Investment over the Business Cycle: Insights from College Major Choice

How does personal exposure to economic conditions affect individual human capital investment choices? Focusing on bachelor’s degree recipients, we find that cohorts exposed higher unemployment rates during typical schooling years select majors earn wages, have better employment prospects, and lead work in a related field. Conditional expected earnings, recessions also encourage women enter male-dominated fields, students of both genders pursue more difficult majors. We conclude environments change how majors, evidence who respond the business cycle enjoy earnings their new