Wage expectations: A comparison of Swiss and US students

Wage expectations can play a significant role in a variety of economic area s. This study analyses the wage expectations of students who are on the ver ge of making a decision concerning their educational path or who have alrea dy reached such a decision. Since each student in our study has been asked to discuss expectations in relation to various educational scenarios, this data can be used to check certain human capital theory assumptions. It is p ossible for example to ascertain the wage effects which students expect fro m certain educational decisions. Moreover it is possible to assess the expe cted rates of return on education without asking the students directly. The results of this study make it clear that both in the USA and in Switzerlan d the wage expectations of students do not differ significantly from the cu rrent cross-sectional labor market data, despite considerable heterogeneity in some cases.