TITLE:
Determinants of Urban Worker Earnings in Ghana: The Role of Education
AUTHORS:
Priscilla Twumasi Baffour
KEYWORDS:
Education, Earnings, Labour Markets
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.6 No.12,
December
21,
2015
ABSTRACT: The paper examines the
role of education in earnings determination by using all three rounds of the
Urban Worker Survey of Ghana for 2004-2006 conducted by CSAE. The analysis is
begun by investigating and comparing heterogeneity in earnings determinants
amongst self-employed (informal sector), private sector workers and public
sector workers with particular focus on education. An examination of the role
education, individual and household characteristics play in facilitating entry
into employment sectors is further undertaken in a multinomial logit model of
occupational attainment in addition to analyzing the pattern of returns to
education along the earnings distribution. After addressing biases associated
with estimating earnings equations, it is observed that education plays an
important role in promoting access to lucrative formal sector jobs, especially
employment in the public sector but has no direct impact on earnings within the
sector.