Premium
Some benefit, some are left behind: NAFTA and educational attainment in the United States
Author(s) -
GómezRamírez Leopoldo,
PadillaRomo María
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/ecin.13093
Subject(s) - educational attainment , human capital , leverage (statistics) , economics , free trade agreement , demographic economics , investment (military) , ethnic group , sample (material) , labour economics , international economics , international trade , free trade , political science , economic growth , chemistry , chromatography , machine learning , politics , computer science , law
This paper examines the persistent effects of eliminating tariffs on Mexican imports, following the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), on Americans' human capital investment. We leverage quasi‐experimental changes in tariffs on Mexican imports across birth cohorts and within states. We show that NAFTA increases the probability of ever attending college and earning a degree. These results, however, mask important heterogeneous effects within the sample. We find white Americans drive these positive effects. In contrast, the educational attainment of racial and ethnic minorities, especially men, shrank under NAFTA, decreasing their probability of graduating from high school.