Why Does Field of Study Affect Occupational Attainment? A Theoretical Approach
Faculty/Professorship: | Juniorprofessur für Soziologie mit dem Schwerpunkt Bildung und Arbeit im Lebensverlauf |
Author(s): | Barone, Carlo; Schindler, Steffen ![]() |
Publisher Information: | Rochester, NY : Social Science Electronic Publishing |
Year of publication: | 2014 |
Pages: | 27 |
Language(s): | English |
URL: | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract... |
Abstract: | In analyses of labour market returns to education three competing theoretical approaches dominate the empirical research literature: education as productive skills, education as positional good, and social closure. We argue that, while these approaches might be suitable to explain the mechanisms behind labour market returns to vertical differences in educational levels, they are not appropriate to account for variation in labour market returns if field of study as a horizontal dimension of education is considered. We present a theoretical approach that addresses this horizontal dimension of education by disentangling the various mechanisms behind the field of study differences in graduates’ labour market returns. |
Keywords: | field of study, graduate labour market, labour market outcomes |
Type: | Workingpaper |
URI: | https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/20892 |
Year of publication: | 4. November 2014 |

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University of Bamberg
University of Bamberg