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on Demographic Economics |
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Issue of 2012‒07‒01
twelve papers chosen by Clarence Nkengne Tsimpo University of Montreal and World Bank Group |
| By: | Myers, Caitlin Knowles (Middlebury College) |
| Abstract: | Recent research postulating that the diffusion of confidential access to the birth control pill to young women in the United States contributed to the dramatic social changes of the late 1960s and 1970s has not adequately accounted for the largely contemporaneous diffusion of access to abortion. Estimates using a new panel of data on state policies related to access to the pill and abortion indicate that while access to the pill may have played a role in the sexual revolution, it had little effect on the probabilities of entering into marriage and parenthood at a young age. In contrast, both the legalization of abortion and the enactment of laws permitting young unmarried women to consent to it led to substantial delays in marriage and motherhood. |
| Keywords: | abortion, contraception, fertility, marriage |
| JEL: | I18 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6661&r=dem |
| By: | Johnston, David W. (Monash University); Schurer, Stefanie (Victoria University of Wellington); Shields, Michael A. (University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | Using data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, we investigate the role of maternal gender role attitudes in explaining the differential educational expectations mothers have for their daughters and sons, and consequently their children's later educational outcomes and labour supply. We find that mothers' and children's gender role attitudes, measured some 25 years apart, are significantly correlated, equally so for sons and daughters. Moreover, daughters are significantly more likely to continue school beyond the minimum school-leaving age, participate in the labour force, and work more hours, if their mothers held non-traditional (pro-gender-equality) beliefs, even if they were not working themselves. Consistent with the hypothesis that maternal gender role attitudes affect daughters' economic opportunities only, we find no effect on sons' education outcomes and labour supply. However, we find that mothers' attitudes are significantly correlated with sons' partners' (daughter-in-law) labour supply. All these results suggest that the intergenerational transmission of non-traditional attitudes from mothers to their children explain a substantive part of gender inequalities in economic opportunities, and that attitudes and outcomes persevere across generations through assortative mating. |
| Keywords: | maternal gender role attitudes, intergenerational transmission, labour supply, human capital investment, expectations, cohort data |
| JEL: | J62 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6656&r=dem |
| By: | Bertocchi, Graziella (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia); Brunetti, Marianna (University of Rome Tor Vergata); Torricelli, Costanza (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) |
| Abstract: | We empirically study the determinants of intra-household decision power with respect to economic and financial choices using a suitable direct measure provided in the 1989-2010 Bank of Italy Survey of Household Income and Wealth. Focusing on a sample of couples, we evaluate the effect of each spouse's characteristics, household characteristics, and background variables. We find that the probability that the wife is in charge is affected by household characteristics such as family size and total income and wealth, but more importantly that it increases with the difference between hers and her husband's characteristics in terms of age, education, and income. The main conclusion is that decision-making power over family economics is not only determined by strictly economic differences, as suggested by previous studies, but also by differences in human capital and experience. Finally, exploiting the time dimension of our dataset, we show that this pattern is increasing over time. |
| Keywords: | family economics, intra-household decision power, gender differences |
| JEL: | J12 D13 E21 G11 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6648&r=dem |
| By: | Jule Specht; Boris Egloff; Stefan C. Schmukle |
| Abstract: | Individuals are expected to mature with increasing age, but it is not yet fully understood which factors contribute to this maturation process. Using data of a representative sample of Germans (N = 14,718) who gave information about their Big Five personality traits twice over a period of 4 years, we identified satisfaction with life, which was reported yearly, as an important variable for explaining mechanisms and interindividual differences in personality maturation. Dual latent change models suggest that more satisfied (compared to less satisfied) individuals experience more positive changes in Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and that positive changes in life satisfaction are associated with positive changes in personality. Furthermore, maturation processes were examined for individuals who faced a social role transition, namely, marriage, birth of a child, or entering the job market. Again, differential effects highlight the importance of life satisfaction for personality maturation. |
| Keywords: | Personality development, Big Five personality traits, life satisfaction, personality maturation, longitudinal latent modeling |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp455&r=dem |
