IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlabec/v15y1997i4p735-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?

Author

Listed:
  • Ruhm, Christopher J

Abstract

This study examines how high school employment affects future economic attainment. There is no indication that light to moderate job commitments ever have a detrimental effect; instead, hours worked during the senior grade are positively correlated with future earnings, fringe benefits, and occupational status. These gains occur even though employed seniors attain slightly less education than their counterparts. The results are robust across a variety of specifications and suggest that student employment increases net investments in human capital particularly toward the end of high school and for females. Copyright 1997 by University of Chicago Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruhm, Christopher J, 1997. "Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 735-776, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:15:y:1997:i:4:p:735-76
    DOI: 10.1086/209844
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209844
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. See http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JOLE for details.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/209844?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard B. Freeman & David A. Wise, 1982. "The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature Causes and Consequences," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 1-16, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. K. Newey, Whitney, 1985. "Generalized method of moments specification testing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 229-256, September.
    3. Richard B. Freeman & James L. Medoff, 1982. "Why Does the Rate of Youth Labor Force Activity Differ across Surveys?," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 75-114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. David T. Ellwood, 1982. "Teenage Unemployment: Permanent Scars or Temporary Blemishes?," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 349-390, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Robert H. Topel & Michael P. Ward, 1992. "Job Mobility and the Careers of Young Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 439-479.
    6. Robert H. Meyer & David A. Wise, 1982. "High School Preparation and Early Labor Force Experience," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 277-348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Freeman, Richard B. & Wise, David A. (ed.), 1982. "The Youth Labor Market Problem," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226261614, October.
    8. Weiss, Andrew, 1988. "High School Graduation, Performance, and Wages," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 785-820, August.
    9. Duncan, Greg J & Hill, Daniel H, 1985. "An Investigation of the Extent and Consequences of Measurement Error in Labor-Economic Survey Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(4), pages 508-532, October.
    10. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Daniel R. Sherman, 1987. "Employment While in College, Academic Achievement, and Postcollege Outcomes: A Summary of Results," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 22(1), pages 1-23.
    11. Michael, Robert T & Tuma, Nancy Brandon, 1984. "Youth Employment: Does Life Begin at 16?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 464-476, October.
    12. Marvin M. Smith, 1985. "Early Labor Market Experiences of Youth and Subsequent Wages," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 391-400, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas A. Mroz & Timothy H. Savage, 2006. "The Long-Term Effects of Youth Unemployment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(2).
    2. Light, Audrey, 1999. "High school employment, high school curriculum, and post-school wages," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 291-309, June.
    3. Bart Cockx & Matteo Picchio, 2013. "Scarring effects of remaining unemployed for long-term unemployed school-leavers," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(4), pages 951-980, October.
    4. V. Joseph Hotz & Lixin Colin Xu & Marta Tienda & Avner Ahituv, 2002. "Are There Returns To The Wages Of Young Men From Working While In School?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 221-236, May.
    5. Möller Joachim & Umkehrer Matthias, 2015. "Are there Long-Term Earnings Scars from Youth Unemployment in Germany?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(4-5), pages 474-498, August.
    6. Charles L. Baum & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "The Changing Benefits of Early Work Experience," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(2), pages 343-363, October.
    7. Bacolod, Marigee & Joseph Hotz, V., 2006. "Cohort changes in the transition from school to work: Evidence from three NLS surveys," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 351-373, August.
    8. H. J. Holzer & R. J. LaLonde, "undated". "Job Change and Job Stability among Less-Skilled Young Workers," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1191-99, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    9. Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & John H. Tyler, 2000. "Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 23-37, February.
    10. Franz Buscha & Arnaud Maurel & Lionel Page & Stefan Speckesser, 2007. "The Effect of High School Employment on Educational Attainment : A Conditional Difference-in-Differences Approach," Working Papers 2007-40, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    11. Mijares, John C., 1997. "Early drug use and quits and discharges among adolescent males," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 439-458.
    12. Corinna.Ghirelli, 2014. "The scarring effect of early non-employment," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 14/895, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    13. Kahn, Lisa B., 2010. "The long-term labor market consequences of graduating from college in a bad economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 303-316, April.
    14. David Neumark, 1998. "Youth Labor Markets in the U.S.: Shopping Around vs. Staying Put," NBER Working Papers 6581, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Matthias Umkehrer, 2019. "The impact of declining youth employment stability on future wages," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 619-650, February.
    16. Fujii, Mayu & Shiraishi, Kousuke & Takayama, Noriyuki, 2013. "The Determinants and Effects of Early Job Separation in Japan," CIS Discussion paper series 590, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    17. Corinna GHIRELLI, 2015. "Scars of early non-employment in a rigid labour market," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2015008, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    18. Shvartsman, Elena, 2018. "The State of the Economy at Graduation, Wages, and Catch-up Paths: Evidence from Switzerland," IZA Discussion Papers 11622, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Corinna Ghirelli, 2015. "Scars of early non-employment for low educated youth: evidence and policy lessons from Belgium," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-34, December.
    20. Molitor, Christopher J. & Leigh, Duane E., 2005. "In-school work experience and the returns to two-year and four-year colleges," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 459-468, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:15:y:1997:i:4:p:735-76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JOLE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.