Dr. Jamin Speer Published in the Journal of Labor Economics
For release: February 3, 2015
Dr. Jamin Speer, assistant professor in the Department of Economics, recently had
a paper accepted by the Journal of Labor Economics. The paper is called "Cashier or Consultant? Entry Labor Market Conditions, Field
of Study, and Career Success." The article is co-authored with Joseph Altonji and
Lisa B. Kahn, both of Yale. Dr. Speer’s paper was also used as the subject of a New York Times article published this past June discussing the returns of graduating in certain
academic disciplines in a recessionary economy.
The paper analyzes early labor market outcomes of U.S. college graduates as a function
of their college major and economic conditions at the time of their graduation. The
key finding is that while graduating into a recession is harmful to early-career earnings.
It is much less harmful for high-earning majors like economics. High-earning majors
are more "recession-proof" than lower-earning majors, as the pay gap between high-earning
majors and low-earning majors widens when the economy is in recession.
To read the complete New York Times article, please click here.
