Volume 29, Number 1 (Winter) 1994
Kaestner, Robert. 1994. "The Effect of Elicit Drug Use on the Labor Supply of Young Adults." Journal of Human Resources 29(1):126-155.
This paper analyses the effects of illicit drug use on the labor supply of a sample of young adults using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The paper investigates whether the frequency and timing of marijuana and cocaine use are systematically related to labor supply, and presents both cross-sectional and panel data estimates. The cross-sectional results are consistent with those of previous researchers, and suggest that illicit drug use has large, negative effects on labor supply. The longitudinal results, however, suggest that illicit drug use does not have a significant adverse impact on labor supply.
Robert Kaestner is a professor of economics at Rider College in Lawrenceville, N.J. He would like to thank Randy Filler, Jeff Grogger, Michael Grossman, Deborah Haas-Wilson, Ted Joyce, Donald Kenkel, Cordelia Reimers, and Gary Zarkin for their helpful comments and suggestions. He also would like to thank Andrea Lynch who provided excellent research assistance. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in August 1994 through August 1997 from the author at the address above. Robert Kaestner, Department of Economics, Rider College, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648, (609) 895-5523.
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