CAN SCHOOL SPORTS REDUCE RACIAL GAPS IN TRUANCY AND ACHIEVEMENT?
利用每日个体数据和球队赛程，研究高中体育参与对缺勤的因果影响，发现参与减少缺勤（尤其男孩无故缺勤），比赛日逃学减少但随后缺勤增加，且种族、性别和家庭结构的异质性可能显著缩小逃学与成就中的种族差距。
While existing research supports that participation in high‐school athletics is associated with better education and labor‐market outcomes, the mechanisms through which these benefits accrue are not well established. Using individual microdata collected daily, and team‐specific schedules, we retrieve estimates of the causal effect of high‐school athletic participation on absenteeism, suggesting that participation decreases absences, driven primarily by reductions in unexcused absences in boys. There are also strong game‐day effects in truancy, in both boys and girls, with truancy declines on game days more than offset by subsequent absenteeism. Important heterogeneity by race, gender, and family structure may serve to substantially reduce racial gaps in truancy and achievement.