Publication: Journal of Economic Education
Volume: Volume 27, No. 4
Issue: Fall 1996
Pages: 350-361
Author(s): Michael K. Salemi (University of North Carolina) and Carlie Eubanks (Raftelis Environmental Consulting Group)
Address (Principal Author):Michael K. Salemi, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina, CB 3305, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3305, (919) 966-5391
Internet Address (Principal Author): msalemi.econ@mhs.unc.edu
Title: Accounting for the Rise and Fall in the Number of Economics Majors with the Discouraged-Business-Major Hypothesis
Abstract: Between 1978 and 1994, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill experienced a cycle in the number of economics degrees it conferred that was more pronounced than that experienced nationally. A random sample of UNC economics majors between 1983 and 1994 shows that students who were screened out of the business curriculum made an economics major their second choice, accounting for a disproportionate share of the degree cycle.