Mozart or Pelé? The Effects of Teenagers' Participation in Music and Sports

81 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2015

See all articles by Charlotte Cabane

Charlotte Cabane

University of St. Gallen - Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research

Adrian Hille

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)

Michael Lechner

University of St. Gallen - Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research

Abstract

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this paper analyses the effects of spending part of adolescents' leisure time on playing music or doing sports, or both. We find that while playing music fosters educational outcomes compared to doing sports, particularly so for girls and children from more highly educated families, doing sports improves subjective health. For educational outcomes, doing both activities appeared to be most successful. The results are subjected to an extensive robustness analysis including instrumental variable estimation and a formal sensitivity analysis of the identifying assumptions, which does not reveal any serious problems.

Keywords: child development, leisure time activities, matching estimation, SOEP

JEL Classification: Z28, Z29, I12, I18, J24, L83, C21

Suggested Citation

Cabane, Charlotte and Hille, Adrian and Lechner, Michael, Mozart or Pelé? The Effects of Teenagers' Participation in Music and Sports. IZA Discussion Paper No. 8987, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2598927 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2598927

Charlotte Cabane (Contact Author)

University of St. Gallen - Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research ( email )

Varnbüelstr. 14
St.Gallen, CH-9000
Switzerland

Adrian Hille

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

Michael Lechner

University of St. Gallen - Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research ( email )

Varnbuelstrasse 14
St. Gallen, 9000
Switzerland
+41 71 224 2320 (Phone)

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