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The Financial Crisis and the Choice of College Major

Author

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  • Goulas, Sofoklis
  • Megalokonomou, Rigissa

Abstract

Economic conditions may affect educational choices. In this paper we investigate the impact of the recent financial crisis in Greece on college applications. In particular, we ask how the financial turmoil has reshaped the demand for particular college majors. The paper uses a difference-in-difference approach for the pre and during crisis era to disentangle preferences over twenty one broad major categories and over college city amenities. We find that job insecurity turns college applicants away from academically demanding college majors, while options with better job prospects become more popular.

Suggested Citation

  • Goulas, Sofoklis & Megalokonomou, Rigissa, 2015. "The Financial Crisis and the Choice of College Major," MPRA Paper 66001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:66001
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/66001/1/MPRA_paper_66001.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hershbein Brad J., 2012. "Graduating High School in a Recession: Work, Education, and Home Production," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-32, January.
    2. Arcidiacono, Peter & Hotz, V. Joseph & Kang, Songman, 2012. "Modeling college major choices using elicited measures of expectations and counterfactuals," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(1), pages 3-16.
    3. Kahn, Lisa B., 2010. "The long-term labor market consequences of graduating from college in a bad economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 303-316, April.
    4. Goulas, Sofoklis & Megalokonomou, Rigissa, 2015. "Social Interactions Through Space and Time: Evidence from College Enrollment and Academic Mobility," MPRA Paper 65882, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bradley, Elizabeth S., 2012. "The Effect of the Business Cycle on Freshman Major Choice," MPRA Paper 42412, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Albertos Azaria & George Karavasilis & Evangelos Kehris & Vasiliki Vrana, 2019. "The Impact of Financial Crisis on University Students in Greece," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 17(2), pages 193-219.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    crisis; college major; unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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