Publications

“The Gender Wage Gap: Skills, Sorting, and Returns” (with John Eric Humphries and Gregory F. Veramendi)  Forthcoming in the American Economic Association Papers & Proceedings, May 2024.

Abstract  “There is a large gender wage gap among college graduates. This gender gap could be partially driven by differences in college major and prior skills. We use Swedish register data to study how much of the gender gap can be explained by differences in majors, skills, and skill prices. College majors explain 60% of the gender wage gap, but large gaps remain within majors. We find that within-major wage gaps are neither driven by differences in multi-dimensional skills nor returns to these skills. In fact, women are positively selected in terms of college preparation and skills in almost every major.”

“How Early Adolescent Skills and Preferences Shape Economics Education Choices”, with Lenka Fiala, John Eric Humphries, Uditi Karna, John A. List, and Gregory F. Veramendi.  American Economic Association Papers & Proceedings, May 2022, 112, 609-613.  [Online Appendix]

Abstract  “Leveraging data from Sweden and Chicago, we study the educational pipeline for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and economics majors to better understand the determinants of the gender gap, and when these determinants arise. We present three findings. First, females are less likely to select STEM courses in high school, despite equal or better preparation. Second, there are important early gender differences in preferences and beliefs, even conditional on ability. Third, early differences in preferences and beliefs explain more of the gaps in high school sorting than other candidate variables. High school sorting then explains a large portion of the gender difference in college majors.”

“Studying and Working: Your Student Job Affects Your Future Labor Market Outcomes”, with Elena Mattana.  Samfundsøkonomen, August 2022, 3, 19-37.  [Online Appendix]

Abstract  “Does student employment pay off in the labor market after college? Does the type of student job matter? We use administrative data to describe the amount and type of student work for twenty cohorts of students in higher education in Denmark. We find large differences in the amount, and especially the type of student jobs, by education level and field of study. We show that both the skill content and the study-relevance of the student job matter for earnings after college. Having an additional year of student work experience in a job requiring a high skill level or a study-relevant job is associated with an earnings premium of around 20-25% one year after exit from higher education. This premium fades out during the first years and stabilizes around 5% after 6-14 years for professional degrees, but remains relatively high and stable over time since exit from higher education for more theoretically oriented university degrees and for dropouts. This suggests a strong and persistent complementarity between the skills students learn in theoretical university courses and high-skill student jobs.”

“Spillovers in Education Choice”, with Helena Skyt Nielsen.  Journal of Public Economics, January 2018, 157, 158-183.   Previously titled: “Peer Effects in Math and Science”

Abstract  “This paper examines how skills are shaped by social interactions in families. We show that older siblings causally affect younger sibling's educational choices and early career earnings. We focus on critical course choices in high school and overcome the identification challenges of estimating spillover effects in education by exploiting exogenous variation in choice sets stemming from a pilot program. The pilot induced an essentially random subset of older siblings to choose advanced math-science at a lower cost, while not directly affecting the course choices of younger siblings. We find that younger siblings are 2–3 percentage points more likely to choose math-science if their older sibling unexpectedly could choose math-science at a lower cost. We argue that the main influence of the pilot program on the younger siblings may be attributed to the social influence of the older sibling. Spillovers are strongest among closely spaced siblings, in particular brothers, and they have a lasting impact on the career outcomes of younger brothers. We argue that competition is likely one of the driving forces behind younger siblings conforming to their older siblings' choices.”

“Mathematics and Gender: Heterogeneity in Causes and Consequences”, with Helena Skyt Nielsen.  Economic Journal, June 2016, 126, 1129-1163.   Previously titled “Math and Gender: What if Girls do Math?” and “Math and Gender: Is Math a route to a High-Powered Career?”.   Robustness of main results [Table]   Dissemination: [Microeconomic Insights]  [LSE Business Review]

Abstract  “We exploit an institutional reduction in the cost of acquiring advanced high school mathematics to assess the causes and consequences of fewer girls choosing advanced mathematics. Girls at the top and boys at the middle of the mathematics ability distribution took less mathematics because of the cost reduction. We estimate a positive average earnings effect encompassing girls completing more advanced and more mathematics intensive college degrees, choosing more competitive careers, and climbing higher up the corporate hierarchy. Encouraging more students to opt for advanced mathematics has a sizeable positive earnings effect for girls, but no effect for boys at the margin.”

