Abstract
While women in the US now complete more college degrees than men, the distribution of college majors among
college graduates remains unequal with women about 2/3 as likely as men to major in business or science. We
develop and estimate a dynamic, overlapping generations model of human capital investments and labor supply. We
allow for specific college major choices, rather than aggregating these choices to the education level. Results show
that changes in skill prices, higher schooling costs, and gender specific changes in home value were each important
to the long-term trends.
college graduates remains unequal with women about 2/3 as likely as men to major in business or science. We
develop and estimate a dynamic, overlapping generations model of human capital investments and labor supply. We
allow for specific college major choices, rather than aggregating these choices to the education level. Results show
that changes in skill prices, higher schooling costs, and gender specific changes in home value were each important
to the long-term trends.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 23-56 |
| Journal | International Economic Review |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 22 Jan 2014 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2014 |
Keywords
- human capital, gender differences, college majors