ESTIMATES OF THE RETURNS TO SCHOOLING FROM SIBLING DATA - FATHERS, SONS, AND BROTHERS

Data on brothers and on fathers and sons from the National Longitudina l Survey are used to consider the impact of omitted variables and meas urement errors on the economic returns to schooling. The analysis sugg ests that the upward bias in estimated returns due to omitted variable s is likely offset by an equal downward bias resulting from measuremen t errors in reported schooling. Controlling for both of these potentia l sources of bias yields results comparable to conventional regression estimates of the economic return to schooling.