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The Impact of Repealing Sunday Closing Laws on Educational Attainment
- Journal of Human Resources
- University of Wisconsin Press
- Volume 48, Number 2, Spring 2013
- pp. 286-310
- 10.1353/jhr.2013.0009
- Article
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Adolescents face daily tradeoffs between human capital investment, labor, and leisure. This paper exploits state variation in the repeal of Sunday closing laws to examine the impact of a distinct and plausibly exogenous rise in the quantity of competing diversions available to youth on their educational attainment. The results suggest that the repeals led to a significant decline in both years of education and the probability of high school completion. I explore increased employment and risky behaviors as potential mechanisms. Further, I find a corresponding decline of the repeals on adult wages.