Is there a Causal Effect of High School Math on Labor Market Outcomes?

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in Is there a Causal Effect of High School Math on Labor Market Outcomes?Juanna Schrøter Joensen Helena Skyt Nielsen The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit company supported by Deutsche Post World Net. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. Outsourcing of jobs to low-wage countries has increased the focus on the accumulation of skills -such as Math skills -in high-wage countries. In this paper, we exploit a high school pilot scheme to identify the causal effect of advanced high school Math on labor market outcomes. The pilot scheme reduced the costs of choosing advanced Math because it allowed for at more flexible combination of Math with other courses. We find clear evidence of a causal relationship between Math and earnings for the students who are induced to choose Math after being exposed to the pilot scheme. The effect partly stems from the fact that these students end up with higher education.JEL Classification: I20, J24

Numeracy and On‐the‐job Performance: Evidence From Loan Officers

“…5 Burks et al (2009) find that truck drivers with 4. Joensen and Nielsen (2009) show that higher earnings are mainly the results of differences in career paths and not of differences in earnings of individuals following a comparable career path. 5.…”

Mathematics and Gender: Heterogeneity in Causes and Consequences

“…We use Danish register data for the three cohorts of high school students of 1984-6. We extend the data in Joensen and Nielsen (2009) with seven additional years of earnings data, as well as detailed education and career data until 18 years after high school graduation. We focus on gender differences which we did not previously analyse.…”

“…This assumption is violated only if the school decides to participate in the programme based on the mathematics abilities of local students. Joensen and Nielsen (2009) test overidentifying restrictions by letting PilotIntro interact with each of the cohort dummy variables. They find that each of the interaction terms between cohorts 1984-6 and PilotIntro may be excluded from the outcome equation, while the interaction term between cohort 1987 and PilotIntro cannot.…”

“…See the Danish Law of public schools; see http://eng.uvm.dk. 5 ConsultJoensen and Nielsen (2009) for additional details on the Danish high school during the relevant period.6 Available course packages were labelled: social science and languages, music and languages, modern languages, classical languages, mathematics-socialscience, mathematics-natural science, mathematics-music, mathematics-physics and mathematics-chemistry.© 2014 Royal Economic Society.…”

“…Joensen and Nielsen (2009) elaborate more on the entrance procedures and the essential randomness of pilot school status.© 2014 Royal Economic Society.…”