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Leaving school in an economic downturn and self-esteem across early and middle adulthood

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  • Maclean, Johanna Catherine
  • Hill, Terrence D.
Abstract
In this study, we test whether leaving school in an economic downturn impacts self-esteem across early and middle adulthood. Self-esteem is of interest to economists because it is an established determinant of important socioeconomic outcomes such as wages, crime, marriage, health, and civic engagement. Previous research suggests that leaving school in a downturn can depress career trajectories, and social psychological theory predicts that career success is an important determinant of self-esteem. We model responses to a standard measure of self-esteem (the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale) as a function of the state unemployment rate at school-leaving. We address the potential endogeneity of time and location of school-leaving with instrumental variables. Our results suggest that leaving school in an economic downturn can undermine self-esteem over time.

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  • Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Hill, Terrence D., 2015. "Leaving school in an economic downturn and self-esteem across early and middle adulthood," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:37:y:2015:i:c:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2015.08.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Robert E. Moore, 2022. "Some Like it Hot: Assessing Longer-Term Labor Market Benefits from a High-Pressure Economy," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 18(2), pages 193-243, June.
    2. Johanna Catherine Maclean & Reginald Covington & Asia Sikora Kessler, 2016. "Labor Market Conditions At School-Leaving: Long-Run Effects On Marriage And Fertility," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(1), pages 63-88, January.
    3. Till von Wachter, 2020. "The Persistent Effects of Initial Labor Market Conditions for Young Adults and Their Sources," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 168-194, Fall.
    4. Yaa Akosa Antwi & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2017. "State Health Insurance Mandates and Labor Market Outcomes: New Evidence on Old Questions," NBER Working Papers 23203, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Webber, Douglas, 2022. "Government regulation and wages: Evidence from continuing coverage mandates," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Maclean Johanna Catherine & Hill Terrence D., 2017. "Economic Conditions at School Leaving and Sleep Patterns Across the Life Course," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 1-37, April.
    7. Shengjun Jiang, 2024. "Reasons for college major-job mismatch and subsequent job mobility and earnings growth," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 1275-1301, September.
    8. Hovi Matti, 2020. "The Lasting Well-being Effects of Early Adulthood Macroeconomic Crises," Working Papers 1823, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-esteem; Non-cognitive skills; School-leaving; Macroeconomic fluctuations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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