Volume 12, Number 2 (Spring) 1977
Lazear, Edward. 1977. "Schooling as a Wage Depressant." Journal of Human Resources 12(2):164-176.
Other things constant, students' measured wage rates are only about 85 percent those of nonstudents. This finding is consistent with a hypothesis that suggests that students receive an equalizing difference in the form of more flexible or easier jobs at the price of lower pecuniary earnings. Another finding of this study is that students who work only during the summer are less likely than others to accept lower-paying jobs. Furthermore, 92 percent of students who work change jobs upon graduation, and returns to school-leaving are linked to the switch. Finally, the results cannot be explained by student-glutted labor markets.
The author is Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research. The author wishes to thank Charlie Brown, Zvi Griliches, and Elisabeth Landes for useful suggestions. The final version of this paper owes much to the careful refereeing by Andrew I. Kohen and Donald Parsons. Financial support was provided by the Rockefeller Foundation through the National Bureau of Economic Research.
© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X