Question

The economic return to earning an MBA. Refer to the International Economic Review (August 2008) study on the economic rewards to obtaining an MBA degree, Exercise 1.27 (p. 51). Job status information was collected for a sample of 3,244 individuals who sat for the GMAT in each of four time periods (waves). Summary information (number of individuals) for Wave 1 (at the time of taking the GMAT) and Wave 4 (7 years later) is provided in the accompanying table. Use a graph to compare and contrast the job status distributions of GMAT takers in Wave 1 and Wave 4.

Job Status	Wave 1	Wave 4
Working, No MBA	2,657	1,787
Working, Have MBA	0	1,372
Not Working, Business School	0	7
Not Working, Other Graduate School	36	78
Not Working, 4-Year Institution	551	0
Total	3,244	3,244

Short answer

Job-status distribution refers to the job statuses of every aspirant taken into consideration. In this context, different statuses have been taken into consideration. A total of 5 combinations are taken into consideration to find out how many individuals fall in which category.

Step-by-step solution

Explaining Job-status distribution

Job-status distribution refers to the job statuses of every aspirant taken into consideration. In this context, different statuses have been taken into consideration. A total of 5 combinations are taken into consideration to find out how many individuals fall in which category.

Describing the bar graph

In the bar graph, the blue bars represent the values of Wave 1, and the pink bars represent the values of Wave 4. In the case of Wave 1, the number of individuals working without an MBA and not working while studying in an institution is more than that of in Wave 4.From here, it can be envisaged that during the time of Wave 1, the individuals were mainly focussing on studies, but during Wave 4, more individuals are observed to be maintaining an income source.