Sandell, Steven H., and David Shapiro. 1980. "Work Expectations, Human Capital Accumulation, and the Wages of Young Women." Journal of Human Resources 15(3):335-353.

This article estimates the impact that young women's ex ante preferences for future labor force attachment have on their human capital accumulation and pay. Empirical evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women aged 14 to 24 in 1968 supports the human capital hypothesis that receipt of on-the-job training is positively related to expectations of future labor force participation. Comparing the actual labor force attachment of mature women with preferences for future participation of young women indicates that young women (as a group) may underestimate their future labor force attachment. This implies that some young women may underinvest in on-the-job training.

Sandell is a Brookings Economic Policy Fellow at the Office of Income Security Policy/Research/ASPE, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Shapiro is a Research Associate, Center for Human Resource Research, Ohio State University. The research assistance of Timothy J. Carr, Leyla Woods, and Julia Zavakos is gratefully acknowledged. Numerous helpful comments were received from colleagues in the Department of Economics and at the Center for Human Resource Research on an earlier version of this paper. This paper was prepared at the Center for Human Resource Research under a contract with the Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, under authority of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. None of its contents is to be construed as necessarily representing the official position or policy of the Department of Labor. Any remaining errors in the paper are the sole responsibility of the authors.

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US ISSN 0022-166X

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