Economic theories predict that women are more likely to exit the labor force if their partners' earnings are higher and if their own wage rate is lower. In this article, I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 2,254) and discrete-time event-history analysis to show that wives' relative wages are more predictive of their exit than are…

Recent studies have found a large earnings premium to attending a more selective college, but the mechanisms underlying this premium have received little attention and remain unclear. In order to shed light on this question, I develop a multidimensional signaling model relying on college grades and selectivity that rationalizes students' choices…

Previous estimates on the association between body weight and wages in the literature have been contingent on education and occupation. This paper examines the direct effect of BMI on wages and the indirect effects operating through education and occupation choice, particularly for late-teen BMI and adult wages. Using the National Longitudinal…

We use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to estimate the effects of cognitive skills (measured by the Armed Forces Qualification Test) and attitudinal/behavioral traits (a latent factor based on self-reported self-esteem, locus of control, educational aspirations and educational expectations) on career wage…

Some research has shown discrepancies in earnings trends between the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the Current Population Survey. When the sample is limited to full-time, year-round workers, the discrepancies are largely eliminated. (SK)

To examine the impact of rising wage inequality on lifetime wage growth, a study compared the wage mobility experienced by two cohorts of young white men from the National Longitudinal Surveys. The original cohort entered the labor market in the mid-1960s at the end of the economic boom and was followed through the end of the 1970s. The recent…

A wage models in which college-educated workers are classified according to their degree attainment, college type, and college transfer status are examined using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Transfer students receive an 'indirect' wage benefit as changing colleges allows them to earn a degree.

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for 1979 through 1991 are used to demonstrate that acquisition of the General Educational Development (GED) credential is associated with an increase in the rate of wage growth for male high school dropouts. (SLD)

To determine whether there has been a secular rise in job instability among young adults over the past 3 decades, a study compared two National Longitudinal Survey cohorts of young white men. The first cohort entered the labor market in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the second during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The study examined…