Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Clark, Damon
• Martorell, Paco

Titel

The signaling value of a high school diploma

Ist Teil von

• The Journal of political economy, 2014-04, Vol.122 (2), p.282-318

Ort / Verlag

Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This paper distinguishes between the human capital and signaling theories by estimating the earnings return to a high school diploma. Unlike most indicators of education (e.g., a year of school), a diploma is essentially a piece of paper and, hence, by itself cannot affect productivity. Any earnings return to holding a diploma must therefore reflect the diploma’s signaling value. Using regression discontinuity methods to compare the earnings of workers who barely passed and barely failed high school exit exams—standardized tests that students must pass to earn a high school diploma—we find little evidence of diploma signaling effects.