JOB MARKET PAPER
The Labor of Division: Returns to Compulsory Mathematics Coursework
Abstract: Labor economists know that a year of schooling raises earnings by 10-15% but have little clear evidence of
the impact of specific coursework completed during that year. I identify the impact of coursework on
earnings by using as a source of exogenous variation the differential timing of state-level increases in high
school graduation requirements. Increased math requirements induced large increases in both completed
math coursework and earnings for black males, results that are robust to changes in specification and
sample selection. Two-sample instrumental variable estimates suggest that, for black males, a year of math
can fully explain the value of a year of schooling. Non-math courses have zero or even negative returns.
Unconditional quantile regressions reveal particularly strong impacts on low-earning black males, though
middle- and high-earners also benefit. Black males subject to the reforms are more likely to complete
college and to work in math-intensive occupations, though these facts explain only a small portion of the
earnings increase. Though black females and white students completed more math courses, there is little
evidence of increased earnings. These results suggest that math coursework can explain a significant
fraction of the value of a year of schooling, that simple minimum requirements benefit low-skilled students,
and that more demanding requirements might be necessary to improve the outcomes of high-skilled
students.
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