PREFERENCES AND PRICES IN CHOICE OF CAREER - THE SWITCH TO BUSINESS, 1972-87

In the last two decades the largest single change in career plans of college students is the more than doubling from 1972 to 1987 of the proportion opting for business. The evidence suggests that a shift in preferences, a marked upsurge among the young in money-making as a life goal, was responsible for this, as well as movements in 'prices,' the relative returns from different occupations. The rise in interest in money-making is not due to greater insecurity among the young about their economic future, or worsened job expectations. Rather, it reflects greater concern about money among older adults, which influenced the young with a lag by re-shaping their life goals as they grew up. Empirical study of occupational choice would benefit from more attention to such non-market influences.