONAL COSTS EDUCATIONAL FACTORS EDUCATIONAL LEVELS EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT RATES ENROLMENT RATE FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS FORMAL EDUCATION FORMAL EDUCATION SYSTEM FORMAL LEARNING FURTHER EDUCATION GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE GROSS ENROLLMENT HIGH COSTS HIGH EARNERS HIGHER EDUCATION HIGHER ENROLLMENT HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL INCOME LEVELS INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATIN AMERICAN LEARNING LEARNING POLICIES LEAVING SCHOOL LEVEL OF EDUCATION LEVELS OF EDUCATION LIFELONG LEARNING LITERATURE LOCAL LABOR MARKET NET ENROLLMENT PAPERS POOR PEOPLE PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY ENROLLMENT PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS RATES OF RETURN RETURN TO EDUCATION RETURNS TO EDUCATION RURAL POPULATION SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY LEVEL SKILLED WORKERS STUDENT POPULATION TEACHING TERTIARY EDUCATION TERTIARY ENROLLMENT TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS TERTIARY LEVEL TERTIARY STUDENTS TRAINING INSTITUTIONS TUITION TUITION COSTS TUITION FEES UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES URBAN AREAS WORK EXPERIENCE WORKERS WORKING HOURS YOUNG PEOPLE
spellingShingle	ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACCREDITATION ADMINISTRATIVE DATA ADULT EDUCATION ADULT LEARNING ADULT STUDENTS AGE COHORT AGE GROUP AGE GROUPS CAREER CONTINUING EDUCATION COST OF EDUCATION COSTS OF EDUCATION CREDIT TRANSFER CURRICULA CURRICULUM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ECONOMIC GAINS EDUCATION INDICATORS EDUCATION INITIATIVES EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION LEVEL EDUCATION LEVELS EDUCATION SYSTEM EDUCATION INVESTMENTS EDUCATIONAL COSTS EDUCATIONAL FACTORS EDUCATIONAL LEVELS EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT RATES ENROLMENT RATE FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS FORMAL EDUCATION FORMAL EDUCATION SYSTEM FORMAL LEARNING FURTHER EDUCATION GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE GROSS ENROLLMENT HIGH COSTS HIGH EARNERS HIGHER EDUCATION HIGHER ENROLLMENT HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL INCOME LEVELS INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATIN AMERICAN LEARNING LEARNING POLICIES LEAVING SCHOOL LEVEL OF EDUCATION LEVELS OF EDUCATION LIFELONG LEARNING LITERATURE LOCAL LABOR MARKET NET ENROLLMENT PAPERS POOR PEOPLE PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY ENROLLMENT PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS RATES OF RETURN RETURN TO EDUCATION RETURNS TO EDUCATION RURAL POPULATION SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY LEVEL SKILLED WORKERS STUDENT POPULATION TEACHING TERTIARY EDUCATION TERTIARY ENROLLMENT TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS TERTIARY LEVEL TERTIARY STUDENTS TRAINING INSTITUTIONS TUITION TUITION COSTS TUITION FEES UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES URBAN AREAS WORK EXPERIENCE WORKERS WORKING HOURS YOUNG PEOPLE Sohnesen, Thomas Pave Blom, Andreas Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia
geographic_facet	Latin America & Caribbean Colombia
relation	Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3800
description	Lifelong learning is increasingly being recognized as a primary factor for knowledge diffusion and productivity growth. However, little economic evidence exists on the economic value of lifelong learning for the individual, especially in developing countries. This paper contributes to remedy this shortfall. It investigates one aspect of lifelong learning: returns to formal education across ages. In the absence of long-term longitudinal data, the paper estimates rates of return for simulated re-entry into the education system. The estimations use the method of internal rate of return and are based on observed education-age-earnings profiles from the Colombian national household survey. It finds that rates of return to all levels of education are only slightly smaller for 35 year olds than for young people, thus confirming the profitability of investment in adult education. Tertiary education continues to attract a positive return until late in life, 45-50 years, whereas the economic value of re-entering primary and secondary education is positive up till the age of 40-45. So, formal lifelong learning seems to remain a profitable investment for at least half of life. But lack of part-time work, high tuition fees, and prolonged study time reduce the return. The findings suggest that adult formal education initiatives should focus on the 20 to 40 year olds and be designed flexibly to allow learners to work part time.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Sohnesen, Thomas Pave Blom, Andreas
author_facet	Sohnesen, Thomas Pave Blom, Andreas
author_sort	Sohnesen, Thomas Pave
title	Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia
title_short	Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia
title_full	Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia
title_fullStr	Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia
title_full_unstemmed	Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia
title_sort	is formal lifelong learning a profitable investment for all of life? how age, education level, and flexibility of provision affect rates of return to adult education in colombia
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/12/6479834/formal-lifelong-learning-profitable-investment-all-life-age-education-level-flexibility-provision-affect-rates-return-adult-education-colombia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8558
_version_	1764408117414592512

Is Formal Lifelong Learning a Profitable Investment for All of Life? How Age, Education Level, and Flexibility of Provision Affect Rates of Return to Adult Education in Colombia

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