Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables
通过匹配申请并录取到类似大学的学生，消除选择性偏差，发现就读精英大学的学生与能力相当但就读普通大学的学生收入相近，但低收入家庭子女就读精英大学收入更高。
Estimates of the effect of college selectivity on earnings may be biased because elite colleges admit students, in part, based on characteristics that are related to future earnings. We matched students who applied to, and were accepted by, similar colleges to try to eliminate this bias. Using the College and Beyond data set and National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972, we find that students who attended more selective colleges earned about the same as students of seemingly comparable ability who attended less selective schools. Children from low-income families, however, earned more if they attended selective colleges.