@article{34026,
  author = {Jennie Brand and Yu Xie},
  title = {Who Benefits Most from College? Evidence for Negative Selection in Heterogeneous Economic Returns to Higher Education},
  abstract = { <p>In this article, we consider how the economic return to a college education varies across~members of the U.S. population. Based on principles of comparative advantage, scholars~commonly presume that positive selection is at work, that is, individuals who are most likely~to select into college also benefit most from college. Net of observed economic and noneconomic~factors influencing college attendance, we conjecture that individuals who are least~likely to obtain a college education benefit the most from college. We call this theory the negative~selection hypothesis. To adjudicate between the two hypotheses, we study the effects of~completing college on earnings by propensity score strata using an innovative hierarchical<br>linear model with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the~Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. For both cohorts, for both men and women, and for every~observed stage of the life course, we find evidence suggesting negative selection. Results~from auxiliary analyses lend further support to the negative selection hypothesis.~</p> },
  year = {2010},
  journal = {American Sociological Review},
  volume = {75},
  pages = {273-302},
  language = {eng},
}