American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Parental Resources and College Attendance: Evidence from Lottery Wins
American Economic Review
vol. 111,
no. 4, April 2021
(pp. 1201–40)
Abstract
We examine US children whose parents won the lottery to trace out the effect of financial resources on college attendance. The analysis leverages federal tax and financial aid records and substantial variation in win size and timing. While per-dollar effects are modest, the relationship is weakly concave, with a high upper bound for amounts greatly exceeding college costs. Effects are smaller among low-SES households, not sensitive to how early in adolescence the shock occurs, and not moderated by financial aid crowd-out. The results imply that households derive consumption value from college, and household financial constraints alone do not inhibit attendance.Citation
Bulman, George, Robert Fairlie, Sarena Goodman, and Adam Isen. 2021. "Parental Resources and College Attendance: Evidence from Lottery Wins." American Economic Review, 111 (4): 1201–40. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20171272Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
- I22 Educational Finance; Financial Aid
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I24 Education and Inequality
- I26 Returns to Education
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity