Volume 38, Number 3 (Summer) 2003
Coleman, Margo, and Thomas DeLeire. 2003. "An Economic Model of Locus of Control and the Human Capital Investment Decision." Journal of Human Resources 38(3):701-721.
We present an economic model of how teenagers'
outlooks-specifically their locus of control-affect their human capital
investments. Locus of control measures the extent to which a person believes
their actions affect their outcomes. The model allows locus of control to affect
teenagers' assessment of the return to education. The effect of eighth graders'
locus of control on high school completion and college attendance is examined
using the National Educational Longitudinal Study. The results indicate that
locus of control influences education decisions and suggests that locus of
control operates through teenagers' expectations of the returns to human capital
investments.
Margo Coleman is a research associate at the Child Welfare League of America. 440 First Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, DC 20001-2085. Thomas DeLeire is an assistant professor at the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637. The authors thank Joe Altonji, Jay Bhattacharya, Alex Cavallo, Greg Duncan, Rachel Dunifon, Annamaria Lusardi, Will Manning, Shannon Seitz, two anonymous referees, and seminar participants at the Northwestern/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research and the Canadian International Labour Network who provided many useful comments and suggestions. They also thank Steven Dixon and Meejung Chin for excellent research assistance. Financial assistance was provided by the McCormick-Tribune Foundation through a grant to the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy at the Irving B. Harris Graduate School for Public Policy Studies. The data used in this article can be obtained February 2004 through January 2007 from Thomas DeLeire at the address listed above.
© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X