Abstract
Much evidence suggests that having more education leads to higher earnings in the labor market. However, there is little evidence about whether having more education causes employees to experience lower earnings volatility or shelters them from the adverse effects of recessions. We use a large British administrative panel data set to study the impact of the 1972 increase in compulsory schooling on earnings volatility over the life cycle. Our estimates suggest that men exposed to the law change subsequently had lower earnings variability and less procyclical earnings. However, there is little evidence that education affects earnings volatility of older men.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 101-137 |
| Number of pages | 37 |
| Journal | Journal of Labor Economics |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 5 Oct 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |
Funding
Thanks to the UK data service for kindly allowing access to the data. Judith M. Delaney gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), received while undertaking part of this research. We also thank seminar participants at University College London and the 2016 Irish Economic Association meeting in Galway. This paper forms a chapter of Delaney’s thesis, which was completed at University College London. Delaney wishes to thank her advisors, Sir Richard Blundell and Eric French, for helpful comments. Contact
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Industrial relations
- Economics and Econometrics
