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Just Above the Exam Cutoff Score: Elite College Admission and Wages in China

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  • Ruixue Jia
  • Hongbin Li
Abstract
A burgeoning literature has documented the importance of elite colleges. Yet, little is known about access to elite education and its labor market implications in China, a country that produces one in every five college graduates in the world. College admission in China is governed by a single exam—the national college entrance exam, and the government sets admission cutoff scores for elite colleges. We examine the impacts of scoring above the elite-tier cutoff on a student's access to elite colleges and wage outcomes after graduation, using the discontinuity around the cutoff score. By employing hand-collected survey data, we find that scoring above the cutoff not only increases the chance of entering an elite college but also raises a young person's first-job wages after graduation. We also find that those just above the cutoff have peers with higher scores and better social networks than those below the cutoff, but it is less clear whether the two groups use their time differently in college.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruixue Jia & Hongbin Li, 2021. "Just Above the Exam Cutoff Score: Elite College Admission and Wages in China," NBER Working Papers 28450, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28450
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Lu, Wei & Zhou, Sen & Wei, Yi, 2022. "Government policies and unintended consequences: Rising demand for private supplementary tutoring in China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Si, Ruichao, 2021. "Unexpected pressure? The effect of a curriculum reform on household educational investments and student outcomes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 730-746.
    4. Lin, Jiada & Wan, Haiyuan & Yu, Yangcheng, 2024. "What you breathe makes you poor: The effect of air pollution on income," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Lu, Wei & Yang, Po & Zheng, Shilin & Zhou, Sen, 2023. "Natural disasters and high-stakes exam performance: Evidence from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Canaan, Serena & Mouganie, Pierre & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "The Long-Run Educational Benefits of High-Achieving Classrooms," IZA Discussion Papers 15039, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Fernanda Estevan & Lucas Finamor, 2022. "School closures and educational path: how the Covid-19 pandemic affected transitions to college," Papers 2210.00138, arXiv.org.
    8. Oliver Anderson, 2022. "Walking the line: Does crossing a high stakes exam threshold matter for labour market outcomes?," CEPEO Working Paper Series 22-05, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jul 2024.
    9. Hui Deng & Rui Du & Dongmei Guo & Weizeng Sun & Yuhuan Xia, 2023. "High‐stakes examinations and educational inequality: Evidence from transitory exposure to air pollution," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 546-571, July.
    10. Zhang, Kexin, 2023. "The long-term impact of higher education: Evidence from the Gaokao reinstatement in China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Ma, Liping & Li, Xin & Zhu, Qiong & Ye, Xiaoyang, 2023. "College-major choice to college-then-major choice: Experimental evidence from Chinese college admissions reforms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Vu, Tien Manh & Yamada, Hiroyuki, 2022. "Returns to test scores in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 111714, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Borsi, Mihály Tamás & Valerio Mendoza, Octasiano Miguel & Comim, Flavio, 2022. "Measuring the provincial supply of higher education institutions in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Duryea, Suzanne & Ribas, Rafael P. & Sampaio, Breno & Sampaio, Gustavo R. & Trevisan, Giuseppe, 2023. "Who benefits from tuition-free, top-quality universities? Evidence from Brazil," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    15. Yang, Yu (Alan), 2024. "On the Spatial Allocation of College Seats: Human Capital Production and the Distribution of Skilled Labor," MPRA Paper 120498, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Chen, Yuanyuan & Yuan, Meng & Zhang, Min, 2023. "Income inequality and educational expenditures on children: Evidence from the China Family Panel Studies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Chen, Jidong & Liu, Shenglong & Zhang, Xiaoming & Zhou, Xingyu, 2023. "Building social trust through education," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Du, Xinming, 2023. "Competing with clean air: Pollution disclosure and college desirability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    19. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Mu, Kai & Wang, Shaoda, 2024. "English language requirement and educational inequality: Evidence from 16 million college applicants in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    20. Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Chenhao, 2024. "Centralization and regulatory enforcement: Evidence from personnel authority reform in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    21. Oliver Anderson, 2023. "Walking the line: Does crossing a high-stakes exam threshold matter for labor market outcomes?," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 01, Stata Users Group.
    22. Sirui Li & Philip Verwimp, 2024. "Standardized Testing for College Entrance: Evidence from a Major Examination Reform in China," Working Papers ECARES 2024-17, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    23. Ghazala Azmat & Jack Britton, 2024. "Labour Market Returns to Higher Education," Post-Print hal-04709561, HAL.
    24. Zhao, Nan & Shi, Chunyan & Wang, Chenyang, 2024. "Effects of the “double reduction” policy on the commercial tutoring sector in China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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