This study attempts to estimate the effect of education and other variables on individuals' earnings in rural Liberia. Using data from the Liberian Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs' 1976 Household Expenditure Survey, nonlinear regression analyses support the basic tenet of neoclassical human capital theory: Education had a positive effect on earnings in rural Liberia. / When the model was stratified into male vs. female, public vs. private sector and primary vs. secondary vs. informal labor markets to determine if "comparable" workers received different earnings, the results suggested that education paid more for men than women; that women were discriminated against in the private sector; and that education had different payoffs in different sectors and segments of the labor market. / The results of the labor segmentation model offers some evidence that labor market segmentation matters. It was demonstrated that individuals with the same level of education will have substantially different starting salaries in each market, with the primary labor market paying considerably more than the secondary and informal markets. / Policy measures recommended here based on the results of this study include the provision of more primary education in rural Liberia to alleviate poverty and serve as an income equalizing factor and the intervention of government by mandating equal employment opportunity in the private and public sector for both males and females. / This study suggests the need for more in-depth research in rural Liberia. Such a study could provide more and better information about how education could be used to promote development in rural Liberia. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2173. / Major Professor: Steven J. Klees. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77834 |
| Contributors | Tokpa, Henrique F., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 125 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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