RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Wage Expectations of European Business and Economics Students JF Journal of Human Resources JO J Hum Resour FD University of Wisconsin Press SP 1116 OP 1142 DO 10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.4.1116 VO XXXIX IS 4 A1 Brunello, Giorgio A1 Lucifora, Claudio A1 Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf YR 2004 UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/4/1116.abstract AB Expected earnings and expected returns to education are seen by labor economists as a major determinant of educational attainment. In spite of this, the empirical knowledge about expectations and their formation is scarce. In this paper we report the results of the first systematic study of the wage expectations of European university students. Our data are based on a uniform questionnaire answered by about 3,000 business and economics university students across Europe. We study the determinants of wage expectations and expected employment probabilities, the variability of these expectations and their variation across countries and universities. We also examine the tradeoff between expected starting wages and expected wage growth.