Academic choice behavior of high school students: economic rationale and empirical evidence

This study examines the determinants of US students' choice of alternative programs of study in high school. An explicit theoretical framework grounded in optimizing behavior is derived. The empirical work is based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. The set of variables include student and family characteristics, peer behavior, and students' involvement in work outside the school. The estimation results confirm the theoretical predictions. They suggest that academic aptitude, pre-high school academic performance, and lifetime consumption goals as driven by peer pressure and family background are by far the most important determinants of program choice.