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Author: Wescher, Lance
Resulting in 2 citations.
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Wescher, Lance |
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Minimum Wage Effects on Employment and Post Secondary Education Choices Presented: Chicago IL, American Economic Association Annual Meeting, January 2017 Cohort(s): NLSY97 Publisher: American Economic Association Keyword(s): College Education; Geocoded Data; Minimum Wage Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. The existing literature claims a significant dis-employment effect for teenage and young workers as minimum wage levels increase. Less well understood is the impact on the human capital investments made by those affected. Young workers who are able to find work with higher minimum wages may be less likely to attend college as the opportunity cost of that choice increases, thus lowering college applications and enrollment. Conversely, those who are unemployed by the increase may see college as a more attractive choice in hopes of competing for jobs at higher wage rates. We use 1997-2011 longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth [NLSY97], including restricted geocode data, to further analyze the implications of a minimum wage increase on college enrollment for older teens. Using a multinomial logit model we find that an increase in the minimum wage leads to a lower likelihood of college matriculation among potential applicants. This adds an important factor to the ongoing discussion of minimum wage laws. |
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Bibliography Citation
Wescher, Lance. "Minimum Wage Effects on Employment and Post Secondary Education Choices." Presented: Chicago IL, American Economic Association Annual Meeting, January 2017. |
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Wescher, Lance Hutchinson, Travis Rannou, Anna |
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Minimum Wages, Employment, and College Enrollment The American Economist 64,1 (March 2019): 3-18. Also: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0569434518787485 Cohort(s): NLSY97 Publisher: Omicron Delta Phi Keyword(s): College Enrollment; Employment; Geocoded Data; Legislation; State-Level Data/Policy; Wages Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Most studies of the effects of minimum wage laws look exclusively at the labor market. This article investigates the less-researched topic of the effects of a minimum wage increase on enrollment in undergraduate higher education institutions in the United States. With a higher opportunity cost of pursuing an education given a higher minimum wage, potential students may opt to work instead of attend college. Conversely, if an increase in the minimum wage raises the unemployment rate for young workers, more people may enroll in college, as they are unable to find employment. Using restricted geocode variables and panel data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) over a period of time in which every state saw an increase in its effective minimum wage, we find that higher minimum wages do correspond to lower levels of college enrollment. We use a multinomial probit model to examine how tradeoffs are made between employment and college enrollment. Finally, we examine the transition path between college enrollment and employment. |
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Bibliography Citation
Wescher, Lance, Travis Hutchinson and Anna Rannou. "Minimum Wages, Employment, and College Enrollment." The American Economist 64,1 (March 2019): 3-18.
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