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on Demographic Economics |
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Issue of 2012‒12‒22
38 papers chosen by Clarence Nkengne Tsimpo University of Montreal and World Bank Group |
| By: | René Böheim; Mario Francesconi; Martin Halla |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of joint custody on marriage, divorce, fertility and female employment in Austria using individual-level administrative data, covering the entire population. We also use unique data obtained from court records to analyze the effect on post-divorce outcomes. Our estimates show that joint custody significantly reduces divorce and female employment rates, significantly increases marriage and marital birth rates, and leads to a substantial increase in the total money transfer received by mothers after divorce. We interpret these results as evidence against Becker-Coase bargains and in support of a mechanism driven by a resource redistribution that favors men giving them greater incentives to invest in marriage specific capital. |
| Keywords: | Divorce; Fertility; Bargaining; Intrahousehold Allocations; Austria |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J18 K36 N32 R2 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:nrnwps:2012_15&r=dem |
| By: | Andrew Newell (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, UK; IZA, Bonn, Germany); Ian Gazeley (Department of History, University of Sussex, UK) |
| Abstract: | At the beginning of the twentieth century Britain was roughly halfway through a 60-year demographic transition with declining infant mortality and birth rates. Cities exhibited great and strongly correlated diversity in these rates. We demonstrate cross–section correlations with, for instance, women’s employment, population density, literacy and improved water supply and sanitation, that have been linked to the transition. When we analyse data from the late 1850s and the early 1900s, the changes in the two rates are not correlated across cities, but we find a robust and large impact from sanitation improvement to long-period infant mortality reduction. We also find the extension of basic literacy is related to increases in female labour market participation, which is in turn related to fertility reduction. Lastly we find that more rapid urban growth accelerates fertility decline, but, in late 19th century Britain it slowed the reduction of infant mortality. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, infant mortality, education and sanitary reform, 19th century and early 20th century Britain. |
| JEL: | N33 J13 I15 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:4812&r=dem |
| By: | Ge, Suqin (Virginia Tech); Yang, Dennis Tao (University of Virginia); Zhang, Junsen (Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | Using combined data from population censuses and Urban Household Surveys, we study the effects of demographic structural changes on the rise in household saving in China. Variations in fines across provinces on unauthorized births under the one-child policy and in cohort-specific fertility influenced by the implementation of population control policies are exploited to facilitate identification. We find evidence that older households with a reduced number of adult children save more because of old-age security concerns, middle-aged households experience an increase in saving due to the lighter burden of dependent children, and younger households save more because of having fewer siblings to share the responsibility of parental care. These findings lend support to a simple economic model in which the effects of population control policies are investigated in the context of household saving decisions in China. |
| Keywords: | household saving, one-child policy, demographic structure, cohort analysis, China |
| JEL: | E21 J11 J13 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7026&r=dem |
| By: | Dror Brenner; Yona Rubinstein |
| Abstract: | We use non-random sorting into interethnic marriage and salient differences between Sephardic and Ashkenazi surnames to evaluate the causal impact of Sephardic affiliation on wages. Using the 1995 Israeli Census, we estimate the effect of a Sephardic affiliation on wages. We first compare the wages of Israeli Jewish males born to Sephardic fathers and Ashkenazi mothers (SA), who are more likely to carry a Sephardic surname, with the wages of Israeli Jewish males born to Ashkenazi fathers and Sephardic mothers (AS). We find that SA workers earn significantly less than their AS counterparts. We then exploit the custom of women to adopt their husbands. surnames to disentangle actual ethnicity from the ethnicity perceived by the market. Consistent with our interpretation of the results for males, we find that it is father-in-law's ethnicity - rather than father's ethnicity - that shapes female wage rates, yet only for daughters of interethnic couples and others with mild skin tone who have equal chances to be perceived either as an Ashkenazi or as a Sephardic group member. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1180&r=dem |
