Professor Ragui Assaad co-athored the paper, "Wage returns to human capital resulting from an extra year of primary school: Evidence from Egypt," in the journal Economics of Education Review.

The researchers examined wage returns to an extra year of primary school using a policy reform in Egypt, which reduced compulsory primary schooling from six to five years. 

Findings for wage returns among Egyptian men aged 24 to 44 were statistically insignificant, but adverse effects were found among underprivileged boys, suggesting such policy could be detrimental for students from lower socioeconomic groups.