Sex, Drugs, and Catholic Schools: Private Schooling and Non-Market Adolescent Behaviors

46 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2000 Last revised: 2 Nov 2022

See all articles by David N. Figlio

David N. Figlio

Northwestern University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jens Ludwig

Georgetown University - Public Policy Institute (GPPI); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: November 2000

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of private schooling on adolescent non-market behaviors. We control for differences between private and public school students by making use of the rich set of covariates available with our NELS micro-dataset. We also employ an instrumental-variables strategy that exploits variation across metropolitan areas in the costs that parents face in transporting their children to private schools, which stem from differences in the quality of the local transportation infrastructure. We find evidence to suggest that religious private schooling reduces teen sexual activity, arrests, and use of hard drugs (cocaine), but not drinking, smoking, gang involvement, or marijuana use.

Suggested Citation

Figlio, David N. and Ludwig, Jens, Sex, Drugs, and Catholic Schools: Private Schooling and Non-Market Adolescent Behaviors (November 2000). NBER Working Paper No. w7990, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=248610

David N. Figlio (Contact Author)

Northwestern University ( email )

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Jens Ludwig

Georgetown University - Public Policy Institute (GPPI) ( email )

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