Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrollment and Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates

Alena Bičáková, Guido Matias Cortes and Jacopo Mazza

CERGE-EI Working Papers from The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague

Abstract: We find robust evidence that cohorts of graduates who enter college during worse economic times earn higher average wages than those who enter during better times. This difference is not explained by differences in economic conditions at the time of college graduation, changes in _eld of study composition, or changes in selection into occupations or industries. Cohorts who start college in bad times are not more positively selected based on their high-school outcomes, but they graduate with higher college grades, and earn higher wages conditional on their grades. Our results suggest that these cohorts exert more effort during their studies.

Keywords: business cycle; higher education; cohort effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E32 I23 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrolment and Labour Market Outcomes of College Graduates (2021)
Working Paper: Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrollment and Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates (2020)
Working Paper: Caught in the cycle: Economic conditions at enrollment and labor market outcomes of college graduates (2020)
Working Paper: Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrollment and Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates (2018)
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