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Assortative preferences in choice of major

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  • Aydede Yigit

    (Department of Economics, Saint Mary’s University, Nova ScotiaB3H 3C3, Canada)

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to examine the contribution of available information constrained by parents’ fields of study to the observed assortative preferences in their children’s choice of major. Comparable to panel models, we define within-family transmission functions with 1-to-2 matches (1 for each parent). Using the confidential major file of the 2011 National Household Survey from Canada, the results show that children’s choice of field of study exhibits significant assortative preferences isolated from ability sorting and unobserved differences across majors and other family characteristics. With some caution, we attribute this persisting assortative tendency to the information asymmetry across alternative majors built on by parents’ educational backgrounds within families.

Suggested Citation

  • Aydede Yigit, 2020. "Assortative preferences in choice of major," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:izajle:v:9:y:2020:i:1:p:25:n:6
    DOI: 10.2478/izajole-2020-0006
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    field-of-study homogamy; choice of field of study; occupational relatedness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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