Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2026-03-20
Number: 26-011/VII
Author-Name: Bart K. de Koning
Author-Workplace-Name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Author-Name: Robert Dur
Author-Workplace-Name: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Author-Name: Didier Fouarge
Author-Workplace-Name: Maastricht University
Title: Correcting Beliefs about Job Opportunities and Wages: A Field Experiment on Education Choices
Abstract: In a natural field experiment, we provide information to students about job opportunities and hourly wages of occupations they are interested in. The experiment takes place within a widely-used career orientation program in the Netherlands, and involves 28,186 pre-vocational secondary education students in 243 schools over two years. The information improves students’ belief accuracy and leads them to change their preferred occupation to one with better labor market prospects. Administrative data covering up to seven years after our experiment shows that students who receive information choose and graduate from post-secondary education programs with better job opportunities and higher hourly wages.
Classification-JEL: D83, I26, J24
Keywords: Education choice, labor market information, field experiment.
File-URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/26011.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 2.095.715 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20260011