Advancement to Candidacy Presentation: “Modeling Returns to Education for High School and College Graduates”, Emma Joergensen
Speaker
Emma Joergensen, PhD Student, UC Santa Barbara
Biography
Emma is a PhD student in the Department of Economics at UC Santa Barbara. Her research interests include macroeconomics, labor, and decentralized finance (DeFi). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Mathematics, and a Master of Arts in Economics, both from UCSB.
Abstract
Abstract: I study the impact of education on earnings to show that some high school graduates made the wrong schooling decision; some high school graduates would have benefited from receiving a college degree. I create a simple search model to examine the returns to education for college versus high school graduates. I find that college graduates have higher reservation wages than individuals with a high school degree only. I use this to pinpoint the mass of people who would have benefited from attending college but chose not to. This suggests policy should be aimed at encouraging this group to attend college.
JEL Codes: I260, J31
Event Details
Emma will be presenting her Advancement to Candidacy paper, “Modeling Returns to Education for High School and College Graduates”. To access the Advancement paper, you must have an active UCSB NetID and password.
