Full Citation

Title: Money v.s. Prestige: Cultural Attitudes and Occupational Choices

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2011

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: This paper studies the occupational choices of highly educated native-born American males and links their choices to cultural attitudes towards pecuniary rewards and social prestige in their ancestral countries. These cultural attitudes were reported in the World Values Survey, which surveyed individuals' opinions on a series of subjects in various societies. The empirical analysis verifies that both income and respect are positively valued in occupational selection. The cultural attitudes play a significant role in these choices when other factors that may be correlated with one's opportunity and advantageare controlled for: a stronger cultural demand for pecuniary rewards leads individuals to choose more lucrative jobs; and a stronger demand for social prestige leads them to choose more prestigious jobs. The paper further explores the neighborhood effects on cultural transmission and finds a positive relationship between the proportion of the population from the same ancestry in the residential area and the effects of cultural attitudes on occupational selection.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Zhan, Yi

Publisher: University of California, San Diego

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

Countries: