Andrew Hussey

The Gender Pay Gap Beyond Human Capital: Heterogeneity in Noncognitive Skills and in Labor Market Tastes

Focused on human capital, economists typically explain about half of the gender earnings gap. For a national sample of MBAs, we account for 82 percent of the gap by incorporating noncognitive skills (for example, confidence and assertiveness) and preferences regarding family, career, and jobs. Those two sources of gender heterogeneity account for a quarter of the “explained” pay gap, with half due to human capital variables and the other quarter due to hours worked and current job characteristics. Female MBAs appear to pay a penalty for “good citizen” behavior (choosing jobs that contribute to society) and characteristics (higher ethical standards). Journal: Journal of Human Resources

Returns to Field of Study Versus School Quality: MBA Selection on Observed and Unobserved Heterogeneity

While a substantial literature has established returns to college major and to school quality, we offer the first such estimates for Masters of Business Administration (MBAs). To control for their nonrandom selection of fields, we estimate the returns to MBA concentrations using both ordinary least squares (OLS) with detailed control variables and including individual fixed effects. We find approximately 7% returns for most MBAs but roughly double that for finance and management information systems (MIS). Thus, MBA area of study can matter as much or more than program quality: only attending a top 10, but not 11‐25, MBA program trumped studying finance and MIS at a nontop 25 program.

Racial Segregation Patterns in Selective Universities

This paper examines sorting into interracial friendships at selective universities. We show significant friendship segregation, particularly for blacks. Indeed, blacks’ friendships are no more diverse in college than in high school, despite the fact that the colleges that blacks attend have substantially smaller black populations. We demonstrate that the segregation patterns occur in part because affirmative action results in large differences in the academic backgrounds of students of different races, with students preferring to form friendships with those of similar academic backgrounds. Within a school, stronger academic backgrounds make whites’ friendships with blacks less likely and friendships with Asians more likely. These results suggest that affirmative action admission policies at selective universities, which drive a wedge between the academic characteristics of different racial groups, may result in increased within-school segregation.

Adolescent obesity, educational attainment and adult earnings

We estimate the effects of being obese during adolescence on the likelihood of high school graduation, post-secondary educational attainment and labour market earnings as an adult (over 13 years later). We use longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health), conducted by the Carolina Population Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This is a nationally representative sample of students in grades 7 through 12 for the 1994–1995 first wave survey. Three subsequent waves of follow-up interviews occurred in 1996, 2001–2002 and finally in 2007–2008, when the sample was aged 25–31. Probit and linear regression models with a large set of controls (to minimize any bias that may result from omitting factors related to both adolescent obesity and adult outcomes) are fitted to carry out analyses separately by gender or racial groups. Pathological body weights are most notably present among males, blacks and Hispanics, suggesting possibility that diverging obesity effects may be found across race and gender groups. Unlike some prior research, we find no significant effects of adolescent obesity on high school graduation, but for some demographic groups, negative effects are found on college graduation and future income. Policy implications are discussed.

Long term trends in fair and unfair inequality in the United States

ABSTRACT This article analyses the microeconomic sources of wage inequality in the United States from 1967–2012. Decomposing inequality into factors categorized by degree of personal responsibility, education explains over twice as much of inequality today as 45 years ago. However, neither hours worked nor education, industry, marital status, or geographical location can explain the rise in income inequality. In fact, ‘unfair’ inequality (income disparity derived from non-responsibility factors) has risen faster than ‘fair’ inequality (income disparity derived from responsibility factors), regardless of the set of variables chosen as fair sources of inequality. We further examine income inequalities within gender and racial groups, finding substantial heterogeneity. Overall, using micro data to understand the sources of inequality and how these changes over time can provide better information for policymakers motivated to combat rising inequality.

Experimental evidence of the effects of an early intervention programme on economics student achievement

Early Intervention programmes are used in various ways in higher education in an attempt to identify struggling students at an early point in their coursework and to enable improvement in student outcomes. Despite being an increasingly common policy measure that is relatively easy to implement, little empirical evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of such programmes. Based on a study design that randomly assigns treatment eligibility across economics classes, we find that those who were reported for Early Intervention received final grades that were on average almost 4.3% higher than those who were not. The estimated effect of the programme on grade improvement, however, is smaller and not statistically significant. Some evidence exists for heterogeneous treatment effects, most notably the higher estimated effect for students in introductory classes.

Preferential Admission and MBA Outcomes: Mismatch Effects by Race and Gender

We consider the “mismatch” hypothesis in the context of graduate management education. Both blacks and Hispanics, conditional on a rich set of human capital variables, prior earnings and work experience, and non-cognitive attributes, are favored in admission to top 50 Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. To test for mismatch effects, we provide two comparisons: (1) comparable individuals (in terms of race, gender, and credentials) at different quality MBA programs and (2) individuals of differing race or gender (but with similar credentials) at comparable MBA programs. Despite admission preferences, blacks and Hispanics enjoy similar or even higher returns to selectivity than whites.