Description:

Basit Zafar (UMichigan): "Assessing the Costs of Balancing College and Work Activities:
The Gig Economy Meets Online Education"Spectral and post-spectral estimators for grouped panel data models" with Esteban Aucejo and Spencer Perry

Abstract: Balancing the demands of work and schooling is a challenging task for an increasing number of students who have to pay their way through college and for workers who intend to upgrade their skills. However, flexible learning and working environments could play an important role in easing many frictions associated with performing both activities simultaneously. Using detailed data from gig workers enrolled in online college education, we analyze how labor supply and study efforts respond to changes in labor market conditions and college activities/tasks. Ourfindings indicate that average
weekly college activities reduce weekly time spent on the Uber platform by 1.7 hours, representing a "short run" opportunity cost of only $41 per week. We also show that study time is not particularly sensitive to changes in labor market conditions, where a 10% increase in average weekly pay reduces study hours by only 2%. Consistent with these results, we find that workers take advantage of their flexible schedules by changing their usual working hours when college activities are more demanding. Finally, we do not find adverse effects of work hours on academic performance in this context, or of study hours on workplace performance (as measured by driver ratings or tips). Overall, the evidence
suggests that combining flexible working and learning formats could constitute a suitable path for many (low-SES) students who work to afford an increasingly expensive college education and for workers aiming to improve their skill set.