The Impact of Repealing Sunday Closing Laws on Educational Attainment
利用美国各州废除周日歇业法的时间差异,发现该法废除后青少年面临更多娱乐选择,导致受教育年限和高中毕业率显著下降,并进而影响成年后工资水平。
Adolescents face daily tradeoffs between human capital investment, labor, and leisure. This paper exploits state variation in the repeal of Sunday closing laws to examine the impact of a distinct and plausibly exogenous rise in the quantity of competing diversions available to youth on their educational attainment. The results suggest that the repeals led to a significant decline in both years of education and the probability of high school completion. I explore increased employment and risky behaviors as potential mechanisms. Further, I find a corresponding decline of the repeals on adult wages.