Economics

Local Minimum Wages and Twelfth Grade Enrollment in California

In the paper above I look at how local minimum wages may affect students' high school enrollment decisions. A new minimum wage may affect enrollment by changing students' perceived payoffs to staying in education and/or working. To assess this, I estimate the effect of sub-state minimum wage policy on twelfth grade enrollment in California using yearly school enrollment data disaggregated by grade. In my preferred specification, I estimate treatment effects using a triple difference-in-differences estimator that accounts for the staggered introduction of local minimum wages. To do so, I exploit variation in local minimum wage policy across grade levels, regions, and time. I find that, except for two cohorts, enrollment typically increased in response to the introduction of a local minimum wage. For the remaining two cohorts, any changes in enrollment after adopting a minimum wage are relatively small and insignificant. Within this specification, I also allow for spillover effects, which are generally small in magnitude and insignificant.