Is participation in high school athletics an investment or a consumption good? Evidence from high school and beyond

Most high school students participate in at least one school-sponsored extracurricular activity, with varsity sports being the most popular. Conventional wisdom suggests that varsity sports participation provides participants with valuable skills. We use an instrumental variable approach to estimate whether the conventional wisdom is accurate. Using height as an instrument for participation, we find evidence that sports participation has a negative effect on the educational attainment of white male student athletes, a positive effect on the educational attainment and earnings of black male student athletes, and a positive effect on the educational attainment of white female student athletes. We find no effect of participation on the educational attainment or earnings of Hispanic males or black and Hispanic females. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.