NLS@50

Robert Michael

Professor

Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago & NORC

Principal Investigator of the NLSY97 and NORC Project Director

NLS user since 1983

Citations

• Robert T. Michael and Nancy Brandon Tuma. "Youth Employment: Does Life Begin at 16?" Journal of Labor Economics. 1984. 2(4):464 476.
• Sonalde Desai, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Robert T. Michael. "Mother or Market? The Effects of Maternal Employment on the Intellectual Ability of 4-Year Old Children." Demography. 1989. 26(4):545-561.
• Carolyn J. Hill and Robert T. Michael. “Measuring Poverty in the NLSY97.” Journal of Human Resources. 36, No.4(Fall 2001):725-761
• Robert T. Michael. “Children’s Cognitive Skill Development in Britain and the United States.” International Journal of Behavioral Development. Vol.27, No.5. 2003 pp396-408.
• Black, Dan, Robert Michael, & Charles Pierret. “Knowing younger workers better: Information from the NLSY97 .” Monthly Labor Review. 2008. (September):42-51.
• Robert T. Michael. 2016. Life Choices. Chicago:University of Chicago Press. In press.

What I learned from NLS data

Based on a fine-grained comparison of children from the U.S. and the U.K. at specific ages from 6 to 14, and for specific PIAT achievements tests, there are not systematic differences in the children’s test scores in reading comprehension or math despite the big differences in the two nation’s educational systems. In fact, “it appears that the differences in reading and math skills among the children of ages 10-14 years may be greater between the white and non-white US children than between the white British and the white US children.” {Michael. IJBD. 2003}