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Do high school sports build or reveal character? Bounding causal estimates of sports participation

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  • Ransom, Michael R
  • Ransom, Tyler

Abstract

We examine the extent to which participation in high school athletics in the United States has beneficial effects on future education, labor market, and health outcomes. Due to the absence of plausible instruments in observational data, we use recently developed methods that relate selection on observables with selection on unobservables to estimate bounds on the causal effect of athletics participation. We do not find consistent evidence of individual education or labor market benefits. However, we do find that male (but not female) athletes are more likely to exercise regularly as adults, but are no less likely to be obese.

Suggested Citation

  • Ransom, Michael R & Ransom, Tyler, 2018. "Do high school sports build or reveal character? Bounding causal estimates of sports participation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 75-89.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:64:y:2018:i:c:p:75-89
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.04.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Sameer K Deshpande & Raiden B Hasegawa & Jordan Weiss & Dylan S Small, 2020. "The association between adolescent football participation and early adulthood depression," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Elena Claudia Meroni & Daniela Piazzalunga & Chiara Pronzato, 2022. "Allocation of time and child socio-emotional skills," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1155-1192, December.
    3. Richard W. DiSalvo & Jing Che, 2022. "Causal inference on the engagement effects of athletic participation from within‐student variation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(4), pages 1911-1928, October.
    4. Phipps, Aaron & Amaya, Alexander, 2023. "Are students time constrained? Course load, GPA, and failing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    5. Groen, Jeffrey A. & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2019. "Snooze or lose: High school start times and academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 204-218.
    6. Lesner, Rune Vammen & Damm, Anna Piil & Bertelsen, Preben & Pedersen, Mads Uffe, 2022. "The Effect of School-Year Employment on Cognitive Skills, Risky Behavior, and Educational Achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Elena Claudia Meroni & Daniela Piazzalunga & Chiara Pronzato, 2019. "Use of extra-school time and child behaviour," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2019-02, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    8. Laura M. Crispin & Michael Kofoed, 2019. "Does Time To Work Limit Time To Play?: Estimating A Time Allocation Model For High School Students By Household Socioeconomic Status," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 524-544, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; High school sports; Selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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