Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13826
Authors: Thomas Le Barbanchon; Diego Ubfal; Federico Araya
Abstract: Does working while in school smooth students' transition into the labor market? We provide evidence on this question by leveraging a one-year work-study program that randomized job offers among over 90,000 student applicants in Uruguay. Program rules forbade employers from employing participants in the same job after program completion, and less than 5 percent of participants ever worked in the same firm again. Two years after the program, participants had 8 percent higher earnings. Our results suggest that the program's focus on work-related skills was a key mechanism for earnings impacts.
Keywords: student employment; randomized lottery
JEL Codes: J01; I20
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increase in school retention (I21) | Increase in future educational investments (I26) |
| Participating in the work-study program (I23) | Increase in earnings two years after the program (I26) |
| Participating in the work-study program (I23) | Increase in school retention (I21) |
| Participating in the work-study program (I23) | Increase in conscientiousness and work attitudes (M54) |
| Participating in the work-study program (I23) | Increase in mid-career wages (J31) |