College as Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students' Preferences for Consumption?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jacob, Brian; McCall, Brian; Stange, Kevin
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/694654
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 309-348
• 关键词: higher-education; QUALITY; demand; admission; tuition; sports; MARKET; rates; time

摘要

This paper investigates whether demand-side market pressure explains colleges' decisions to provide consumption amenities to their students. Using a discrete choice model of college demand, we find that most students appear to value consumption amenities, such as operating spending on student activities, sports, and dormitories, while the taste for academic quality is confined to high-achieving students. Heterogeneity in student preferences creates variation in demand pressure across institutions, which we estimate can account for 11% of the total variation in the ratio of amenity to academic spending across 4-year colleges in the United States.