This paper evaluates education premiums in Cambodia over the past decade using
data from the 1997, 2003–2004 and 2007 Socio-economic Surveys of Households.
The Cambodian labor market has undergone a transformation over the past decade.
In 1997, the earnings of workers employed for wages exhibited limited association
with education and skills. The picture was dramatically different by 2003 and more
so by 2007. The profitability of education had increased sharply, especially for
women. There is evidence that the human capital model is now applicable to both
men and women, resulting in a wider distribution of earnings. Instrumental variables
estimates of the return to an additional year of schooling for male wage
earners are found to be higher than the corresponding OLS estimates, but only in
the private sector.