Abstract
Using abstracted grades and other data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we investigate the relationships between cumulative high school grade point average (GPA), educational attainment, and labor market earnings among a sample of young adults (ages 24-34). We estimate several models with an extensive list of control variables and high school fixed effects. Results consistently show that high school GPA is a positive and statistically significant predictor of educational attainment and earnings in adulthood. Moreover, the coefficient estimates are large and economically important for each gender. Interesting and somewhat unexpected findings emerge for race in that, after controlling for innate ability, academic performance, and other economic and demographic variables, African Americans advance further in the formal educational system than their White counterparts. Various sensitivity tests support the stability of the core findings.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 370-386 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Eastern Economic Journal |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 29 2015 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Earnings
- educational attainment
- high school grades
- panel data
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
Cite this
What you do in high school matters : High School GPA, educational attainment, and labor market earnings as a young adult. / French, Michael; Homer, Jenny F.; Popovici, Ioana; Robins, Philip.
In: Eastern Economic Journal, Vol. 41, No. 3, 29.06.2015, p. 370-386.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - What you do in high school matters
T2 - High School GPA, educational attainment, and labor market earnings as a young adult
AU - French, Michael
AU - Homer, Jenny F.
AU - Popovici, Ioana
AU - Robins, Philip
PY - 2015/6/29
Y1 - 2015/6/29
N2 - Using abstracted grades and other data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we investigate the relationships between cumulative high school grade point average (GPA), educational attainment, and labor market earnings among a sample of young adults (ages 24-34). We estimate several models with an extensive list of control variables and high school fixed effects. Results consistently show that high school GPA is a positive and statistically significant predictor of educational attainment and earnings in adulthood. Moreover, the coefficient estimates are large and economically important for each gender. Interesting and somewhat unexpected findings emerge for race in that, after controlling for innate ability, academic performance, and other economic and demographic variables, African Americans advance further in the formal educational system than their White counterparts. Various sensitivity tests support the stability of the core findings.
AB - Using abstracted grades and other data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we investigate the relationships between cumulative high school grade point average (GPA), educational attainment, and labor market earnings among a sample of young adults (ages 24-34). We estimate several models with an extensive list of control variables and high school fixed effects. Results consistently show that high school GPA is a positive and statistically significant predictor of educational attainment and earnings in adulthood. Moreover, the coefficient estimates are large and economically important for each gender. Interesting and somewhat unexpected findings emerge for race in that, after controlling for innate ability, academic performance, and other economic and demographic variables, African Americans advance further in the formal educational system than their White counterparts. Various sensitivity tests support the stability of the core findings.
KW - Earnings
KW - educational attainment
KW - high school grades
KW - panel data
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930069240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84930069240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/eej.2014.22
DO - 10.1057/eej.2014.22
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84930069240
VL - 41
SP - 370
EP - 386
JO - Eastern Economic Journal
JF - Eastern Economic Journal
SN - 0094-5056
IS - 3
ER -