Heterogeneity in Human Capital Investments: High School Curriculum, College Major, and Careers
这篇综述研究了不同大学专业劳动力市场结果的巨大差异，构建了教育和职业选择的动态模型，强调人力资本专用性和不确定性的作用，并讨论了课程选择及高中课程、大学专业对劳动力市场影响的实证文献。
Motivated by the large differences in labor market outcomes across college majors, we survey the literature on the demand for and return to high school and postsecondary education by field of study. We combine elements from several papers to provide a dynamic model of education and occupation choice that stresses the roles of the specificity of human capital and uncertainty about preferences, ability, education outcomes, and labor market returns. The model implies an important distinction between the ex ante and ex post returns to education decisions. We also discuss some of the econometric difficulties in estimating the causal effects of field of study on wages in the context of a sequential choice model with learning. Finally, we review the empirical literature on the choice of curriculum and the effects of high school courses and college major on labor market outcomes.