The Expected (Signaling) Value of Higher Education

Laura Ehrmantraut, Pia Pinger and Renske Stans

CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series from University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany

Abstract: This paper explores students' expectations about the returns to completing higher education and provides first evidence on perceived signaling and human capital effects. We elicit counterfactual labor market expectations for the hypothetical scenarios of leaving university with or without a degree certificate among a large and diverse sample of students at different stages of higher education. Our findings indicate substantial perceived returns to higher education. Moreover, using within-individual fixed effects models, we document substantial expected labor market returns from signaling, whereas perceived productivity-enhancing (human capital) returns seem to be less pronounced. Over the expected course of career, we find lasting education premia as well as evidence consistent with employer learning.

Keywords: higher education; returns to education; signaling; educational attainment; licensing; employer learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I23 I26 J24 J31 J32 J44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61
Date: 2020-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Expected (Signaling) Value of Higher Education (2020)
Working Paper: The Expected (Signaling) Value of Higher Education (2020)
Working Paper: The Expected (Signaling) Value of Higher Education (2020)
Working Paper: The Expected (Signaling) Value of Higher Education (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2020_215

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