Housing Booms and Busts, Labor Market Opportunities, and College Attendance

Kerwin Kofi Charles, Erik Hurst and Matthew Notowidigdo

American Economic Review, 2018, vol. 108, issue 10, 2947-94

Abstract: We study how the recent housing boom and bust affected college enrollment during the 2000s. We exploit cross-city variation in local housing booms, which improved labor market opportunities for young men and women. We find that the boom lowered college enrollment, with effects concentrated at two-year colleges. The decline in enrollment during the boom was generally reversed during the bust; however, attainment remains persistently low for particular cohorts, suggesting that reduced educational attainment is an enduring effect of the recent housing cycle. The housing boom can account for approximately 25 percent of the recent slowdown in college attainment.

JEL-codes: I23 I25 J24 J31 R21 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20151604
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (109)

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Working Paper: Housing Booms and Busts, Labor Market Opportunities, and College Attendance (2015)
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