教育在经济增长、社会流动、共同富裕中扮演着重要作用。教育回报率衡量了教育对个人收入的影响，这一指标在不同人口之间表现出显著的异质性。中国人口的一个突出特征在于男性人口数量远远多于女性、性别失衡问题突出，这对社会经济发展造成了广泛且深远的影响，包括直接冲击婚姻和劳动力市场，影响个人收入、教育投资等。性别比失衡可能导致婚姻和劳动力市场上不同受教育程度、不同性别的个体所面临的竞争环境发生变化，进而改变教育对个人收入的贡献。

本研究从性别失衡的视角考察了中国教育回报率跨地区、个体性别和教育阶段的异质性，旨在回应以下问题：不同人口性别比地区的教育收益率是否存在显著差异？这种差异如何随个体性别和教育阶段的不同而变化？性别失衡与教育收入差距和性别收入差距存在何种关系？这些关系又是如何发生的？利用2005年全国人口1%抽样调查的微观数据集和《中国城市统计年鉴》，本研究计算了全国各地区的人口性别比，并以一个扩展的明瑟收入方程估算教育回报率。研究发现：

更高的地区人口性别比伴随着更低的平均教育回报率、更小的教育收入差距。对于目前生活在或户口出身于性别失衡更严重的地区的个体，教育所带来的收入增长的程度更小、不同教育层次之间的收入差距也更小，并且这一关系对男性而言更加明显。

第二，地区人口性别比和各个教育阶段回报率的关系存在明显的性别差异。对于男性而言，性别失衡伴随着更低的初中和高中教育回报率。对女性而言，一方面，性别失衡同样伴随着初中教育回报的减少；另一方面，女性的高中和高等教育回报率在高性别比的地区却有显著的提高。

第三，对女性而言，几乎所有学历的女性收入在高人口性别比的环境下都下降了，初中学历女性面临最大的收入损失，高中学历女性其次。受过高等教育的女性收入受地区人口性别比影响很小。

第四，对男性而言，学历最低的男性收入在高人口性别比的环境下增加了，但学历更高的男性在高人口性别比下面临着收入损失，学历越高、损失越大。低学历男性的收入在高人口性别比下的增加可能是因为他们面临最严重的婚姻挤压、需要提高自己在婚姻市场上的竞争力，未婚的低学历男性也经历着最显著的收入提升。

第五，高人口性别比下的性别收入差距与个体的受教育程度有关。高受教育程度的群体中的性别收入差距较小；低受教育程度的群体中，随着地区人口性别比的增加，性别收入差距明显拉大。这是因为低学历的女性收入在高人口性别比下面临着极大损失，但低学历的男性收入在这样的环境里损失较小、甚至还可能上升。

Education plays a crucial role in economic growth, social mobility, and overall prosperity. The returns to schooling, as measured by the impact of education on income, reflects the benefits individuals gain from their educational pursuits. China faces a prominent demographic challenge characterized by a significant imbalance in the male-to-female ratio, with profound implications for social and economic development. This imbalance exerts widespread effects on various facets of life, including marriage dynamics, the labor market, personal income, and educational investment. Sex ratio imbalances can reshape the competitive landscape within the labor market for individuals of different genders and educational backgrounds, consequently altering the specific influence of education on income levels. This study seeks to investigate the diverse patterns of returns to schooling in China across regions with varying population sex ratios, as well as across different genders and educational levels. The study aims to address several key questions: Are there disparities in returns to schooling across regions with different population sex ratios? How do these differences manifest across genders and educational levels? What is the relationship between sex ratio imbalances and the income gap related to education and gender? What are the mechanisms underlying these relationships? Using data from the 2005 Population 1% Sample Survey and the China City Statistical Yearbook, the study calculates regional sex ratios, employs an extended Mincerian approach to gauge returns to schooling, and finds the following: 1. Areas with higher population sex ratios tend to have lower average returns to schooling and smaller education-income gaps. Individuals from these areas experience less income growth from education and a smaller income gap between different education levels, with this effect being more pronounced for males. 2. Gender differences are evident in the relationship between sex ratios and returns to different educational levels. For males, higher sex ratio imbalance is linked to lower returns to junior high school and senior high school education. In contrast, females experience a reduction in returns to junior high school education but see significantly increased returns to high school and higher education in areas with higher sex ratios. 3. In a high sex ratio environment, females across almost all educational levels experience a decline in income, with the greatest income loss observed among those with junior high school education, followed by those with high school education. Female income at the college education level is not affected by the sex ratio. 4. As for males, those with lower educational levels experience income gains under high sex ratios, while those with higher education levels face income losses. This income reduction becomes more significant with higher educational attainment. Low-educated unmarried males see the highest increase in income under high sex ratios, suggesting a correlation between marriage market dynamics and income changes under high sex ratio conditions. 5. The gender-income gap under high sex ratios varies according to individuals' educational levels. While the gender-income gap is narrow among individuals with college education, it widens significantly among those with lower education levels in high sex ratio environments. This is primarily driven by the substantial income losses experienced by low-educated females, contrasting with the comparatively less impact on low-educated males' income, and in some cases, even income gains.