The Causes of Graduate Unemployment in India (1969)

Abstract

The figures in Table 11.1 show that all levels of education in India are profitable investments for private individuals at 8 per cent; indeed, they remain profitable even at cut-off rates as high as 10 per cent; at higher rates, a first degree at least ceases to be obviously profitable. Apart from the first general degree, however, the results are insensitive to alternative rates as high as 12 per cent. Thus, despite the fact that educated unemployment has eroded some of the financial returns of additional education, and despite the fact that there is a relatively high incidence of unemployment even for the better educated, additional education right up to the degree level still remains a profitable investment for the average Indian parent.

Extract from Chapter 10 in R. Layard, M. Blaug and M. Woodhall, (1969) The Causes of Graduate Unemployment in India (London: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press), pp. 237–9.