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Quantifying quantitative literacy : Age heaping and the history of human capital

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dc.contributor.author A'Hearn, Brian
dc.contributor.author Baten, Jörg
dc.contributor.author Crayen, Dorothee
dc.contributor.other Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa
dc.date.accessioned 2017-07-26T10:51:09Z
dc.date.available 2017-07-26T10:51:09Z
dc.date.issued 2006-11-01
dc.identifier https://econ-papers.upf.edu/ca/paper.php?id=996
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/481
dc.description.abstract Age data frequently display excess frequencies at round or attractive ages, such as even numbers and multiples of five. This phenomenon of age heaping has been viewed as a problem in previous research, especially in demography and epidemiology. We see it as an opportunity and propose its use as a measure of human capital that can yield comparable estimates across a wide range of historical contexts. A simulation study yields methodological guidelines for measuring and interpreting differences in age heaping, while analysis of contemporary and historical datasets demonstrates the existence of a robust correlation between age heaping and literacy at both the individual and aggregate level. To illustrate the method, we generate estimates of human capital in Europe over the very long run, which support the hypothesis of a major increase in human capital preceding the industrial revolution.
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.language.iso eng
dc.relation.ispartofseries Economics and Business Working Papers Series; 996
dc.rights L'accés als continguts d'aquest document queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons
dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
dc.title Quantifying quantitative literacy : Age heaping and the history of human capital
dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper
dc.date.modified 2017-07-23T02:10:52Z
dc.subject.keyword human capital
dc.subject.keyword age heaping
dc.subject.keyword growth
dc.subject.keyword industrial revolution
dc.subject.keyword numeracy
dc.subject.keyword Economic and Business History
dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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