High school employment, high school curriculum, and post-school wages

The direct, skill-enhancing effect of high school employment is difficult to identify because high school work effort is correlated with curricular choices, postsecondary schooling and work effort, and many other observed and unobserved factors. This study uses data for male, high school graduates to estimate a wage model in which detailed measures of high school coursework and post-school work experience are included among the extensive array of covariates. Instrumental variable methods are used to contend with the correlation between high school employment and unobserved characteristics. The direct effect of high school employment on subsequent wages proves to be small and relatively short-lived. Young men who work in high school gain additional, "indirect" wage benefits by taking vocational courses and gaining above-average work experience after graduation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.