Stepping stone and option value in a model of postsecondary education

Artikel

A stepping stone arises in risky environments with learning and transferrable human capital. An example is the role played by academic two-year colleges in postsecondary education: Students, as they learn about the uncertain educational outcomes, can drop out or transfer up to harder and more rewarding schools, carrying a fraction of the accumulated human capital. A theory of education is built and contrasted empirically to find that (i) option value explains a large part of returns to enrollment, (ii) enrollment in academic two-year colleges is driven by the option to transfer up, and (iii) the value of the stepping stone is small.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Quantitative Economics ; ISSN: 1759-7331 ; Volume: 6 ; Year: 2015 ; Issue: 1 ; Pages: 223-256 ; New Haven, CT: The Econometric Society

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: Stepping stone ; investment under uncertainty ; academic learning ; postsecondary education ; college education ; returns to education

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Trachter, Nicholas
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Econometric Society
• (where): New Haven, CT
• (when): 2015

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.3982/QE326
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/150385
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET