Search Results

Author: Robst, John Michael
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Polachek, Solomon W.
Robst, John Michael
Employee Labor Market Information: Comparing Direct World of Work Measures of Workers' Knowledge to Stochastic Frontier Estimates
Labour Economics 5,2 (June 1998): 231-242.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537197000304
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Benefits; Benefits, Fringe; Training; Wage Differentials; Wage Levels

A number of papers use stochastic frontier estimation to measure a worker's incomplete information about available wages. These papers define incomplete information as the difference between a worker's wage and his or her maximum potential wage. Many question this approach since it essentially measures incomplete information as a residual, without independent evidence relating this residual to incomplete information. This paper introduces independent direct measures of workers' knowledge of the world of work obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men (NLSYM). Frontier estimates of incomplete information are compared to the direct measures of workers' knowledge. The results verify that stochastic frontier estimates provide a reasonable measure of a worker's incomplete wage information.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. and John Michael Robst. "Employee Labor Market Information: Comparing Direct World of Work Measures of Workers' Knowledge to Stochastic Frontier Estimates." Labour Economics 5,2 (June 1998): 231-242.
2. Robst, John Michael
Overeducation in the United States: An Evaluation of Its Economic Impact and Its Relationship to College Quality, Individual Ability, and Job Duration
Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1994
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Colleges; Job Requirements; Job Tenure; Labor Economics; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Overeducation; Training; Wage Effects; Work Experience

Studies have found that overeducated workers--those who have more education than their jobs require--earn less than comparably educated workers just meeting their job requirements. Sicherman (1991) proposed several reasons for the existence of overeducation. First, overeducated workers have less experience, tenure, and training than adequately educated workers. Second, overeducation may be part of the career mobility process, where workers temporarily accept jobs for which they are overeducated to receive additional training. I use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men and find: (1) significant biases in previous studies of the wage effects of overeducation due to unobserved heterogeneity; (2) significant ability and quality of schooling differences for overeducated workers; (3) overeducated workers may have greater mobility than adequately educated workers in similar jobs. The first issue addressed is the impact of potential heterogeneity biases on the wage effects of overeducation. If workers with low ability or quality of education are overeducated and receive lower wages, estimates of the wage effects may capture the earnings loss due to ability. Fixed effects models indicate no significant wage differential for overeducated workers. Thus, differences in typically unobserved characteristics may be responsible for the observed wage gap. The next chapter uses proxies for ability and college quality to examine the potential trade-off between the quantity and quality of schooling. Overeducated workers who attended lower quality schools or have less ability may need more schooling to be qualified for a job than the typical worker. Results indicate workers who attended lower quality colleges or have lower ability are more likely to be overeducated. The last chapter tests the mobility hypothesis described above. Sicherman found the average overeducated worker was more likely to change jobs than the average adequately educated worker. This could indicate they are more often employed in occupations which have shorter job durations. Thus I analyze the relationship between overeducation and job duration within occupations. I found overeducated workers may have shorter job durations even when in the same occupation.
Bibliography Citation
Robst, John Michael. Overeducation in the United States: An Evaluation of Its Economic Impact and Its Relationship to College Quality, Individual Ability, and Job Duration. Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1994.
3. Robst, John Michael
Weinberg, Charlie
Childhood Behavioral Problems and Dropping Out of School
Eastern Economic Journal 36,4 (Fall 2010): 523-538.
Also: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/eej/journal/v36/n4/pdf/eej200940a.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Journals
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Alcohol Use; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Behavioral Development; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Drug Use; Educational Attainment; Gender Differences; High School Dropouts; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Self-Esteem; Substance Use

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper examines the relationship between early childhood behaviors and dropping out of high school. The results indicate that boys exhibiting externalizing behaviors are more likely to drop out of school. No relationship between externalizing behaviors and high school graduation is found for girls. In addition, we examine the relationship between externalizing behavior and adolescent behaviors and outcomes often associated with an increased risk of dropping out. A relationship exists for boys between externalizing behaviors and outcomes such as alcohol and drug use, but the association is weaker for girls.
Bibliography Citation
Robst, John Michael and Charlie Weinberg. "Childhood Behavioral Problems and Dropping Out of School." Eastern Economic Journal 36,4 (Fall 2010): 523-538.