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Author: Samaranayake, V. A.
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Bryant, Richard R.
Jayawardhana, Ananda
Samaranayake, V. A.
Wilhite, Allen
The Impact of Alcohol and Drug Use on Employment: A Labor Market Study Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
IRP Discussion Paper 1092-96, Institute for Research on Poverty, June 1996.
Also: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp109296.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Drug Use; Employment; Gender Differences; Hispanics; Human Capital; Modeling; Modeling, Logit; Racial Differences; Substance Use

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The purpose of this study was, first, to estimate the impact of alcohol and drug use on the employment status of men and women and, second, to examine whether a history of past use, as opposed to current use, adversely affects the propensity to be employed. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth we conducted a cross-sectional and a longitudinal analysis with logistic regression estimation to model the probability that a person was employed in 1992. In addition to usual regressors, interactions between substance use measures, between substance use measures and human capital variables, and between substance use measures and race dummies were included in the equation. The longitudinal analysis utilized a conditional likelihood method based on employment data in 1992 and 1988 and included the difference between 1992 regressors and their 1988 counterparts. A comparison was made between the prediction accuracy of the logit choice model, linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbor analysis, and three modern classification methods that are used extensively in the area of machine learning.

Results showed that the logit model performs relatively well in classifying individuals into employed and unemployed categories based on individual attributes. Results of the cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis were mixed but not inconsistent with our prior expectations that use of alcohol or drug has a negative impact on a person's propensity to be employed. Cross-sectional results show a clear negative impact of past substance use on a person's employment probability among all demographic groups examined (by gender: all persons, blacks, Hispanics, families with income below the poverty line, and high users of alcohol or drugs). However, when current and past use are considered together, only women seem to experience negative impacts. The results of the longitudinal analysis are less clear, although they do indicate that negative impacts are associated with the interaction between substance use measures and human capital variables. Limitations of the study are pointed out and suggestions are made for future research.

Bibliography Citation
Bryant, Richard R., Ananda Jayawardhana, V. A. Samaranayake and Allen Wilhite. "The Impact of Alcohol and Drug Use on Employment: A Labor Market Study Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth." IRP Discussion Paper 1092-96, Institute for Research on Poverty, June 1996.
2. Bryant, Richard R.
Samaranayake, V. A.
Wilhite, Allen
Influence of Current and Past Alcohol Use on Earnings: Three Approaches to Estimation
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 29,1 (March 1993): 9-31
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Education Association
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Earnings; Wage Rates; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Examined alcohol consumption and wages of 12,686 males (aged 21-28 yrs) from 3 perspectives. First, a 4-equation model used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate a wage equation and an hours-of-work equation for heavy drinkers and contrasted these estimates with wage and hours equations for moderate drinkers. The 2nd model used a variety of drinking thresholds to distinguish heavy drinkers from moderate ones; the association between current levels of drinking, wages, and hours of work was measured. The longitudinal nature of the data was then used to study the relation between a profile of drinking over the 1982 to 1985 period and earnings. The 3rd model investigated how the profile of drinking over the period 1982-1984 was related to the wage change between 1982 and 1985. Higher drinking levels correlated with higher wages and hours of work. Over time, however, increased drinking was associated with lower wages. (PsycINFO Database Copyright 1994 American Psychological Assn, all rights reserved)
Bibliography Citation
Bryant, Richard R., V. A. Samaranayake and Allen Wilhite. "Influence of Current and Past Alcohol Use on Earnings: Three Approaches to Estimation." Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 29,1 (March 1993): 9-31.