Economics

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Prime Opportunity: Amazon's Expansion and Teen Education Attainment
(2024) Graham, Benjamin; Preston, Anne Elizabeth
Amazon's distribution network has expanded rapidly and offered employment with compensation significantly greater than competitors in local low-skill labor markets. I investigate the effect of this disruption on local high school completion rates and community college enrollment. Over multiple specifications, I find evidence that high school completion rates significantly increase as a result of Amazon's expansion, especially among females and students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. These results are robust to several tests and insensitive to a large range of pre-trends. I also find evidence that community college enrollment significantly increases, again driven by females, though this result is not robust to certain tests. My investigation regarding opportunity cost and premiums is inconclusive due to data limitations.