The earnings returns to graduating with honors — Evidence from law graduates

Ronny Freier, Mathias Schumann and Thomas Siedler

Labour Economics, 2015, vol. 34, issue C, 39-50

Abstract: This paper aims at studying the causal effects of graduating from a 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 graduates of law who passed the state bar exam with an honors degree receive a significant earnings premium of about 14%. 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)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (65)

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Related works:
Working Paper: 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 (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:39-50

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2015.03.001

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