Full Citation

Title: Will Studying Economics Make You Rich? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of the Returns to College Major

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2022

ISBN:

ISSN: 1945-7782

DOI: 10.1257/APP.20200447

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Abstract: We investigate the wage return to studying economics by leveraging a policy that prevented students with low introductory grades from declaring the major. Students who barely met the GPA threshold to major in economics earned $22,000 (46%) higher annual early-career wages than they would have with their second-choice majors. Access to the economics major shifts students' preferences toward business/finance careers, and about half of the wage return is explained by economics majors working in higher-paying industries. The causal return to majoring in economics is very similar to observational earnings differences in nationally representative data.

Url: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20200447

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Authors: Bleemer, Zachary; Mehta, Aashish

Periodical (Full): American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Issue: 2

Volume: 14

Pages: 1-22

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Other

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