Arbeitspapier

Transitory Earnings Opportunities and Educational Scarring of Men

Men have fallen behind women in education in developed countries. Why? I study the impact of a transitory increase in the opportunity cost of schooling on men's and women's educational attainment. I exploit a reform in Iceland that lowered income taxes to zero for one year and compare teenagers above and below the compulsory schooling age. This earnings opportunity increased the dropout rate and led to a permanent loss in years of education for young men, but had no effect on the education of women. Male dropouts suffer substantial losses in lifetime earnings, slow career progression, and reduced marriage and fertility outcomes. The results cannot be explained by negative selection of dropouts or low returns to education but can be reconciled by gender differences in nonpecuniary costs of school attendance, myopia, or perceived returns to education. The findings suggest that due to these gender differences, economic booms misallocate young men away from school, entrenching the gender gap in education.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 16050

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
Analysis of Education
Returns to Education
Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Thema
educational attainment
opportunity cost
gender gap
labor supply
tax reform

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Sigurdsson, Jósef
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
(wo)
Bonn
(wann)
2023

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Sigurdsson, Jósef
  • Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Entstanden

  • 2023

Ähnliche Objekte (12)