(Peking University)
Abstract：Reservation wage refers to the lowest expectation of university graduates seeking employment, and commencing salary is the objective pricing and reality feedback of the labor market, where a reasonable reservation wage can hopefully raise the commencing salary level. Although the mechanisms of the two are different, the influencing factors remain basically consistent. Graduates are required to take into their consideration, as much as possible, the rules and standards of the labor market, if they are to successfully simulate the assessment of their labor value when setting their reservation wage. However, the differences in their cognition will lead to match or mismatch in terms of the factors of focus when the reservation wage as well as the pricing standards of commencing salary are set respectively. The paper points out that factors in empirical common sense and cognitive judgment which affect reservation wage are found to be in match with those affecting commencing salary. While the graduates can accurately recognize and rationally weaken the influence of identity factors of ethnicity and urban vs. rural regional household registration, as well as human capital factors of academic achievement, student position and computer certification, they have wrong judgment about such factors as ‘only child’, family wealth and professional capital, foreign language certification and career guidance, as well as cognitive ambiguity in family income, and cognitive mismatch in school reputation, all of which may well bring about too high or too low a reservation wage, and consequently incorrect expectation of commencing salary. Suggestions are thus made to maintain a realistic and therefore effective reservation wage, and hence to induce an attractive commencing salary.
Key Words：Commencing salary，Reservation wage，University graduates，Influencing factors