No Pass No Drive: Education and Allocation of Time

36 Pages Posted: 18 Oct 2011

See all articles by Rashmi Barua

Rashmi Barua

Singapore Management University - Department of Economics

Marian Vidal-Fernandez

IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor; The University of Sydney - School of Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 1, 2011

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, several states in the US have introduced No Pass No Drive (NPND) laws that set minimum academic requirements for teenagers under 18 to obtain a driving license. Using data from the U.S. Census and Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, we exploit cross-state, cross-cohort and cross-time variation in NPND laws to study their effect on educational outcomes and allocation of time among teenagers.

Estimates using the Census show that NPND laws have a positive and significant effect on both years of completed schooling and the probability of high school completion among boys and blacks, but not girls. Our results are robust with respect to several internal validity checks. Using the MTF, we show that NPND laws were effective in reducing truancy. We also find evidence of increased time allocated to school-work at the expense of leisure and employment activities.

Keywords: education incentives, allocation of time, dropout, no pass no drive laws

JEL Classification: J08, I2

Suggested Citation

Barua, Rashmi and Vidal-Fernandez, Marian and Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, No Pass No Drive: Education and Allocation of Time (October 1, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1945666 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1945666

Rashmi Barua (Contact Author)

Singapore Management University - Department of Economics ( email )

90 Stamford Road
178903
Singapore

Marian Vidal-Fernandez

IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

The University of Sydney - School of Economics ( email )

Rm 370 Merewether (H04)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006 2008
Australia

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