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Social Animal House: The Economic And Academic Consequences Of Fraternity Membership

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  • Jack Mara
  • Lewis Davis
  • Stephen Schmidt

Abstract

We exploit changes in the residential and social environment on campus to identify the economic and academic consequences of fraternity membership at a small Northeastern college. Our estimates suggest that these consequences are large, with fraternity membership lowering student grade point average by approximately 0.25 points on the traditional 4‐point scale, but raising future income by approximately 36%, for those students whose decision about membership is affected by changes in the environment. These results suggest that fraternity membership causally produces large gains in social capital, which more than outweigh its negative effects on human capital for potential members. Alcohol‐related behavior does not explain much of the effects of fraternity membership on either the human capital or social capital effects. These findings suggest that college administrators face significant trade‐offs when crafting policies related to Greek life on campus. (JEL I23, J24, I12)

Suggested Citation

  • Jack Mara & Lewis Davis & Stephen Schmidt, 2018. "Social Animal House: The Economic And Academic Consequences Of Fraternity Membership," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(2), pages 263-276, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:36:y:2018:i:2:p:263-276
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12249
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Manu Raghav & Timothy M. Diette, 2022. "Greek myth or fact? The role of Greek houses in alcohol and drug violations on American campuses," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(55), pages 6406-6417, November.
    2. William E. Even & Austin C. Smith, 2022. "Greek Life, Academics, and Earnings," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 998-1032.
    3. Facundo Albornoz & Antonio Cabrales & Esther Hauk, 2019. "Occupational Choice with Endogenous Spillovers," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(621), pages 1953-1970.
    4. Frances Woolley, 2018. "The political economy of university education in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(4), pages 1061-1087, November.

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    More about this item

    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
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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