| By: | Guillem López-Casasnovas; Catia Nicodemo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the disability transition probabilities (as well as the mortality probabilities) due to concurrent factors to age such as income, gender and education. Although it is well known that aging and socioeconomic status influence the probability of causing functional disorders, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the combined effect of those factors along the individuals' life and how this affects the transition from one degree of disability to another. The assumption that tomorrow's disability state is only a function of the today's state is very strong, since disability is a complex variable that depends on several other elements than time. This paper contributes into the field in two ways: (1) by attending the distinction between the initial disability level and the process that leads to his course (2) by addressing whether and how education, age and income differentially affect the disability transitions. Using a Markov chain discrete model and a survival analysis, we estimate the probability by year and individual characteristics that changes the state of disability and the duration that it takes its progression in each case. We find that people with an initial state of disability have a higher propensity to change and take less time to transit from different stages. Men do that more frequently than women. Education and income have negative effects on transition. Moreover, we consider the disability benefits associated to those changes along different stages of disability and therefore we o er some clues on the potential savings of preventive actions that may delay or avoid those transitions. On pure cost considerations, preventive programs for improvement show higher benefits than those for preventing deterioration, and in general terms, those focusing individuals below 65 should go first. Finally the trend of disability in Spain seems not to change among years and regional differences are not found. |
| Keywords: | Markov transition, disability states, cost of disability, Spain, survival analysis |
| JEL: | J11 I18 H55 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:643&r=dem |
| By: | Guillem López i Casasnovas; Catia Nicodemo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the disability transition probabilities (as well as the mortality probabilities) due to concurrent factors to age such as income, gender and education. Although it is well known that ageing and socioeconomic status influence the probability of causing functional disorders, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the combined effect of those factors along the individuals' life and how this affects the transition from one degree of disability to another. The assumption that tomorrow's disability state is only a function of the today's state is very strong, since disability is a complex variable that depends on several other elements than time. This paper contributes into the field in two ways: (1) by attending the distinction between the initial disability level and the process that leads to his course (2) by addressing whether and how education, age and income differentially affect the disability transitions. Using a Markov chain discrete model and a survival analysis, we estimate the probability by year and individual characteristics that changes the state of disability and the duration that it takes its progression in each case. We find that people with an initial state of disability have a higher propensity to change and take less time to transit from different stages. Men do that more frequently than women. Education and income have negative effects on transition. Moreover, we consider the disability benefits associated to those changes along different stages of disability and therefore we offer some clues on the potential savings of preventive actions that may delay or avoid those transitions. On pure cost considerations, preventive programs for improvement show higher benefits than those for preventing deterioration, and in general terms, those focussing individuals below 65 should go first. Finally the trend of disability in Spain seems not to change among years and regional differences are not found. |
| Keywords: | Markov transition, disability states, cost of disability, Spain, survival analysis |
| JEL: | J11 I18 H55 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1327&r=dem |
| By: | Aparicio Fenoll, Ainhoa (Collegio Carlo Alberto); Oppedisano, Veruska (University College London) |
| Abstract: | In Southern Europe youngsters leave the parental home significantly later than in Northern Europe and United States. In this paper, we study the effect of a monthly cash subsidy on young adults' emancipation, family formation, and fertility. The subsidy, introduced in Spain in 2008, is conditional on young adults renting accommodation, and it amounts to almost 20 percent of the average youngsters' wage. Our identification strategy exploits the subsidy eligibility age threshold to assess the causal impact of the cash transfer. Difference-in-Differences and Regression Discontinuity estimates show that the policy increases emancipation rates by 0.9-2.3 percentage points, couple cohabitation by 1.2-2.4 percentage points, and the probability of having children by 4.8-8.1 percentage points for 22 year-olds compared to 21 year-olds. The effect is larger among young adults earning lower incomes and living in high rental price areas. This is consistent with the hypothesis that youngsters delay emancipation and family formation because they are budget constrained. |
| Keywords: | rental subsidy, conditional cash transfer, youth emancipation, family formation, fertility |
| JEL: | J1 H2 I3 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6651&r=dem |
