Economic analysis of job-related attributes in undergraduate students' initial job selection

Economic tradeoffs students place on location, salary, distances to natural resource amenities, size of the city where the job is located, and commuting times for their first college graduate job are estimated using a mixed logit model for a sample of Texas A&M University students. The Midwest is the least preferred area having a mean salary premium of $15,230 necessary to locate in this area relative to a job in Texas. States bordering Texas had the smallest salary premium at $6388. Students also value shorter commute times and shorter distances to natural resource amenities. Job recruiters and students can use knowledge of the magnitude of these economic premiums associated with these job attributes as the basis for employment negotiations. Further, companies may consider including descriptions of the area's opportunities in commuting time and distance to natural resource amenities in their interactions with potential new hires.