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Does High School Employment Develop Marketable Skills?

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  • Russell Ormiston

Abstract

While decades of academic research have consistently demonstrated a positive relationship between high school employment and adult earnings, the literature is empirically silent in regards to why this association exists. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to examine the hypothesis that high school employment develops “marketable skills” in the form of occupation-specific human capital. By analyzing wage variation attributable to the commonality of skill portfolios across respondents’ high school and adult (age 20 and 23) occupations, this study fails to find consistent evidence that the types of skills utilized in high school employment are correlated with adult earnings. Within the framework of the human capital model, this would suggest that the positive, post-school economic gains of in-school work are largely attributable to increases in general human capital (e.g., workplace socialization, character building). Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Russell Ormiston, 2016. "Does High School Employment Develop Marketable Skills?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 53-68, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:37:y:2016:i:1:p:53-68
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-015-9219-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kathryn L. Shaw, 1984. "A Formulation of the Earnings Function Using the Concept of Occupational Investment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 19(3), pages 319-340.
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    4. Barry T. Hirsch, 2005. "Why Do Part-Time Workers Earn Less? The Role of Worker and Job Skills," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(4), pages 525-551, July.
    5. Robert H. Meyer & David A. Wise, 1982. "High School Preparation and Early Labor Force Experience," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 277-348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Freeman, Richard B. & Wise, David A. (ed.), 1982. "The Youth Labor Market Problem," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226261614, August.
    7. Light, Audrey, 1999. "High school employment, high school curriculum, and post-school wages," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 291-309, June.
    8. DeSimone Jeff, 2006. "Academic Performance and Part-Time Employment among High School Seniors," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-36, August.
    9. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1997. "Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 735-776, October.
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    1. Kritkorn Nawakitphaitoon & Russell Ormiston, 2016. "The estimation methods of occupational skills transferability [Die Methoden zur Einschätzung der Übertragbarkeit beruflicher Kompetenzen]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(4), pages 317-327, December.

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