The Effect of Illicit Drug Use on the Labor Supply of Young Adults

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of illicit drug use on the labor supply of a sample of young adults using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The paper investigates whether the frequency and timing of marijuana and cocaine use are systematically related to labor supply, and presents both cross-sectional and panel data estimates. The cross-sectional results are consistent with those of previous researchers, and suggest that illicit drug use has large, negative effects on labor supply. The longitudinal results, however, suggest that illicit drug use does not have a significant adverse impact on labor supply