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The Influences of Institution Attended and Field of Study on Graduates' Starting Salaries

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  • Elisa Rose Birch
  • Ian Li
  • Paul W. Miller

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of Australian university graduates' starting salaries, with an emphasis on the institution attended and field of study. It is shown that there is little difference between the starting salaries of students who attended Group of Eight universities and those who attended other universities. There are modest differences in starting salaries across fields of study. However, these differences are considerably less than those associated with the type of employment obtained. These results suggest it is what you do in the labour market, rather than where or what you have studied, that is the main determinant of labour market outcomes.

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  • Elisa Rose Birch & Ian Li & Paul W. Miller, 2009. "The Influences of Institution Attended and Field of Study on Graduates' Starting Salaries," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 42(1), pages 42-63, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:42:y:2009:i:1:p:42-63
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8462.2009.00524.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lang, Kevin & Siniver, Erez, 2011. "Why is an elite undergraduate education valuable? Evidence from Israel," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 767-777.
    3. Milla, Joniada, 2017. "The Context-Bound University Selectivity Premium," IZA Discussion Papers 11025, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Moshe Justman & Susan J. Méndez, 2016. "Gendered Selection of STEM Subjects for Matriculation," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2016n10, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    5. David Carroll & Massimiliano Tani, 2015. "Job search as a determinant of graduate over-education: evidence from Australia," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 631-644, October.
    6. Bacalhau, Priscilla & Mattos, Enlinson & Ponczek, Vladimir Pinheiro, 2019. "College quality signaling and individual performance: effects on labor market outcomes after graduation," Textos para discussão 502, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    7. Justman, Moshe & Méndez, Susan J., 2018. "Gendered choices of STEM subjects for matriculation are not driven by prior differences in mathematical achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 282-297.
    8. Koshy, Paul & Seymour, Richard & Dockery, Mike, 2016. "Are there institutional differences in the earnings of Australian higher education graduates?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-11.
    9. David Carroll & Chris Heaton & Massimiliano Tani, 2019. "Does It Pay to Graduate from an 'Elite' University in Australia?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 95(310), pages 343-357, September.
    10. Carroll, David & Heaton, Christopher & Tani, Massimiliano, 2014. "Returns to University Quality in Australia: A Two-Stage Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 8473, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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