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Large-Scale Public Hiring, Wages, and Community Outcomes: Evidence from the Works Progress Administration

Author

Ayushi Narayan Economist, Community Development and Engagement
Large-Scale Public Hiring, Wages, and Community Outcomes: Evidence from the Works Progress Administration

Abstract

Using variation in the wage schedule of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), I document the effects of higher wages in this historical public hiring program. Higher WPA wages led to greater WPA employment but did not reduce unemployment levels. Impacts on private wages were unlikely to be equivalent in size but may have been small. Higher WPA wages did not influence the characteristics of WPA employees or their careers but had spillovers to WPA households. Teenage boys in WPA households were less likely to drop out early, and WPA households were more likely to have unmarried teenage girls at home.