THREE ESSAYS ON THE DETERMINATION OF LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In the face of increasing labor market difficulties in the United States (US), it is important to study the determination of labor market outcomes in this country. This dissertation is an effort extended toward that direction. It consists of three chapters covering the effects of various factors on labor market outcomes in the US.

In the first chapter, I draw on the US Census 2000 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) 5% File to examine the effects of homeownership on employment and wages. Empirical strategies used include logit, ordinary least squares (OLS), and the maximum simulated likelihood (MSL) approach. Two instrumental variables are used to strengthen the robustness of estimations. Findings of this chapter suggest that, relative to renters, outright owners are more likely to be employed, and earn higher wages. Mortgagers have higher employment probability compared to renters. However, they are found to be no different than renters in terms of wages.

In the second chapter, I examine whether parenting style has any causal impact on children's adult labor market outcomes using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). Results from logit and OLS estimation suggest that parenting style is an important determinant of labor market success. Among four categories of parenting style, authoritative parenting style (AVPS) is found to be the most beneficial. Permissive parenting style (PPS) is seen to be better than uninvolved parenting style (UPS) only in terms of the number of weeks worked. In terms of other labor market outcomes, it is no different than UPS. On the other hand, authoritarian parenting style (ANPS) and UPS are found to be the same across the series of estimations performed.

The final chapter deals with the effects of obesity on wages drawing on the NLSY97. Obesity is represented by a continuous measure of body mass index (BMI) and BMI splines. Using OLS and fixed-effects (FE) methods, I find that white males receive a wage premium for higher BMI. Wages of all other ethno-gender groups seem to remain unaffected by obesity.