Full Citation

Title: Essays On Human Capital And Altruism

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2018

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Abstract: This dissertation contains three self-contained chapters on human capital and altruism. The first two chapters explore why women used to lag behind but now exceed men in college enrollment. Chapter 1 shows that examining occupations that require only a high school degree ("non-college" occupations) can help resolve two puzzles. First, why do women attend college at greater rates than men today, when men work more and earn more than women? I document that non-college occupations for men are both more plentiful and higher paying than those for women. Next, I link the occupational inequality in the non-college labor market to the gap in college enrollment, by employing two empirical exercises to show that non-college jobs dramatically affect college-going decisions. Using employment changes in the oil and gas industry, I demonstrate that increases in men's non-college job opportunities lead male high school graduates to forego college enrollment. Using the automation of the office, I demonstrate that declines in the non-college employment opportunities of women lead female college enrollment to grow over time. Thus, women's lower non-college job prospects contribute to their higher college enrollment. This leads to the second puzzle: why did women initially attend college at lower rates than men, when women have always had worse non-college job . . .

Url: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2726/

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Authors: Chuan, Amanda

Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Department: Applied Economics

Advisor: Iwan Barankay

Degree: PhD

Publisher Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS

Topics: Other

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