However, because individuals vary in their timing of graduation, SIVP take-up and interviews, as well as in the duration of their SIVP participation, the calendar information is useful for calculating more exact times of graduation, SIVP participation, and exit from the programme.
This instrumental variable should correct the biases from endogenous choice of timing and location of graduation conditional on the highest degree attained.
"Timing one's quitting to coincide with a baby is like timing a breakup to coincide with graduation," she says.
To address the endogeneity issue regarding the timing and location of college graduation, Kahn (2010) uses the unemployment rate in the year when an individual turned 22 and the state of residence at age 14.
It was also perfect timing for his grandson's graduation.
The coincidence of the two milestones, graduation and publication, could be seen as the serendipitous joining of timing and maturity, but I don't think so.
Finally, in column (iv), we look at the timing of SIVP take-up (i.e. how soon after graduation individuals enrol in the programme), and the characteristics associated with that.
Column (v) also presents a simple regression of the timing of SIVP participation on the probability of spending the first three months after graduation unemployed, and the relationship is positive (i.e. those individuals who spend the first three months after graduation unemployed wait nearly 10 months longer on average before they participate in the programme).
These results are robust to controlling for the endogenous timing and location of entry, using an instrumental variable based on the predicted year of graduation and the state of residence at age 14.
Table 1 shows the timing of events leading up to the implementation of Prop 209 along with the timing of when various graduation cohorts are likely to have taken the SAT.
