The Context-Bound University Selectivity Premium

34 Pages Posted: 2 Oct 2017

See all articles by Joniada Milla

Joniada Milla

Saint Mary's University, Canada - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

In this paper I present a selective survey of the empirical literature on wage premium to university selectivity focusing mainly on the context of the country under analysis and the identification strategies employed. I then estimate the wage premium to university selectivity using Canadian data and two popular methods to correct for non-random selection in universities of different quality: matching methods and instrumental variables (IV). I estimate a wage premium of 7% using the matching estimator, and a premium of 14.8% using the IV estimator for alumni of selective Canadian universities 4–6 years after graduation. My findings are in line with the literature on countries with a moderately differentiated higher education system that has low variation in tuition fees and is well supported by public funds.

Keywords: university selectivity, wage premium, context

JEL Classification: C21, I23, J30

Suggested Citation

Milla, Joniada, The Context-Bound University Selectivity Premium. IZA Discussion Paper No. 11025, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3045720 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3045720

Joniada Milla (Contact Author)

Saint Mary's University, Canada - Department of Economics ( email )

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.smu.ca/researchers/sobey/joniadamilla/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.iza.org/profile?key=8374

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
41
Abstract Views
362
PlumX Metrics