Using the two-period model to understand investment in human capital
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Date
2017-03-01
Authors
Paserman, M. Daniele
Version
OA Version
Citation
M Daniele Paserman. 2017. "Using the two-period model to understand investment in human capital." National Tax Journal, Volume 70, Issue 1, pp. 185 - 204 (20).
Abstract
In many textbooks, the decision to invest in human capital is presented in terms of the present discounted value of the lifetime stream of costs and benefits associated
with the investment. I argue that this approach, while delivering some useful insights, also conflates subjective discount rates and market interest rates, obfuscates
the role of credit market imperfections, and makes difficult the analysis of policy interventions and the effects of external shocks on human capital investment. I
show instead how a simple two-period model can deliver the main insights about investment in human capital and is flexible enough to be used to model a wide
variety of policy interventions.