| By: | Yoshihiko Kadoya |
| Abstract: | In order to respond to the social security needs of an increasingly aged population, many governments with limited budgets are required to focus available resources on the direct causes of peoplefs anxieties about aging. This study investigated the causes of peoplefs anxieties about life after the age of 65 using household data from countries with different social contexts: Japan, the United States, and China. This research uncovered three major findings. First, the speed of population aging does not always make people anxious about life at an older age. Second, high financial status effectively lessens peoplefs levels of anxiety about their older years in Japan and the United States. Third, living with a child does not necessarily lessen peoplefs concern about life after 65. |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0847&r=dem |
| By: | Gertler, Paul; Vermeersch, Christel |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effect of performance incentives for health care providers to provide more and higher quality care in Rwanda on child health outcomes. The authors find that the incentives had a large and significant effect on the weight-for-age of children 0-11 months and on the height-for-age of children 24-49 months. They attribute this improvement to increases in the use and quality of prenatal and postnatal care. Consistent with theory, They find larger effects of incentives on services where monetary rewards and the marginal return to effort are higher. The also find that incentives reduced the gap between provider knowledge and practice of appropriate clinical procedures by 20 percent, implying a large gain in efficiency. Finally, they find evidence of a strong complementarity between performance incentives and provider skill. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Population Policies,Health Systems Development&Reform,Disease Control&Prevention,Adolescent Health |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6100&r=dem |
| By: | Dinuk Jayasuriya (Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University); Paul J. Burke (Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT Australia 0200) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates whether female political representation affects economic growth. Panel estimates for 119 democracies using fixed effects specifications and a system generalized method of moments approach suggest that, over recent decades, countries with higher shares of women in parliament have had faster growing economies. |
| JEL: | D72 J16 O11 O43 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:devpol:1218&r=dem |
| By: | Furtado, Delia (University of Connecticut); Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos (University of Cyprus) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of ethnic networks in disability program take-up among working-age immigrants in the United States. We find that even when controlling for country of origin and area of residence fixed effects, immigrants residing amidst a large number of co-ethnics are more likely to receive disability payments when their ethnic groups have higher take-up rates. Although this pattern can be partially explained by cross-group differences in satisfying the work history or income and asset requirements of the disability programs, we also find that social norms and, to a lesser extent, information sharing play important roles. |
| Keywords: | social security disability insurance, supplementary security income, networks, immigrants |
| JEL: | C31 H55 I18 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6649&r=dem |
| By: | Alicia H. Munnell; Anthony Webb; Luke Delorme; Francesca Golub-Sass |
| Abstract: | The National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) measures the share of American households “at risk” of being unable to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living in retirement. The NRRI is determined by comparing households’ projected replacement rates – retirement income as a percentage of pre-retirement income – with target rates that would allow them to maintain their living standards. A recent update shows that, in the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession, 51 percent of today’s working households are at risk.1 But a key assumption of the NRRI is that people retire at age 65. Clearly if people worked longer, the percentage at risk would decline. This brief adapts the NRRI calculations to address the question: At what age would the vast majority of households be ready to retire? The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section lays out the nuts and bolts of the NRRI and explains how it has been adapted for this analysis. Projected replacement rates are calculated not only for the generally assumed retirement age of 65, but also for every potential retirement age between 50 and 90. These replacement rates are then compared to a target rate to determine the percentage of house-holds “ready” for retirement at each age. The second section presents the results, showing the cumulative percentage of households ready for retirement at dif-ferent ages, with breakdowns by income and current age.2 The third section addresses how much longer households have to work beyond age 65 to be pre-pared for retirement. The final section concludes that over 85 percent of households would be prepared to retire by age 70. Thus, many individuals will need to work longer than their parents did, but they will still be able to enjoy a reasonable period of retirement, es-pecially as health and longevity continue to improve. |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2012-12&r=dem |