| By: | Jessica Dye (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology); Stephanie Rossouw (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology); Gail Pacheco (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | As the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893, New Zealand (NZ) has often been viewed as a leader in the global movement towards gender equality. This paper aims to assess trends in overall well-being for NZ women, by pulling together a range of statistical indicators across five key facets of well-being: demographic and family changes, education, employment, health, and crime and violence. From our analysis two contrasting pictures emerge. The first is that NZ women are clearly making up ground in respect of their education, participation in the labour force (less so in terms of wage equality), and overall health outcomes (barring mental health issues, such as depression). In the second, however, NZ women are trailing behind their other developed nation counterparts when one considers crime and violence, both committed against and by them. |
| Keywords: | Gender equality, women's well-being |
| JEL: | I10 J10 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aut:wpaper:201207&r=dem |
| By: | Valérie Golaz; Laurent Nowik; Muriel Sajoux |
| Abstract: | The countries of Africa have young populations today, but progress in life expectancy and the sharp drop in birth rates will lead to population ageing. This change will be incomparably faster than the slow ageing process observed in developed countries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: by 2050, the number of persons aged 60 and over will increase four-fold in Africa, raising yet another social challenge for the continent. At present, old persons in Africa are supported primarily through private solidarity. In the future, it will be increasingly difficult for families to meet the special needs of growing numbers of older adults unless public policies can provide the necessary backup. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:posoce:491&r=dem |
| By: | Herbst, Chris M. (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | Although a large literature examines the effect of non-parental child care on preschool-aged children's cognitive development, few studies deal convincingly with the potential endogeneity of child care choices. Using a panel of infants and toddlers from the Birth cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-B), this paper attempts to provide causal estimates by leveraging heretofore unrecognized seasonal variation in child care participation. Child assessments in the ECLS-B were conducted on a rolling basis throughout the year, and I use the participation "dip" among those assessed during the summer as the basis for an instrumental variable. The summer participation "dip" is likely to be exogenous because ECLS-B administrators strictly controlled the mechanism by which children were assigned to assessment dates. The OLS results show that children utilizing non-parental arrangements score higher on tests of mental ability, a finding that holds after accounting for individual fixed effects. However, the instrumental variables estimates point to sizeable negative effects of non-parental care. The adverse effects are driven by participation in formal settings, and, contrary to previous research, I find that disadvantaged children do not benefit from exposure to non-parental child care settings. |
| Keywords: | child care, child development, maternal employment |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7039&r=dem |
| By: | Hippolyte d'Albis (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Fabrice Collard (Department of Economics - University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes the use of optimal grouping methods for determining the various age groups within a population. The cutoff ages for these groups, such as the age from wich an individual is considered to be an older person, are then endogenous variables that depend on the entire population age distribution at any given moment. This method is applied to the age distributions of some industrialized countries, for which cutoff ages as well as the main indicators of aging are calculated over the last 50 years. |
| Keywords: | Population aging, age distributions, aging indexes, optimal grouping, old age, demographic measures. |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12081&r=dem |
| By: | Yousuf, Ahmed Sadek |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between health aid and infant mortality, using data from in total 135 countries (for the purposes of this study, developing countries), between 1975 and 2010. Utilizing both conventional Instrumental Variable and System GMM approaches, a tentative conclusion can be drawn that aid comes to have a statistically significant and positive effect on infant mortality rate, as doubling of aid leads to an approximately 1.3% reduction in infant mortality rates. Thus for an average aid recipient country, doubling per capita aid leads to a reduction of about 790 deaths per million live births in a particular year. This effect, in comparison to the set goals of the Millennium Development Goals, is small and may not be enough to ensure that the MDG targets are met by 2015. -- |
| Keywords: | Health Oriented Aid,Infant Mortality Rates,Panel Instrumental Variable,System GMM,MDG |
| JEL: | F35 C23 C33 I10 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:67391&r=dem |
| By: | Pfeifer, Christian (Leuphana University Lüneburg); Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | This empirical research note documents the relationship between composition of a firm's workforce (with a special focus on age and gender) and its performance with respect to innovative activities (outlays and employment in research and development (R&D)) for a large representative sample of enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany using unique newly available data. We find that firms with a higher share of older workers have significantly lower proportions of R&D outlays in total revenues and of R&D employment in total employment, whereas firms with a higher share of female employment seem to be more active in R&D. |
