Two of the most important health risk factors for children and young adults are obesity and alcohol use. These risk factors are known to affect health and wellbeing, but may also have an impact on educational outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess a potential causal relationship...

This paper uses differences in educational attainment by birth cohorts to estimate the rise in the education premium in the U.S. If average ability is similar among nearby cohorts, then differences in educational attainment by cohort leads to differences in earnings only if education is...

Recent research concludes that wage returns to cognitive skills have declined in the U.S. We reassess this finding. Using decomposition methods, we document the pivotal role played by dynamic shifts in the distributions of pre-labor market cognitive skills. Our findings show these shifts explain...