• Daniel O. Beltran, Kuntal K. Das, Robert W. Fairlie
• Centre for Economic Policy Research

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27 March 2008Although computers are universal in the classroom, nearly twenty million children in the United
States do not have computers in their homes. Surprisingly, only a few previous studies explore
the role of home computers in the educational process. Home computers might be very useful for
completing school assignments, but they might also represent a distraction for teenagers. This report uses
several identification strategies and panel data from the two main U.S. datasets that include
recent information on computer ownership among children ? the 2000-2003 CPS Computer and
Internet Use Supplements (CIUS) matched to the CPS Basic Monthly Files and the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 ? to explore the causal relationship between computer
ownership and high school graduation and other educational outcomes. Teenagers who have
access to home computers are 6 to 8 percentage points more likely to graduate from high school
than teenagers who do not have home computers after controlling for individual, parental, and
family characteristics. The study generally finds evidence of positive relationships between home
computers and educational outcomes using several identification strategies, including controlling
for typically unobservable home environment and extracurricular activities in the NLSY97, fixed
effects models, instrumental variables, and including future computer ownership and falsification
tests. Home computers may increase high school graduation by reducing non-productive
activities, such as truancy and crime, among children in addition to making it easier to complete
school assignments.