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Disrupted Academic Careers: The Returns to Time Off after High School

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  • Nicolás de Roux
  • Evan Riehl

Abstract

This paper asks how academic breaks after high school affect individuals’ college and labor market outcomes. We exploit a policy that altered academic calendars in two regions of Colombia, which caused thousands of high school graduates to have to wait an extra semester to start college. Using administrative data and a synthetic control design, we show that the academic break caused many students to forgo enrolling in college at all. High-ability students who did not attend college had lower earnings seven years later, but forgoing college had little effect on earnings for lower-ability students.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolás de Roux & Evan Riehl, 2020. "Disrupted Academic Careers: The Returns to Time Off after High School," Documentos CEDE 18417, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:018417
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    Cited by:

    1. de Roux, Nicolás & Riehl, Evan, 2022. "Do college students benefit from placement into higher-achieving classes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    2. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Sven Fischer, 2023. "The Impact of a Large-Scale Natural Disaster on Local Economic Activity: Evidence from the 2003 Bam Earthquake in Iran," CESifo Working Paper Series 10502, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Returns to Education; College Enrollment; Academic Breaks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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