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Wage expectations for higher education students in Spain

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  • Alonso-Borrego, César
  • Romero-Medina, Antonio

Abstract

We use data on expected wages self-reported by college students to assess the hypothesis that the positive gap between expected and actual wages would decrease as students approach graduation. Our estimation results confirm this hypothesis. The amount and the quality of student information, used to forecast wages, improves with student experience. We find that expected wages for first-year students are affected not only by the degree type and academic performance, but also by the variables determining their degree preferences and their household environment. In the case of junior students, the degree type and length affects expected wages, though neither pre-university performance nor household environment influence their wage forecasts

Suggested Citation

  • Alonso-Borrego, César & Romero-Medina, Antonio, 2010. "Wage expectations for higher education students in Spain," UC3M Working papers. Economics we1016, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    • Handle: RePEc:cte:werepe:we1016
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    Cited by:

    1. Jones, Sam & Santos, Ricardo, 2022. "Can information correct optimistic wage expectations? Evidence from Mozambican job-seekers," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    2. Sam Jones & Ricardo Santos & Gimelgo Xirinda, 2020. "Misinformed, mismatched, or misled?: Explaining the gap between expected and realized graduate earnings in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-47, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Claire Bonnard & Jean-François Giret & Marielle Lambert-Le Mener, 2013. "Les étudiants anticipent-ils correctement la valeur de leur diplôme sur le marché du travail ?," Post-Print halshs-00815912, HAL.
    4. Carlos Gradín & Félix Mambo & Yonesse Paris & Ricardo Santos, 2020. "Unequal expectations: Gender inequality in salary expectations of university students," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-78, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Juan-Jesús Torres-Gordillo & Paloma Belinda García-Martínez, 2022. "Employment Training at the University: Employment Expectations in Times of Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-13, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage differentials;

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities

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