Do high school sports build or reveal character? Bounding causal estimates of sports participation

Abstract

We examine the extent to which participation in high school athletics in the United States has beneficial effects on future education, labor market, and health outcomes. Due to the absence of plausible instruments in observational data, we use recently developed methods that relate selection on observables with selection on unobservables to estimate bounds on the causal effect of athletics participation. We do not find consistent evidence of individual education or labor market benefits. However, we do find that male (but not female) athletes are more likely to exercise regularly as adults, but are no less likely to be obese.