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Subject choice and earnings of UK graduates

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  • Chevalier, Arnaud

Abstract

Using a survey of a cohort of UK graduates, linked to administrative data on higher education participation, this paper investigates the labour market attainment of recent graduates by subject of study. We document a large heterogeneity in the mean wages of graduates from different subjects and a considerably larger one within subject with individuals with the most favourable unobserved characteristics obtaining wages almost twice as large as those with the worst. Moreover, gender differences in wages within subjects are also large. We then simulate a graduate tax to calculate a willingness to pay – in form of tuition fees – to capture these subject wage premia.

Suggested Citation

  • Chevalier, Arnaud, 2011. "Subject choice and earnings of UK graduates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1187-1201.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:30:y:2011:i:6:p:1187-1201
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.04.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chevalier, Arnaud & Gibbons, Steve & Thorpe, Andy & Snell, Martin & Hoskins, Sherria, 2009. "Students' academic self-perception," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 716-727, December.
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    3. Massimiliano BRATTI & Luca MANCINI, 2003. "Differences in Early Occupational Earnings of UK Male Graduates by Degree Subject: Evidence from the 1980-1993 USR," Working Papers 189, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
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    5. Lorraine Dearden & Emla Fitzsimons & Alissa Goodman & Greg Kaplan, 2008. "Higher Education Funding Reforms in England: The Distributional Effects and the Shifting Balance of Costs," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(526), pages 100-125, February.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Graduate earnings; Tuition fees;

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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