This paper analyzes whether and how attending an internship during tertiary education affects income. We address endogeneity with an IV approach that exploits information regarding whether the internship was a mandatory component of the study. We further address selection into programs with mandatory internship by using the share of mandatory internships at the closest university, exploiting the low mobility of Swiss students. The results show that internships increase graduates’ incomes. We explore potential mechanisms for the effect of internships on income, finding that general human capital is the main mechanism rather than firm- or field-specific human capital, signaling, or screening. These results indicate that students should continue to invest in internships and that mandatory internships have a place in university curricula because they improve the quality of education.

本文分析了在高等教育中参加实习是否以及如何影响收入。我们通过IV方法解决内生性问题，该方法利用有关实习是否是研究的强制性组成部分的信息。我们利用最近的大学的强制性实习机会，利用瑞士学生流动性低的问题，进一步解决选择强制性实习计划的问题。结果表明，实习可以增加毕业生的收入。我们探索了实习对收入的影响的潜在机制，发现一般人力资本是主要机制，而不是公司或特定领域的人力资本，信号传递或筛选的主要机制。