Examines the effect of vocational coursework on the labor market success of the High School and Beyond seniors who did not attend college full time. Students taking 4 full-year vocational courses and 8 full-year academic courses in their final 3 years earned substantially more immediately after graduating than students taking 12 academic courses.…

A slack labor market could affect the high school dropout rate by discouraging students from dropping out or by encouraging them to seek work to cover family job losses. A longitudinal study of 680 New York State school districts favors the former conclusion. A district's yearly 3.7% dropout rate might increase 2% with a 1% increase in the county…

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, this article investigates whether students who made relatively large test score gains during high school had larger earnings 7 years after high school compared to students whose scores improved little. In models that control for pre-high school test scores, family background, and…

While male high school graduates were more likely to enroll in college than their female counterparts three decades ago, this pattern reversed by the late 1980s. The gender gap in college attendance rates has continued to increase ever since. In this paper, I examine several factors that might affect the diverging college entrance patterns for…

Investigates whether firms incorporated educated workers as a quasi-fixed production factor during the 1980s, when nonwage costs became more crucial. U.S. statistics show educated workers did not enjoy a relatively more stable relationship with employers. Their employment levels were adjusted in tandem with those of less-educated workers.…

Hypothesizes that the labor market recognizes differences in the educational quality and quantity of urban and suburban education and rewards young workers accordingly. Estimating earnings equations for African-American and white youths shows that attendance at a central city high school does, indeed, lower earnings between 4 and 10 percent. (12…

Uses individual-level 1990 census data to estimate multinomial logit models (featuring county-level averages) of young men's and women's educational enrollment and employment behavior. Estimates indicate that high-school leavers are sensitive to earnings opportunities. For graduates, increases in current earnings modestly reduce enrollments and…

Analyzes econometrically the relationship between individual school characteristics and earnings of students entering the labor force directly from high school, using High School and Beyond data. One category of characteristics, school-to-work interventions, is a predictor. Access to labor-market information and substantial work-for-pay experience…

Using data from three longitudinal surveys of American high school students, shows that vocational courses helped noncollege-bound students start their work life more successfully. Short- and medium-term payoffs to vocational courses rose substantially between 1972 and 1980 and remained high in 1992. Job-specific skills are valuable. (26…

Analyzes National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data to examine whether adolescents living in low-income cities have less accurate information about labor market institutions than affluent teens and whether information influences attainment. All teens underestimate educational requirements. Inner-city teens have less information than those in other…