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The proportion of U.S. high school students working during the school year ranges from 23 per cent in the freshman year to 75 per cent in the senior year. This study estimates how cumulative work histories during the high school years affect probability of dropout, high school academic performance, and the probability of attending college. Variations in individual date of birth and in state truancy laws along with the strength of local demand for low-skill labor are used as instruments for endogenous work hours during the high school career. Working more hours during the academic year does not affect high school academic performance. However, increased high school work intensity raises the likelihood of completing high school but lowers the probability of going to college. These results are similar for boys and girls, and so working during high school does not explain the widening gap in college entry between men and women.

Published abstract reprinted from 'Economics of education review', copyright 2010, with permission from Elsevier. Show less

By allowing agents to switch from entrepreneurship to wage work and vice versa over the life cycle, this study proposes a dynamic Jacks-of-All-Trades (JAT) model where entrepreneurs invest in highly varied skills to manage their business. [The authors] simultaneously endogenize human capital investment and occupational decisions. Using the survey data of Iowa State alumni graduating between 1982 and 2006, [the authors] find that the probability of selecting a broad curriculum, having a more varied career, and becoming an entrepreneur are jointly positively correlated. Academic diversity is found to be initially important in starting a business shortly after completing schooling, but its importance declines over time.

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Training funds are used to incentivize training in developing countries, but the funds are based on payroll taxes that lower the return to training. In the absence of training funds, larger, high-wage and more capital-intensive firms are the most likely to offer training unless they are liquidity constrained. If firms are not liquidity constrained, the fund could lower training investments. Using an administrative data set on the Mauritius training fund, we find that the firms most likely to train pay more in taxes than they gain in subsidies. The smallest firms receive more benefits than they pay in taxes.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Training funds are used to incentivize training in developing countries, but the funds are based on payroll taxes that lower the return to training. In the absence of training funds, larger, high-wage and more capital intensive firms are the most likely to offer training unless they are liquidity constrained. If firms are not liquidity constrained, the fund could lower training investments. Using an administrative dataset on the Mauritius training fund, [the authors] find that the firms most likely to train pay more in taxes than they gain in subsidies. The smallest firms receive more benefits than they pay in taxes.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less