Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/104691 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8549
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We show that data on subjective expectations, especially on outcomes from counterfactual choices and choice probabilities, are a powerful tool in recovering ex ante treatment effects as well as preferences for different treatments. In this paper we focus on the choice of occupation, and use elicited beliefs from a sample of male undergraduates at Duke University. By asking individuals about potential earnings associated with counterfactual choices of college majors and occupations, we can recover the distribution of the ex ante monetary returns to particular occupations, and how these returns vary across majors. We then propose a model of occupational choice which allows us to link subjective data on earnings and choice probabilities with the non-pecuniary preferences for each occupation. We find large differences in expected earnings across occupations, and substantial heterogeneity across individuals in the corresponding ex ante returns. However, while sorting across occupations is partly driven by the ex ante monetary returns, non-monetary factors play a key role in this decision. Finally, our results point to the existence of sizable complementarities between college major and occupations, both in terms of earnings and non-monetary benefits.
Subjects: 
ex ante treatment effects
occupational choice
subjective expectations
JEL: 
J24
I23
C31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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