Risky behavior among youths : an economic analysis / edited by Jonathan Gruber.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gruber, Jonathan.

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

National Bureau of Economic Research conference report.

National Bureau of Economic Research conference report

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Decision making in adolescence--Economic aspects--Congresses.

Decision making in adolescence.

Risk-taking (Psychology) in adolescence--Economic aspects--Congresses.

Risk-taking (Psychology) in adolescence.

Youth--Psychology--Economic aspects--Congresses.

Youth.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (551 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Every day young people engage in risky behaviors that affect not only their immediate well-being but their long-term health and safety. These well-honed essays apply diverse economic analyses to a wide range of unsafe activities, including teen drinking and driving, smoking, drug use, unprotected sex, and criminal activity. Economic principles are further applied to mental health and performance issues such as teenage depression, suicide, nutritional disorders, and high school dropout rates. Together, the essays yield notable findings: price and regulatory incentives are critical determinants of high-risk behavior, suggesting that youths do apply some sort of cost/benefit calculation when making decisions; the macroeconomic environment in which those decisions are made matters greatly; and youths who pursue high-risk behaviors are significantly more likely to engage in similar behaviors as adults. This important volume provides both a key data source for public policy makers and a clear affirmation of the usefulness of economic analysis to our understanding of risky behavior.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Risky Behavior among Youths

2. Youth Smoking in the United States

3. Teens and Traffic Safety

4. The Sexual Activity and Birth-Control Use of American Teenagers

5. Explaining the Rise in Youth Suicide

6. Marijuana and Youth

7. The Determinants of Juvenile Crime

8. Environment and Persistence in Youthful Drinking Patterns

9. Dropout and Enrollment Trends in the Postwar Period

10. Youths at Nutrition Risk

Contributors

Author Index

Subject Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612004865

9781282004863

1282004867

9780226309972

0226309975

OCLC:

313477683