The Earnings Returns to Graduating with Honors: Evidence from Law Graduates

Ronny Freier, Mathias Schumann and Thomas Siedler

No 1431, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: This paper studies the causal effects of graduating from university with an honors degree on subsequent earnings. While a rich body of literature has focused on estimating returns to human capital, few studies have analyzed returns at the very top of the education distribution. We highlight the importance of honors degrees for future labor market success in the context of German law graduates. Using a difference-in-differences research design combined with entropy balancing, we find that students of law who passed the state bar exam with an honors degree receive a significant earnings premium of about 14 percent. The results are robust to various sensitivity analyses.

Keywords: returns to education; difference-in-differences; entropy balancing; law graduates; earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 J31 J44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 p.
Date: 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.491584.de/dp1431.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The earnings returns to graduating with honors — Evidence from law graduates (2015)
Working Paper: The Earnings Returns to Graduating with Honors: Evidence from Law Graduates (2015)
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