This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
American Economic Review: Vol. 101 No. 3 (May 2011)
AER Volume. 101, Issue 3 | 
Previous ArticleNext Article
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
AER Forthcoming Articles
Full-text Article
Previous ArticleNext Article
Expand
Quick Tools:
Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export CitationSign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Explore:
AER Forthcoming Articles
Estimating the Ex Ante Expected Returns to College
Article Citation
Hussey, Andrew J., and
Omari H. Swinton. 2011. "Estimating the Ex Ante Expected Returns to College."
American Economic Review,
101(3): 598-602.
DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.3.598
DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.3.598
Abstract
Rather than estimating the returns to obtaining a college degree, this paper treats the college education decision as an uncertain investment involving varying likelihoods of successful graduation. We predict earnings conditional on both graduating and not graduating from both selective and non-selective institutions, and incorporate estimated individual-specific graduation rates in calculating the ex ante expected returns from college attendance for individuals across the ability distribution. Our results suggest that, especially for lower ability students, ex ante returns may differ substantially from typical estimates of the returns to a college degree, and typical estimates of the selectivity premium may be underestimated.
Article Full-Text Access
Full-text Article
Authors
Hussey, Andrew J. (U Memphis)
Swinton, Omari H. (Howard U)
Swinton, Omari H. (Howard U)
JEL Classifications
J24: Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
J31: Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J31: Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
