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Do Male Dropouts Benefit from Obtaining a GED, Postsecondary Education, and Training?

Author

Listed:
  • Richard J. Murnane

    (Harvard University and NBER)

  • John B. Willett

    (Harvard University)

  • Kathryn Parker Boudett

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

The authors use longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to investigate whether the wage trajectories of male high school dropouts are affected by the acquisition of the General Educational Development (GED) credential, by postsecondary education, and by training. The authors show that acquisition of the GED results in wage increases for dropouts who left school with weak skills, but not for dropouts who left high school with stronger skills. College and training provided by employers are associated with higher wages for male dropouts.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & Kathryn Parker Boudett, 1999. "Do Male Dropouts Benefit from Obtaining a GED, Postsecondary Education, and Training?," Evaluation Review, , vol. 23(5), pages 475-503, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:evarev:v:23:y:1999:i:5:p:475-503
    DOI: 10.1177/0193841X9902300501
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ashenfelter, Orley C, 1978. "Estimating the Effect of Training Programs on Earnings," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(1), pages 47-57, February.
    2. Freeman, Richard B, 1974. "Occupational Training in Proprietary Schools and Technical Institutes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 56(3), pages 310-318, August.
    3. Kane, Thomas J & Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 1995. "Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 600-614, June.
    4. Miller, Paul W & Mulvey, Charles & Martin, Nick, 1995. "What Do Twins Studies Reveal about the Economic Returns to Education? A Comparison of Australian and U.S. Findings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 586-599, June.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5, September.
    6. Levy, Frank & Murnane, Richard J, 1992. "U.S. Earnings Levels and Earnings Inequality: A Review of Recent Trends and Proposed Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1333-1381, September.
    7. Lynch, Lisa M, 1992. "Private-Sector Training and the Earnings of Young Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 299-312, March.
    8. Cameron, Stephen V & Heckman, James J, 1993. "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 1-47, January.
    9. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Jepsen & Peter Mueser & Kenneth Troske, 2016. "Labor Market Returns to the GED Using Regression Discontinuity Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(3), pages 621-649.
    2. Zhang, Xiaoke & Zhong, Qixian & Wang, Jane-Ling, 2020. "A new approach to varying-coefficient additive models with longitudinal covariates," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    3. Lofstrom, Magnus & Tyler, John, 2004. "Measuring the Returns to the GED: Using an Exogenous Change in GED Passing Standards as a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 1306, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Tyler, John & Lofstrom, Magnus, 2010. "Is the GED an effective route to postsecondary education for school dropouts?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 813-825, October.
    5. Tyler, John H. & Murnane, Richard J. & Willett, John B., 2004. "The devil's in the details: evidence from the GED on large effects of small differences in high stakes exams," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 339-349, August.
    6. Christopher Jepsen & Peter Mueser & Kenneth Troske, 2015. "Second Chance for High-School Dropouts? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Postsecondary Educational Returns to General Educational Development Certification," Working Papers 201508, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    7. John H. Tyler, 2004. "Does the G.E.D. Improve Earnings? Estimates from a Sample of Both Successful and Unsuccessful G.E.D. Candidates," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(4), pages 579-598, July.
    8. John H. Tyler & Jeffrey R. Kling, 2004. "Prison-Based Education And Re-Entry Into The Mainstream Labor Market," Working Papers 2004-10, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    9. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01zk51vg782 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Rumberger, Russell W. & Lamb, Stephen P., 2003. "The early employment and further education experiences of high school dropouts: a comparative study of the United States and Australia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 353-366, August.
    11. James J. Heckman & Paul A. LaFontaine, 2006. "Bias-Corrected Estimates of GED Returns," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 661-700, July.
    12. Rob Buschmann & Joshua Haimson, "undated". "Bring Them Back, Move Them Forward: Case Studies of Programs Preparing Out-of-School Youths for Further Education and Careers," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 97a3c41bef2443f68a684044d, Mathematica Policy Research.
    13. Elaine M. Hernandez & Mike Vuolo & Laura C. Frizzell & Brian C. Kelly, 2019. "Moving Upstream: The Effect of Tobacco Clean Air Restrictions on Educational Inequalities in Smoking Among Young Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1693-1721, October.
    14. Christopher Jepsen & Peter Mueser & Kenneth Troske, 2017. "Second Chance for High School Dropouts? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Postsecondary Educational Returns to the GED," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(S1), pages 273-304.
    15. repec:mpr:mprres:6096 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Stenberg, Anders, 2011. "Using longitudinal data to evaluate publicly provided formal education for low skilled," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1262-1280.
    17. Magnus Lofstrom & John Tyler, 2008. "Modeling the signaling value of the GED with an application to an exogenous passing standard increase in Texas," Research in Labor Economics, in: Work, Earnings and Other Aspects of the Employment Relation, pages 305-352, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    18. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/6648 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Heckman, James J. & Humphries, John Eric & Mader, Nicholas S., 2011. "The GED," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 9, pages 423-483, Elsevier.
      • Heckman, James J. & Humphries, John Eric & Mader, Nicholas S., 2010. "The GED," IZA Discussion Papers 4975, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
      • James J. Heckman & John Eric Humphries & Nicholas S. Mader, 2010. "The GED," NBER Working Papers 16064, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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