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Do Former College Athletes Earn More at Work? A Nonparametric Assessment

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Author Info
Daniel J. Henderson () (State University of New York at Binghamton)
Alexandre Olbrecht () (Ramapo College of New Jersey at Mahwah)
Solomon Polachek () (State University of New York at Binghamton and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

This paper investigates how students’ collegiate athletic participation affects their subsequent labor market success. It uses newly developed distributional tests to establish that the wage distribution of former college athletes is significantly different from non-athletes and that athletic participation is a significant determinant of wages. Additionally, by using newly developed techniques in nonparametric regression, it shows that on average former college athletes earn a wage premium. However, the premium is not uniform, but skewed so that more than half the athletes actually earn less than non-athletes. Further, the premium is not uniform across occupations. Athletes earn more in the fields of business, military, and manual labor, but surprisingly, athletes are more likely to become high school teachers, which pays a relatively lower wage to athletes. We conclude that nonpecuniary factors play an important role in occupational choice, at least for many former collegiate athletes.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1882.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2005
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1882

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Related research
Keywords: nonparametric; generalized Kernel estimation; wage determination; earnings; sports economics; athletics;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods
J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Recreation; Tourism

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Li, Qi & Maasoumi, Esfandiar & Racine, Jeffrey S., 2009. "A nonparametric test for equality of distributions with mixed categorical and continuous data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 186-200, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Qi Li, 1996. "Nonparametric testing of closeness between two unknown distribution functions," Econometric Reviews, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 261-274. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Willis, Robert J & Rosen, Sherwin, 1979. "Education and Self-Selection," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages S7-36, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Li, Qi & Ouyang, Desheng, 2005. "Uniform convergence rate of kernel estimation with mixed categorical and continuous data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 291-296, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Peter Hall & Jeff Racine & Qi Li, 2004. "Cross-Validation and the Estimation of Conditional Probability Densities," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 99, pages 1015-1026, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Li, Qi & Racine, Jeff, 2003. "Nonparametric estimation of distributions with categorical and continuous data," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 266-292, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Racine, Jeff & Li, Qi, 2004. "Nonparametric estimation of regression functions with both categorical and continuous data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 99-130, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Long, James E & Caudill, Steven B, 1991. "The Impact of Participation in Intercollegiate Athletics on Income and Graduation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(3), pages 525-31, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Forrest D. Nelson, 1976. "On a General Computer Algorithm for the Analysis of Models with Limited Dependent Variables," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 138-154 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Bradley Ewing, 1995. "High school athletics and the wages of black males," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 65-78, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Eren,Ozkan & Henderson,J. Daniel, 2006. "The Impact of Homework on Student Achievement," Departmental Working Papers 0518, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics, revised 12 May 2006. [Downloadable!]
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