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Field of Study and Family Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Artmann, Elisabeth

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • Ketel, Nadine

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Oosterbeek, Hessel

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • van der Klaauw, Bas

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

This paper uses administrative data from 16 cohorts of the Dutch population to study the relationship between field of study and family outcomes. We first document considerable variation by field of study for a range of family outcomes. To get to causal effects, we use admission lotteries that were conducted in the Netherlands to allocate seats for four substantially oversubscribed studies. We find that field of study matters for partner choice, which for women also implies an effect on partners' earnings. Fertility of women is not affected and evidence for men is mixed, but we find evidence for intergenerational effects on children's education. This means that field of study does not only affect individual labor market outcomes but also causally influences other important dimensions of a person's life.

Suggested Citation

  • Artmann, Elisabeth & Ketel, Nadine & Oosterbeek, Hessel & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2018. "Field of Study and Family Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 11658, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11658
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Justine S. Hastings & Christopher A. Neilson & Seth D. Zimmerman, 2013. "Are Some Degrees Worth More than Others? Evidence from college admission cutoffs in Chile," NBER Working Papers 19241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Marianne Bertrand & Emir Kamenica & Jessica Pan, 2015. "Gender Identity and Relative Income within Households," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(2), pages 571-614.
    3. Lasse Eika & Magne Mogstad & Basit Zafar, 2019. "Educational Assortative Mating and Household Income Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(6), pages 2795-2835.
    4. Nadine Ketel & Edwin Leuven & Hessel Oosterbeek & Bas van der Klaauw, 2016. "The Returns to Medical School: Evidence from Admission Lotteries," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 225-254, April.
    5. Joseph G. Altonji & Erica Blom & Costas Meghir, 2012. "Heterogeneity in Human Capital Investments: High School Curriculum, College Major, and Careers," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 185-223, July.
    6. Ketel, Nadine & Leuven, Edwin & Oosterbeek, Hessel & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2019. "Do Dutch dentists extract monopoly rents?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 145-158.
    7. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J., 2011. "Recent Developments in Intergenerational Mobility," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 16, pages 1487-1541, Elsevier.
    8. Matthew Wiswall & Basit Zafar, 2016. "Human Capital Investments and Expectations about Career and Family," NBER Working Papers 22543, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Liu, Haoming & Lu, Jingfeng, 2006. "Measuring the degree of assortative mating," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 317-322, September.
    10. Jan M. Hoem & Gerda Neyer & Gunnar Andersson, 2006. "Education and childlessness," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 14(15), pages 331-380.
    11. Guido W. Imbens & Donald B. Rubin, 1997. "Estimating Outcome Distributions for Compliers in Instrumental Variables Models," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 555-574.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lars Kirkebøen & Edwin Leuven & Magne Mogstad, 2021. "College as a Marriage Market," Discussion Papers 950, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    2. Arpita Patnaik & Matthew J. Wiswall & Basit Zafar, 2020. "College Majors," NBER Working Papers 27645, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    assortative matching; returns to education; study choice; higher education; intergenerational mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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