Salary and job satisfaction among economics and business graduates: The effect of match between degree field and job

• This paper compared labor market outcomes for graduates with economics and business administration majors.
• Economics graduates earn higher wages than business graduates.
• Economics graduates were more likely to work in jobs unrelated to the degree field.
• Mismatch had greater wage effects for business majors, and also lead to lower job satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper was to compare employment outcomes for individuals who majored in economics and business administration. Economics majors were more likely to work in a job unrelated to the degree field than business administration majors. Economics majors earned higher wages, and mismatch had a smaller effect on wages for economics majors than business majors. Mismatch also had a smaller effect on aspects of job satisfaction for economics graduates compared to business graduates.