The returns to medical school: Evidence from admission lotteries

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 04-2016
Journal American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Volume | Issue number 8 | 2
Pages (from-to) 225-254
Number of pages 30
Organisations
  • Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) - Amsterdam School of Economics Research Institute (ASE-RI)
  • Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB)
Abstract We exploit admission lotteries to estimate the returns to medical school in the Netherlands. Using data from up to 22 years after the lottery, we find that in every single year after graduation doctors earn at least 20 percent more than people who end up in their next-best occupation. Twenty-two years after the lottery the earnings difference is almost 50 percent. Only a small fraction of this difference can be attributed to differences in working hours and human capital investments. The returns do not vary with gender or ability, and shift the entire earnings distribution.
Document type Article
Note Copyright © 2018 AEA. Supplementary data available
Language English
Related dataset Replication data for: The Returns to Medical School: Evidence from Admission Lotteries
Related publication The returns to medical school in a regulated labor market: evidence from admission lotteries
Published at https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20140506
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app.20140506 (Final published version)
Supplementary materials
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