PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Russell Weinstein
TI  - Local Labor Markets and Human Capital Investments
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.58.1.1119-10566R2
DP  - 2022 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1498--1525
VI  - 57
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/57/5/1498.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/57/5/1498.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2022 Sep 01; 57
AB  - I study whether human capital investments are based on local rather than national demand, using two positive and two negative shocks with differential local effects: the dot-com crash, the fracking boom, the 2008 financial crisis, and the shock making Delaware a financial headquarters. I find impacts on the share of sector-relevant degrees awarded following these shocks, on average across the United States. However, universities in areas more exposed to sectoral shocks experience greater changes in sector-relevant majors. Differential impacts on major choice at the most exposed universities account for 15–45 percent of the overall national effect on sector-relevant degrees.