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The Effect of High School Employment on Educational Attainment : A Conditional Difference-in-Differences Approach

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  • Franz Buscha

    (Crest)

  • Arnaud Maurel

    (Crest)

  • Lionel Page

    (Crest)

  • Stefan Speckesser

    (Crest)

Abstract

Using American panel data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 this paperinvestigates the effect of working during full-time education on attainment. In particular the focus ison students in the twelfth grade of high school. By employing a propensity score matching approachcombined with difference-in-difference methods we attempt to overcome problems of sample selectionand unobserved heterogeneity in order to estimate an unbiased effect of working during highschool. Results indicate that once such factors are controlled for, little to no effect on reading andmath scores are found. Neither do we find evidence of a negative impact for those who work longhours per week. We thus argue that working during schooling (twelfth grade) has little detrimentalimpact on grades per se.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:crs:wpaper:2007-40
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    Cited by:

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    2. Francesca Sgobbi & Fátima Suleman, 2015. "The Value of Transferable Skills," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 62(4), pages 378-399, September.
    3. Dettmann, Eva & Becker, Claudia & Schmeißer, Christian, 2010. "Is there a Superior Distance Function for Matching in Small Samples?," IWH Discussion Papers 3/2010, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    4. Dettmann, E. & Becker, C. & Schmeißer, C., 2011. "Distance functions for matching in small samples," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 1942-1960, May.
    5. Erdogan, Zeynep & Jacobsen, Joyce P. & Kooreman, Peter, 2012. "Do Babysitters Have More Kids? The Effects of Teenage Work Experiences on Adult Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 6856, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Cristina Lopez-Mayan, 2013. "Performance in Post-compulsory Education: Evidence from Vocational and Academic Tracks," Working Papers wpdea1302, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    7. Fougère, Denis & Beffy, Magali & Maurel, Arnaud, 2013. "The Effect of College Employment on Graduation: Evidence from France," CEPR Discussion Papers 9565, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Holford, Angus, 2016. "Do parents tax their children? Teenage labour supply and financial support," ISER Working Paper Series 2016-05, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Holford, Angus, 2015. "Youth employment and academic performance: production functions and policy effects," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-06, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    10. Magali Beffy & Denis Fougère & Arnaud Maurel, 2009. "L’impact du travail salarié des étudiants sur la réussite et la poursuite des études universitaires," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 422(1), pages 31-50.
    11. Baert, Stijn & Rotsaert, Olivier & Verhaest, Dieter & Omey, Eddy, 2015. "A Signal of Diligence? Student Work Experience and Later Employment Chances," IZA Discussion Papers 9170, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Michael Weber, 2016. "The short-run and long-run effects of decentralizing public employment services," ifo Working Paper Series 209, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    13. Rokicka, Magdalena, 2014. "The impact of students’ part-time work on educational outcomes," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-42, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    14. Kady Marie-Danielle Body & Liliane Bonnal & Jean-Fran篩s Giret, 2014. "Does student employment really impact academic achievement? The case of France," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(25), pages 3061-3073, September.
    15. Adewale H. Adenuga & Claire Jack & Austen Ashfield & Michael Wallace, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Participatory Extension Programme Membership on Farm Business Performance in Northern Ireland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-12, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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