The economic return to college attendance for major league baseball players

Abstract

Using recently collected Major League Baseball free agent data, this study identifies a contract value premium for nonpitchers who attended college. Simultaneous equations and the more traditional earnings regressions are used to report results which support the implications of the human capital model and the schooling-earnings theory. The results also suggest that the labour market for baseball players may not be purely talent driven and that choosing college may slow down a player's accession to the majors.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank his research assistant Jesse Rubinstein for collecting the data, and Teresa Hutchins and Daniel Henderson for their valuable comments. The usual caveats apply.