Major Malfunction: A Field Experiment Correcting Undergraduates’ Beliefs about Salaries

John J. Conlon

Journal of Human Resources, 2021, vol. 56, issue 3, 922-939

Abstract: In a field experiment at a flagship state university in the United States, I test whether providing college students salary information can affect their choices of major and classes. I find that undergraduates are substantially misinformed about mean salaries by major. On average, students in my sample underestimate mean salaries, but there is also large heterogeneity in beliefs across individuals. I also find that providing information to correct these errors has a large impact on students’ choices; students in the treatment group were nine percentage points (16 percent) more likely to major in a field about which they received information.

JEL-codes: D83 D84 I26 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.3.0317-8599R2
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:56:y:2021:i:3:p:922-939

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