Abstract
This study examines the extent to which high school students respond to education and labor market incentives when making
decisions about homework. Student and state fixed effects estimators are used to control for unobserved individual and geographic
heterogeneity and selection. I find that students’ choices about homework respond to unemployment rates and changes in the
minimum wage, but not to changes in the price of higher education. These responses are not constant throughout the population:
female students, low income students, and low achieving students in particular increase their homework time in response to
a higher minimum wage, while male students are more responsive to changes in the unemployment rate.
decisions about homework. Student and state fixed effects estimators are used to control for unobserved individual and geographic
heterogeneity and selection. I find that students’ choices about homework respond to unemployment rates and changes in the
minimum wage, but not to changes in the price of higher education. These responses are not constant throughout the population:
female students, low income students, and low achieving students in particular increase their homework time in response to
a higher minimum wage, while male students are more responsive to changes in the unemployment rate.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-11
- DOI 10.1007/s12122-011-9113-x
- Authors
- Steven McMullen, Department of Economics, Calvin College, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA
- Journal Journal of Labor Research
- Online ISSN 1936-4768
- Print ISSN 0195-3613