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The paper examines how labor supply and study effort respond to labor market conditions and college demands, using detailed work-and-study effort data from a partnership between Arizona State University and Uber enabling eligible drivers to take free online courses. Results show a 10% rise in online college activities reduces weekly time on Uber by about 1%.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/assessing-the-costs-of-balancing-college-and-work-activities-the-gig-economy-meets-online-education/583148/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/assessing-the-costs-of-balancing-college-and-work-activities-the-gig-economy-meets-online-education/583148.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"\tJames","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-09","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What does the study analyze about balancing college and work?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"It analyzes how labor supply and study effort respond when students combine work with online college activities, considering changes in labor market conditions and college demands.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How do online college activities affect time spent working on Uber?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"A 10% increase in average weekly online college activities reduces weekly time spent on the Uber platform by about 1%, suggesting a low short-run opportunity cost of studying while working.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Does work or study time harm academic or workplace performance?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The paper finds no adverse effects of work hours on academic performance in this context and no negative effects of study hours on workplace performance as measured by driver ratings or tips.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},583148,1792466307,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146,"preview_page_count":4},2336474466412,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Discussion Paper  \nISSN 2042-2695  \nNo. 2052  \nNovember 2024  \nAssessing the costs of balancing college and work activities:  \nThe gig economy meets online education  \nEsteban M. Aucejo Spencer Perry Basit Zafar  \nAbstract  \nBalancing the demands of work and schooling is a challenging task for an increasing number of students who have to pay their way through college and for workers who intend to upgrade their skills. However,flexible learning and working environments could play an important role in easing many frictions associated with performing both activities simultaneously. Using detailed (work and study effort) data – from a partnership between Arizona State University and Uber that allows eligible drivers to enroll in online college courses for free – we analyze how labor supply and study efforts respond to changes in labor market conditions and college activities/tasks. Our findings indicate that a 10% increase in average weekly online college activities reduces weekly time spent on the Uber platform by about 1%, indicating a low “short run”opportunity cost of studying when working. We also show that study time is not particularly sensitive to changes in labor market conditions, where a 10% increase in average weekly pay reduces study hours by only 2% . Consistent with these results, we find that workers take advantage of their flexible schedules by changing their usual working hours when their college courses are more demanding. We do not find adverse effects of work hours on academic performance in this context, or of study hours on workplace performance (as measured by driver ratings or tips) . Finally, the (elicited) value assigned to flexible working and educational formats is high among the students in our sample, who view online education as an important vehicle for increasing expected future income. Overall, this study underscores that combining flexible working and learning formats could constitute a suitable path for many (low-SES) students who work toafford an increasingly expensive college education and for workers aiming to improve their skill set.  \nKeywords: gig economy, education, flexible working  \nThis paper was produced as part of the Centre’s Education and Skills Programme. The Centre for Economic Performance is financed by the Economic and Social Research Council.  \nWe thank Alex Eble, Rajashri Chakrabarti, Sarah Cohodes, Peter Hull, Libby Mishkin, Maxim Pinkovskiy, Mariya Shappo, Miguel Urquiola, and Wilbert van der Klaauw for helpful comments. We also thank workshop/seminar participants at CEP-LSE (Education Group), Columbia University, Cirano, Duke University, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, IFS, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, NBER Education Fall Meetings, New York University, Royal Holloway, Toulouse School of Economics, Northwestern University, Penn State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Geneva, University of Oklahoma, University of Rochester, and Vienna University of Economics and Business. Finally, we are grateful to Tom Fikes, Annie Hale, Libby Mishkin, and Laura Wapelhorst for their help constructing the database used in our analysis.  \nEsteban M. Aucejo, Arizona State University, NBER and Centre for Economic Performance at London School of Economics. Spencer Perry, Arizona State University. Basit Zafar, University of Michigan and NBER.  \nPublished by  \nCentre for Economic Performance  \nLondon School of Economic and Political Science Houghton Street  \nLondon WC2A 2AE  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher nor be issued to the public or circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.  \nRequests for permission to reproduce any article or part of the Working Paper should be sent to the editor atthe above address.  \n􀂔 E.M. Aucejo, S. Perry and B. Zafar, submitted 2024.  \n1 Introducti","cbCaisWgv1DiIgAJ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisWgv1DiIgAJ","pdf",984717,85,"English","# Introduction\n## Study aims and research design\n## Data sources and empirical strategy\n# Main findings\n## Short-run opportunity costs of studying\n## Sensitivity to labor market conditions\n## Schedule adjustments and performance effects","[{\"question\":\"What does the study analyze about balancing college and work?\",\"answer\":\"It analyzes how labor supply and study effort respond when students combine work with online college activities, considering changes in labor market conditions and college demands.\"},{\"question\":\"How do online college activities affect time spent working on Uber?\",\"answer\":\"A 10% increase in average weekly online college activities reduces weekly time spent on the Uber platform by about 1%, suggesting a low short-run opportunity cost of studying while working.\"},{\"question\":\"Does work or study time harm academic or workplace performance?\",\"answer\":\"The paper finds no adverse effects of work hours on academic performance in this context and no negative effects of study hours on workplace performance as measured by driver ratings or tips.\"}]","Assessing the costs of balancing college and work activities: The gig economy meets online education | PDF",1792046013,214]