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Source: Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso
Light, Audrey L.
Identifying Sheepskin Effects in the Returns to Education
Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, April 2004.
Also: http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/labor/flores2004.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
Keyword(s): Education; Educational Attainment; Educational Returns; Schooling

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

[Exerpt from Introduction] In this study, we ask how to interpret the range of estimated sheepskin effects that arise from different model specifications. We begin with the observation that sheepskin effects are identified because individuals with a given amount of schooling differ in their degree attainment or, stated differently, because S varies among individuals within a given degree category. It is important to recognize that the variation needed for identification can represent 'signal,' 'noise,' or a combination of both, and that the source of variation determines which parameters are identified and how we should interpret the estimates. To illustrate the identification issues, suppose we observe variation in S among individuals who hold a bachelor's degree. This variation might accurately reflect the underlying behavioral process if, for example, some college students choose full-time (or even part- time) employment at the expense of more rapid progress toward a degree. The variation might also reflect measurement error: data that cross-classify individuals as college graduates with only 12, 13 or 14 years of school should certainly be met with suspicion, and even reports that appear more logical can be error-ridden. Variation in S within degree category is essential if we wish to identify S-D interactions in a wage model, but it is equally important to consider the source of variation. Under the first scenario, we might predict that the sheepskin effect increases with S because S is positively correlated with omitted in-school work experience, however, the estimate should be interpreted as a reward for work experience rather than evidence that employers use degrees to screen for unobserved traits. If the variation arises primarily from measurement error, it might pay to restrict the functional form of our wage model rather than rely on 'noise' for identification.
Bibliography Citation
Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso and Audrey L. Light. "Identifying Sheepskin Effects in the Returns to Education." Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, April 2004.
2. Lee, Marlena Iris
Essays on Household Behavior
Ph.D. Dissertation, Graduate School of Business, The University of Chicago, June 2008.
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
Keyword(s): Home Ownership; Household Composition; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Self-Employed Workers; Wage Dynamics; Wages; Wealth

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

The first chapter examines the relation between house prices and household consumption and provides evidence that the correlation between prices and consumption is mostly due to common drivers, not wealth or collateral effects. Using data from the PSID and the CEX, I show that consumption elasticities for owners with respect to statewide housing appreciation can be approximately halved with the inclusion of controls for per capita income and the unemployment rate. In a second approach, I use renters as a control group and show that owners and renters have similar consumption responses to housing appreciation.

The second chapter examines the return to self-employment experience in the labor market. There are two contrasting views of self-employment. First, there is the archetypal entrepreneur, who starts a business with the intention of ownership until failure or retirement. The second type describes the worker who enters self-employment when paid opportunities are poor and exits when a better opportunity arises. Using data from the NLSY from 1979-2004, I show that individuals with a single spell in self-employment, termed "non-repeaters," conform better to the career driven type of self-employment, while individuals with multiple spells in self-employment display characteristics consistent with opportunistic self-employment. Repeaters are more likely to be unemployed in the same year they are self-employed and have shorter durations in self-employment than non-repeaters. Non-repeaters are more educated and are more likely to be a professional. Evidence from repeater wages suggest that repeaters are not lower quality workers. Repeaters have higher wages than non-repeaters and non-entrepreneurs with similar characteristics. Additionally, the return repeaters receive for their self-employment experience is greater than both the return to wage experience and the return to self-employment experience for non-repeaters. Non-repeaters receive much lower returns to their self-employment experience, a pattern that can also be explained if non-repeaters are more likely to have career aspirations. Those with career intentions are more likely to exit due to failure. Alternatively, they are more likely to allow the skills required in paid employment to depreciate, or may have been lacking these skills altogether, thus requiring careers in self-employment.

Bibliography Citation
Lee, Marlena Iris. Essays on Household Behavior. Ph.D. Dissertation, Graduate School of Business, The University of Chicago, June 2008..
3. Zavodny, Madeline
Does Watching Television Rot your Mind? Estimates of the Effect on Test Scores
Working Paper, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 2004
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); High School and Beyond (HSB); Human Capital; National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS); Siblings; Socioeconomic Factors; Television Viewing; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

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

This study examines whether the number of hours of television watched by young adults is associated with human capital accumulation, as measured by test scores, and whether any such relationship is casual. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the High School and Beyond survey and the National Education Longitudinal Study all indicate a negative cross-sectional relationship between hours of television viewing and test scores, even after controlling for a variety of socioeconomic characteristics. However, comparisons of test scores between siblings at a point in time and within individuals over time suggest that television viewing does not negatively affect human capital accumulation.
Bibliography Citation
Zavodny, Madeline. "Does Watching Television Rot your Mind? Estimates of the Effect on Test Scores." Working Paper, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 2004.