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Breadth versus Depth: The Timing of Specialization in Higher Education

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  • Ofer Malamud

Abstract

This paper examines the trade-off between early and late specialization in the context of higher education. I develop a model in which individuals accumulate field‐specific skills and receive noisy signals of match quality across different fields of study. I derive comparative static predictions between educational regimes with early and late specialization, and examine these predictions across British systems of higher education. Using survey data on 1980 university graduates, I find that individuals who switch to unrelated occupations have lower initial earnings, and that early specialization in England is associated with more costly switches. But higher wage growth among those who switch eliminates the wage difference after several years, and average earnings are not significantly different between England and Scotland.

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  • Ofer Malamud, 2010. "Breadth versus Depth: The Timing of Specialization in Higher Education," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(4), pages 359-390, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:24:y:2010:i:4:p:359-390
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-9914.2010.00489.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Richard W. Patterson & Nolan G. Pope & Aaron Feudo, 2019. "Timing is Everything: Evidence from College Major Decisons," CESifo Working Paper Series 7448, CESifo.
    4. Luc Bridet & Margaret Leighton, 2015. "The Major Decision: Labor Market Implications of the Timing of Specialization in College," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201510, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    5. Fricke, Hans & Grogger, Jeffrey & Steinmayr, Andreas, 2018. "Exposure to academic fields and college major choice," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 199-213.
    6. Pedros Silos & Eric Smith, 2015. "Human Capital Portfolios," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(3), pages 635-652, July.
    7. Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd R. Stinebrickner, 2014. "A Major in Science? Initial Beliefs and Final Outcomes for College Major and Dropout," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(1), pages 426-472.
    8. Seah, Kelvin K.C. & Pan, Jessica & Tan, Poh Lin, 2020. "Breadth of university curriculum and labor market outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Guy Tchuente, 2016. "High School Human Capital Portfolio and College Outcomes," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(3), pages 267-302.
    10. Light, Audrey & Wertz, Sydney Schreiner, 2022. "Should English majors take computer science courses? Labor market benefits of the occupational specificity of major and nonmajor college credits," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
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    13. Ma, Liping & Li, Xin & Zhu, Qiong & Ye, Xiaoyang, 2023. "College-major choice to college-then-major choice: Experimental evidence from Chinese college admissions reforms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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