“Grades and Rank: Impacts of Non-Financial Incentives on Test Performance”, with Nina Jalava and Elin M. Pellas.  Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, July 2015, 115, 161-196   [Online Appendix]   Dissemination: [IZA Newsroom]

Abstract  “How does effort respond to being graded and ranked? This paper examines the effects of non-financial incentives on test performance. We conduct a randomized field experiment on more than a thousand sixth graders in Swedish primary schools. Extrinsic non-financial incentives play an important role in motivating highly skilled students to exert more effort. We find significant differences in test scores between the intrinsically motivated control group and three of four extrinsically motivated treatment groups. The only treatment not increasing test performance is criterion-based grading on an A–F scale, which is the typical grading method. Test performance is significantly higher if employing rank-based grading or giving students a symbolic reward. The motivational strengths of the non-financial incentives differ across the test score distribution, across the skill distribution, with peer familiarity, and with respect to gender. Boys are only motivated by rank-based incentives, while girls are also motivated by receiving a symbolic reward. Rank-based grading and symbolic rewards tend to crowd out intrinsic motivation for students with low skills, while girls also respond less to rank-based incentives if tested with less familiar peers.”

“Understanding the Effects of Marriage and Divorce on Financial Investments: The Role of Background Risk Sharing”, with Charlotte Christiansen and Jesper Rangvid.  Economic Inquiry, January 2015, 53(1), 431-447

Abstract  “We investigate how changes in marital status affect financial investments and how these effects vary with background risk. We use detailed register‐based panel data and difference‐in‐differences estimators to benchmark common unobserved influences on financial investments. Women increase the fraction of wealth invested in stocks after marriage and decrease it after divorce, whereas men show the opposite behavior. Households whose joint labor income risk is reduced more by marriage have a higher increase in their exposure to risky assets in marriage. Thus income risk sharing in the household is important for financial risk taking and investment responses to marital transitions.”

“Is there a Causal Effect of High School Math on Labor Market Outcomes?”, with Helena Skyt Nielsen.  Journal of Human Resources, February 2009, 44(1), 171-198

Abstract  “In this paper, we exploit a high school pilot scheme to identify the causal effect of advanced high school math on labor market outcomes. The pilot scheme reduced the costs of choosing advanced math because it allowed for a more flexible combination of math with other courses. We find clear evidence of a causal relationship between math and earnings for students who are induced to choose math after being exposed to the pilot scheme. The effect partly stems from the fact that these students end up with a higher education.”

“Are Economists More Likely to Hold Stocks?”, with Charlotte Christiansen and Jesper Rangvid.  Review of Finance, August 2008, 12(3), 65-496   [Online Appendix]

Abstract  “Using a large panel data set containing detailed information on educational attainments as well as financial and socioeconomic variables for individual investors, we show that economists are more likely to hold stocks than otherwise identical investors. First, we consider the change in stockholding associated with (i) completing an economics education and (ii) an economist moving into the household. Second, we model stock market participation using a probit model with unobserved individual heterogeneity. Third, instrumental variables estimation allows us to identify the causal effect of an economics education on stock market participation for those who exogenously got the opportunity to study economics closer to home. Throughout, we focus explicitly on the effect of a change in educational status on the likelihood of holding stocks.”

“The Risk-Return Trade-off in Human Capital Investment”, with Charlotte Christiansen and Helena Skyt Nielsen.  Labour Economics, December 2007, 14(6), 971-986

Abstract  “In this paper, we analyze investments in human capital in a way which is standard for financial assets, but not (yet) for human capital assets. We study mean-variance plots of human capital assets. We compare the properties of human capital returns using a performance measure and by using tests for mean-variance spanning. Fields differ strongly not only in common rates of return, but also in return per unit of risk. We identify a range of educations that are efficient in terms of investment goods, and a range of educations that may be chosen for consumption purposes.”