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Title: Industry Fluctuations and College Major Choices: Evidence from an Energy Boom and Bust

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2019

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Abstract: This paper examines how college students in the United States altered their college major decisions during the energy boom and bust of the 1970s and 1980s. We focus on petroleum engineering and geology, two majors closely related to the energy industry. We find strong evidence that the energy boom increased the prevalence of these two energy-related majors and the energy bust lowered the prevalence of these majors. Effects are particularly strong for young people born in energy intensive states. Thus, college major decisions responded to industry fluctuations with important location-specific effects consistent with frictions to migration and information flows.

Url: http://ftp.iza.org/dp12614.pdf

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Authors: Han, Luyi; Winters, John, V

Series Title: IZA Discussion Papers

Publication Number: 12614

Institution: IZA: Institute of Labor Economics

Pages: 44

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education

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