Business Cycles, Race, and Investment in Graduate Education

In this article—published in the Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy—Edgeworth Principal Consultant Dr. Di Wu and co-author Dr. Vicki Bogan explore the influence of macroeconomic factors on household decision making as it pertains to human capital investment. The authors evaluate the relationship between macroeconomic indicators and the decision to pursue a graduate degree. 

Using a dataset from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Dr. Wu and Dr. Bogan analyze the differential effects of the business cycle on graduate school enrollment by racial group. Their analyses suggest a causal relationship between macroeconomic indicators and the decision to pursue a graduate degree. The authors' results indicate that total graduate school enrollment is counter-cyclical with the business cycle as well as significant differential racial effects of the business cycle on graduate school enrollment.