Job Market Signaling (Spence)

Details

Photo

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Name

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Field

Labor / information

Core idea

Education as a signal of ability, not just skill-building, in hiring decisions.

Year

1973

How dense

Medium-high – clean math, but you need to track types and incentives.

My take

Every time I’m dying in a 300-level class I hear Spence whispering “relax, it’s just a signal.” Explains the whole “why am I even here” college crisis.