A Question of Honor? The Labor Market Advantage of Academic Signaling.

Autor/inn/en	Astruc-Le Souder, Mael; Bargain, Olivier; Locks, Gedeao
Institution	Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research
Titel	A Question of Honor? The Labor Market Advantage of Academic Signaling. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Eine Frage der Ehre? Der Arbeitsmarktvorteil der akademischen Signalisierung.
Quelle	Esch-sur-Alzette (2026), 39 S. PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Reihe	IZA discussion paper / IZA Network @ LISER. 18567
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Monografie
Schlagwörter	Bildungsertrag; Leistungsbeurteilung; Zeugnis; Einkommenseffekt; Personalauswahl; Adäquate Beschäftigung; Arbeitsplatz; Berufseinmündung; Unbefristeter Arbeitsvertrag; Universität; Studienerfolg; Master-Studiengang; Arbeitspapier; Auswirkung; Qualität; Hochschulabsolvent; Frankreich; Paris
Abstract	"As tertiary education expands, employers increasingly rely on academic distinctions to screen among similarly qualified graduates. We study the labor-market effects of honors using administrative and survey data on Sorbonne master's graduates. We exploit France's fixed GPA thresholds for honors assignment to implement a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. Returns are concentrated at the intermediate distinction ("High Honors"), indicating that credentials are most informative when they separate above- from below-average students. We find that High Honors accelerate school-to-work transitions, increasing the monthly job-finding rate by about 40%. Honors also generate an initial wage premium, which fades within two years, and lead to persistent improvements in job quality, including greater access to master's-level positions and faster transitions to permanent contracts. These results highlight the role of academic distinctions as short-run signals that shape early career allocation rather than long-term earnings." The study refers to the period 2015-2020 (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku).
Erfasst von	Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Update	2026/4