THE EXPANSION OF COLLEGE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES: IS THERE EVIDENCE OF DECLINING COHORT QUALITY? |
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| Authors: | Chinhui Juhn Dae Il Kim Francis Vella |
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| Institution: | Juhn;: Professor, Department of Economics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5882. Phone 1-713-743-3823, Fax 1-713-743-3798, Email Kim;: Associate Professor, School of Economics, Seoul National University, Seoul 1510742, Korea. Phone 82-2-880-6364, Fax 82-2-886-4231, Email Vella;: Professor, Department of Economics, European University Institute, Villa San Paolo, Via della Piazzuola 43, 50133, Florence, Italy. Phone 39-055-4685-952, Fax 39-055-4685-902, Email |
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| Abstract: | This article documents the expansion of college education in the United States and examines to what extent the increase in the number of college graduates may have lead to a decline in the average quality of college graduates. Using the 1940–90 Census, we compare across birth year cohorts with varying levels of college completion. We find some weak evidence that college graduate men from highly educated cohorts earn a relatively smaller wage premium even controlling for the relative supply effect. However, these cohort quality effects account for only a small fraction of the recent fluctuation in the college wage premium.(JEL I20 , J24 , J31 ) |
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