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Source: Department of Economics, Washington State University
Resulting in 5 citations.
1. Cao, Jian
Stromsdorfer, Ernst W.
Weeks, Gregory
Human Capital Effect of the GED on Low Income Women
Working Paper, Department of Economics and Social and Economical Sciences Research Center, Washington State University, 1995
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, Washington State University
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Dropouts; Endogeneity; Family Income; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Labor Market Outcomes; Wage Gap; Welfare

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 1992 American Public Policy and Management Association annual meetings and the 68th Western Economic Association annual meetings in 1993. This study examines the impacts of the GED and other secondary and post-secondary credentials on labor market outcomes for women using data from the NLSY Mother and Children file and the Washington State Family Income Study. Correcting for sample selection and endogeneity bias of welfare recipiency, we find that one cannot distinguish between secondary dropouts, GED recipients, and secondary graduates in hours of work. Results on hourly wage rates are mixed. For the FIS sample, GED recipients, secondary graduates and secondary dropouts earn the same wage. For the NLSY, GED recipients fare better than dropouts, but worse than secondary graduates. Job experience explains the wage gap between GED recipients and graduates, but its explanatory power is dominated by controlling for years of education or AFQT. Differences in years of education and AFQT scores are responsible for the observed wage differences among the GED recipients, secondary graduates and secondary dropouts.
Bibliography Citation
Cao, Jian, Ernst W. Stromsdorfer and Gregory Weeks. "Human Capital Effect of the GED on Low Income Women." Working Paper, Department of Economics and Social and Economical Sciences Research Center, Washington State University, 1995.
2. Cao, Jian
Stromsdorfer, Ernst W.
Weeks, Gregory
Is the GED a Viable Human Capital Treatment for Poor and Welfare Dependent Women?
Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington State University, October 1993
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, Washington State University
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Dropouts; Endogeneity; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; High School Completion/Graduates; Labor Market Outcomes; Wage Rates; Welfare

This study compares labor market outcomes among high school dropouts, GED recipients, and conventional high school graduates using two longitudinal databases, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) Merged Child-Mother File and the Washington State Family Income Study (FIS) File. Correcting for sample selection bias and endogeneity bias of welfare recipiency, the study found that (1) for both the FIS and the NLSY, in terms of total annual hours of work the three groups are not statistically distinguishable and there is also no evidence of effect of GED on post-secondary education; and (2) any differences in before-tax average hourly wage rates among the three groups are accounted for by years of education completed for the FIS or by AFQT score the NLSY.
Bibliography Citation
Cao, Jian, Ernst W. Stromsdorfer and Gregory Weeks. "Is the GED a Viable Human Capital Treatment for Poor and Welfare Dependent Women?" Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington State University, October 1993.
3. Leigh, Duane E.
How Accurate are Workers' Perceptions of Future Pension Benefits?
Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington State University, Pullman, 1982
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: Department of Economics, Washington State University
Keyword(s): Pensions; Retirement/Retirement Planning; Unions; Wage Effects

Using data from the NLS of Older Men, this paper examines the accuracy of workers' perceptions of their future pension benefits by comparing expected benefits measured in l97l to benefits measured in l976. The empirical results suggest, controlling for the effects of variables likely to be related to accuracy of perceptions, that workers generally underestimate the level of pension income they will receive upon retirement. Extent of underestimation is found to be largest for individuals not yet old enough to retire and smallest for individuals who actually retired during the time period examined. There is no evidence of a systematic difference between union and nonunion workers in the accuracy with which future benefits are perceived.
Bibliography Citation
Leigh, Duane E. "How Accurate are Workers' Perceptions of Future Pension Benefits?" Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington State University, Pullman, 1982.
4. Leigh, Duane E.
Duncan, Gregory M.
Endogeneity of Union Status: An Empirical Demonstration
Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, Washington State University, Pullman, 1983
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: Department of Economics, Washington State University
Keyword(s): Endogeneity; Unions; Variables, Instrumental; Wage Determination; Wage Effects; Wages

An unsettled issue in the literature relating to the relative wage effect of unions is the appropriate treatment of union status in a wage determination model. In the context of a three-equation model determining union membership and union and nonunion sector wage rates, this paper presents an instrumental variables (IV) procedure for estimating the parameters of the wage equations and a test of the exogeneity of union status using the Hausman specification test. An advantage of our IV procedure in comparison to the widely used inverse Mill's ration procedure is that our procedure is a distribution-free estimator, whereas the inverse Mill's ration estimator hinges on the assumption that the joint probability distributions of the error terms are bivariate normal. Using data for a sample of middle-aged white workers, we estimate the parameters of the union and nonunion wage equations with both procedures. On the key question of the endogeneity of union status, the Hausman test decisively rejects the null hypothesis of exogeneity. The inverse Mill's ratio procedure, in contrast, provides coefficient estimates on the selectivity terms that fail to indicate evidence of sample selectivity in either sector.
Bibliography Citation
Leigh, Duane E. and Gregory M. Duncan. "Endogeneity of Union Status: An Empirical Demonstration." Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, Washington State University, Pullman, 1983.
5. Leigh, Duane E.
Gifford, Kirk D.
Workplace Transformation and Worker Upskilling Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington State University, April 1996
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, Washington State University
Keyword(s): Education; Firm Size; Occupations; Skill Depreciation; Skilled Workers; Skills; Training, Occupational; Training, On-the-Job; Transfers, Skill

How common is workplace transformation in the American economy? What are its implications for workforce skill requirements and training investments? The existing literature addresses these questions using firm-reported survey data. Using new data available in the 1993 wave of the NLSY, this paper examines these questions from the perspective of individual workers. Our empirical results suggest that workplace transformation is commonplace. Fully 40 percent of the private sector workers surveyed report that, in the space of just one year. a change occurred at work that was significant enough to require them to learn new job skills. The extent of workplace change varies widely by industry, occupation, firm size, and education; but there appears to be no sector of the economy that is totally immune. Incidence of formal training is found, not surprisingly given the measurement of workplace change, to depend on a similar set of variables. However, duration of training is also strongly affected by such factors as industry, occupational skill level, establishment size, and education. We also present results on the determinants of formal training broken down by computer skills, teamwork training, and basic skills. I folding constant worker and firm characteristics, computer skills training is especially strongly affected by firm investment in new equipment; while new government regulations and new equipment are key determinants of teamwork training and basic skills training.
Bibliography Citation
Leigh, Duane E. and Kirk D. Gifford. "Workplace Transformation and Worker Upskilling Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth." Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington State University, April 1996.