Industry Fluctuations and College Major Choices: Evidence from an Energy Boom and Bust

Luyi Han () and John Winters

No 12614, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper examines how college students in the United States altered their college major decisions during the energy boom and bust of the 1970s and 1980s. We focus on petroleum engineering and geology, two majors closely related to the energy industry. We find strong evidence that the energy boom increased the prevalence of these two energy-related majors and the energy bust lowered the prevalence of these majors. Effects are particularly strong for young people born in energy intensive states. Thus, college major decisions responded to industry fluctuations with important location-specific effects consistent with frictions to migration and information flows.

Keywords: college major; human capital; higher education; energy boom; energy bust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J20 J60 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2019-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-his
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Published - published in: Economics of Education Review, 2020, 77, 101996

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Journal Article: Industry Fluctuations and College Major Choices: Evidence from an Energy Boom and Bust (2020)
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