by Stephen M. LaFata
Abstract
This paper examines the effects of maternal employment on the decisions of
adolescents to engage in risky behavior. I attempt to control for possible endogeneity of
maternal employment by implementing instrumental variables. Ultimately, except for low
SES families, maternal labor is found to have no statistically significant effects on adolescent
risky behavior. Though low SES adolescents are found to benefit from a working mother,
this may be a result of endogeneity; possible endogeneity controls through instrumental
variables are ineffective, opening the door to future research with better endogeneity
controls.
Professor Marjorie B. McElroy, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: J1, J23,
