关键词: 教育收益率, 生命周期变动轨迹, 性别差异, 异质性

Abstract: It is proved that the current income is not parallel with the life-cycle earnings, which implies that the returns to education may be different with age during one’s whole life. The heterogeneity of returns to education is a focus problem in the research field, but rare research has investigated the heterogeneity during one’s life cycle. Applying the CHNS data and multilevel method, this paper analyzes the trajectory of returns to education during one’s life and the gender difference of the trajectory. It is found that: the returns to education appear inverted U-shape during one’s life, and are negative at the beginning; female’s return to education is higher than male’s during the early period of life, but lower during the later period; the higher one’s education is, the longer one’s income remains growing.

Key words: Returns to Education, Life-Cycle Trajectory, Gender Difference, Heterogeneity