High School Employment: Consumption or Investment

摘要

During the middle 1970s, a number of prestigious commissions convened to study the problems of adolescents (e.g. Presidents Science Advisory Committee, 1974; National Commission on the Reform of Secondary Education, 1973; National Panel on High Schools and Adolescent Education, 1975) reached the common conclusion that additional early work experience would foster the development of personal responsibility, smooth the transition from youth to adulthood, and improve educational performance and occupational attainment. Shortly thereafter, a number of federal initiatives (e.g. the Career Education Incentive Act of 1977) were passed with the goal of increasing the employment experience of youths. These recommendations were made in the absence of any hard empirical evidence that increased job-holding causes or even is correlated with favorable outcomes. Economic theory also fails to provide unambiguous predictions concerning the efficacy of youth employment. For example, the human capital model identifies both potential benefits and costs of working.