How Do Crises Affect Schooling Decisions?: Evidence from Changing Labor Market Opportunities and a Policy Experiment

Date
Dec 2008
This paper examines the effect of labor market opportunities on schooling and employment decisions in 12 urban areas in Argentina over 12 years, emphasizing the recession/crisis years of 1998-2002. In typical years deteriorating job rates boost the probability of attending school and decrease the probability of combining work and school, particularly for boys; the probability of being in school for secondary school children was about 6% higher in 2002 than in 1998. These estimates reflect a new 1996 Federal Education Law (FEL) that extended mandatory education to 10 years.