Does Alma Mater matter? Evidence from Italy*

Medicine .004
-.358***
(.071)
(.043)
Natural Sciences -.181
-.009
(.125)
(.075)
Political Science .067
.063
(.062)
(.067)
Nobs 400 400 404 404
R Squared
Note : see Table 8.
.97 .97 .97 .97
One reason why people enrol in private colleges and schools is because
they provide access to a potentially valuable network. We find some evidence
that the quality of this network and the quality of the network before going to
college are complements in the production of labour market returns.
Table 15. The effects of private college dummies on average employment effects
Private college dummies Poor
Poor
Good
Good
Background Background Background Background
Private universities .051
.116***
(.044)
(.039)
Economics .204***
.165***
(.035)
(.026)
Law .123***
.154***
(.026)
(.051)
Humanities .030
.084
(.080)
(.055)
Medicine -.087***
-.205***
(.015)
(.026)
Natural Sciences .141**
.245***
(.065)
(.030)
Political Science .059
.138**
(.066)
(.065)
Nobs 378 378 377 377
R Squared
Note : see Table 8.
.91 .91 .92 .92
Finally, we differentiate the effect of a private college in Table 16 and
find that the wage and employment effects are higher for those with better
background if they graduate from a milanese private university and lower if
they graduate from a roman university.
Table 16 The effects of private college dummies on earnings and employment
Private college dummies Wages
Good
Background
Wages
Bad
Background
29
Employment
Good
Background
Employment
Bad
background
Piacenza -.030 .015 .198*** .095