Essays in population economics

• Main Author: Manoukian, Sarkis
• Published: University of Essex 2013
• Subjects: 332.024
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.605558

This thesis is a compilation of research on the impacts on subsequent outcomes of key decisions made by young adults. Chapter 2 examines the determinants of the decision to leave home and to work of young adults in Britain. Results show that, for men, parental labour supply is more important than parental income and strong gender differences emerge. For example, unobserved factors are more important for women, while for men parental characteristics are more important. Furthermore, the impacts of the two decisions are more sensitive to age among men than women. The two decisions are jointly determined and should therefore be studied together, but separately for men and women. In Chapter 3 1 investigate the impact of the home leaving age on later life labour market outcomes. Unmeasured parental background and household factors are controlled for through a within-sibling model that compares outcomes between same-sex siblings. I find that exiting the parental home too soon can lead to worse later labour market outcomes. Men with low education have better outcomes on average if they delay leaving home and these estimated effects are larger when controlling for unobserved family effects. Women have better household level income and wealth outcomes if they exit early, which can be attributed to the marriage market. In Chapter 4 J investigate the relationship between higher education and subjective Well-being in the UK. I find that obtaining a degree is associated with lower subjective Well-being. I attribute this negative effect to higher expectations and aspirations of graduates compared to non-graduates. Using a sub-sample of university graduates I show that graduates from prestigious institutions have lower well-being relative to other graduates, which is consistent with the higher expectations and aspirations hypothesis.