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Labor Market Signaling and the Value of College: Evidence from Resumes and the Truth

Author

Listed:
  • Kreisman, Daniel

    (Georgia State University)

  • Smith, Jonathan

    (Georgia State University)

  • Arifin, Bondi

    (Indonesia Ministry of Finance)

Abstract
How do college non-completers list schooling on their resumes? The negative signal of not completing might outweigh the positive signal of attending but not persisting. If so, job-seekers might hide non-completed schooling on their resumes. To test this we match resumes from an online jobs board to administrative educational records. We find that fully one in three job-seekers who attended college but did not earn a degree omit their only post-secondary schooling from their resumes. We further show that these are not casual omissions but are strategic decisions systematically related to schooling characteristics, such as selectivity and years of enrollment. We also find evidence of lying, and show which degrees listed on resumes are most likely untrue. Lastly, we discuss implications. We show not only that this implies a commonly held assumption, that employers perfectly observe schooling, does not hold, but also that we can learn about which college experiences students believe are most valued by employers.

Suggested Citation

  • Kreisman, Daniel & Smith, Jonathan & Arifin, Bondi, 2021. "Labor Market Signaling and the Value of College: Evidence from Resumes and the Truth," IZA Discussion Papers 14483, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14483
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp14483.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    statistical discrimination; employer learning; resume; signaling; jobs board;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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