High school employment: Meaningful connections for at-risk youth

This research paper from the Urban Institute uses instrumental variable methods in order to estimate the effect that employment in high school will have on the long term education outcomes of students. 

"This paper extends earlier research on this topic in three ways. First, we focus primarily on youth who are clearly at risk of long term employment problems. Previous studies have focused on race differences. We argue that the at-risk status of students determined by school and family characteristics may be more relevant, because families and schools represent the two societal institutions most responsible for promoting social and economic mobility. Second, we examine long term outcomes that incorporate both employment and educational effects. Other studies have tended to focus on one or the other. Third, we examine the possibility of selection bias more extensively than most previous studies. While we find no evidence of a selection bias, we cannot completely rule it out." (Chaplin & Hannaway, 1996)

Contents

• Literature Review
• The Data
• The Variables
• Descriptive Results
• Motivation for Model
• Econometric Model
• Results