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Driving, Dropouts, and Drive-Throughs: Mobility Restrictions and Teen Human Capita

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Abstract

We provide evidence that graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws, originally intended to improve public safety, impact both high school completion and teen employment. Many teens use automobiles to commute both to school and to employment. Because school and work decisions are interrelated, the effects of automobile-specific mobility restrictions are ex ante ambiguous. Combining variation in the timing of both GDL law adoption and changes in compulsory school laws into a triple-difference research design shows that restricting teen mobility significantly reduces high school dropout rates and teen employment. These findings are consistent with a model in which teens use automobiles to access educational distractions (employment or even risky behaviors). We develop a discrete choice model that reflects reduced access to school, work, and other activities, which reveals that limiting access to work alone cannot explain the reduction in high school dropout rates.

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  • Valerie Bostwick & Christopher Severen, 2022. "Driving, Dropouts, and Drive-Throughs: Mobility Restrictions and Teen Human Capita," Working Papers 22-22, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:94660
    DOI: 10.21799/frbp.wp.2022.22
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mobility Restrictions; Human Capital; Teen Employment; GDL Laws; Multiple Discreteness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions

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