Loafing or Learning? The Demand for Informal Education

René Fahr ()
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René Fahr: University of Paderborn

No 859, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using detailed time use data for Germany a positive correlation is found between the level of schooling education and time investments in informal education. Two hypotheses explain this observation: (1) highly educated people have higher opportunity costs of their leisure time and thus prefer leisure activities which add to their market productivity (wage effect) and (2) highly educated people have a preference for ‘high quality’ leisure (taste effect). The demand for informal education is derived in a household production model accounting for both explanations. An empirical investigation finds evidence for both effects with the taste effect being the more important effect. Highly educated people accumulate human capital through their specific leisure time use. This increases the skill-gap between higher and lower educated people.

Keywords: informal education; lifelong learning; time allocation; household production; censored LAD (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C24 D13 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2003-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: European Economic Review, 2005, 49 (1), 75-98 and in: D. Hamermesh and G. Pfann (eds.). The Economics of Time Use, Elsevier, 2005

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