The effects of the great recession on college majors

Fulya Ersoy

Economics of Education Review, 2020, vol. 77, issue C

Abstract: How did the Great Recession affect the college degree fields? Utilizing the geographic variation in the severity of the recession in the US, I answer this question using the differences-in-differences and synthetic controls approaches. To explore these effects systematically, I categorize fields based on their sensitivity to the recession. The results show that there was a shift from recession-sensitive majors towards recession-resistant majors. The effects were immediate and larger for more local institutions. These findings suggest that students’ expectations about future labor market outcomes are affected by shocks to the current local labor market conditions.

Keywords: Great recession; College major; Degree field; Labor market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I26 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:77:y:2020:i:c:s0272775719305795

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102018

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