| Keywords: | ageing, firm performance, gender, Germany, innovation, R&D |
| JEL: | D22 D24 J21 J24 L25 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7050&r=dem |
| By: | Gil S. Epstein (Bar-Ilan University); Renana Lindner Pomerantz |
| Abstract: | During the last few decades cultural changes have been taking place in many countries due to migration. The degree to which the foreign culture influences the local culture, differs across countries. This paper shows how the willingness of locals and immigrants to intermarry influences the culture and the national identity of the host country. We use a search-theoretic approach to show that, even in situations where migrants and natives prefer to marry within their own community, the search process may lead to intermarriage. The exogamy can take on two forms: either migrants and natives each hold on to their own culture or the immigrants take on the natives' culture. In the first case we will see new cultures developing and the local culture will not survive over time. In the second case the local culture will survive. We show the conditions for assimilation versus no assimilation between the groups. |
| Keywords: | Assimilation, Migration, Marriage, Culture. |
| JEL: | F22 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2012-11&r=dem |
| By: | Favara, Marta (University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at horizontal sex segregation in education as a factor contributing to gender segregation in the labor market. Economic theories fail to explain why women with the same years of schooling and educational attainment as men are under-represented in many technical degrees, which typically lead to better paid occupations. Following Akerlof and Kranton (2000), I research whether gender identity affects boys' and girls' educational choices and when the gendered pattern appears first. Further, I test the hypothesis that single-sex schools attenuate the influence of gender-stereotypes. I use the National Pupil Database, which is a register of all pupils enrolled in state maintained schools in England and I focus on students in lower and upper secondary education. Results from my analysis suggest that gender stereotyping affects educational choices from the age of 14 and this effect is larger for girls than for boys. I also find that attending a sixth-form-single-sex school leads students to a less stereotyped educational choice, after controlling for endogenous self-selection into single-sex schools. This suggests that gender preferences can be modified by the environment. |
| Keywords: | gender segregation, educational choices, gender stereotypes, single-sex schools |
| JEL: | I2 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7037&r=dem |
| By: | Gil S. Epstein (Bar-Ilan University) |
| Abstract: | A model is set up where migrants must choose a level of social traits and consumption of ethnic goods. As the consumption level of ethnic goods increases, the migrants become ever more different to the local population and are less assimilated. Less assimilation affects the reaction of the local population to the migrants and their willingness to accept the newcomers. This social phenomenon and affects wages and unemployment. We show that the growth in the unemployment and social benefits of legal migrants increases the consumption of ethnic goods, thus creating a trap wherein the willingness of the local population to accept the migrants into the economy decreases. This process also increases the probability of the migrants' dependence on the welfare state. On the other hand, illegal migrants could play an important role in the assimilation of the legal migrants. |
| Keywords: | Welfare state, Social benefits, Ethnic goods, Social trait, Assimilation, Unemployment. |
| JEL: | F22 O15 D6 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2012-12&r=dem |
| By: | Raphaёl Franck (Bar-Ilan University); Ilia Rainer |
| Abstract: | In this paper we reassess the role of ethnic favoritism in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from 18 African countries, we study how primary education and infant mortality of ethnic groups were affected by changes in the ethnicity of the countries’ leaders during the last fifty years. Our results indicate that the effects of ethnic favoritism are large and widespread, thus providing support for ethnicity-based explanations of Africa’s underdevelopment. We also conduct a crosscountry analysis of ethnic favoritism in Africa. We find that ethnic favoritism is less prevalent in countries with one dominant religion. In addition, our evidence suggests that stronger fiscal capacity may have enabled African leaders to provide more ethnic favors in education but not in infant mortality. Finally, political factors, linguistic differences and patterns of ethnic segregation are found to be poor predictors of ethnic favoritism. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2012-06&r=dem |
| By: | David Vázquez Guzman (Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez) |
| Abstract: | This paper establishes econometrically a clear connection between levels of happiness, health and cognition with their respective levels of income, using Mexican (MHAS) and English (ELSA) data. In general, elderly people increase their happiness with income, education, with a partner and when healthier, but decrease with unemployment and divorce. Mexican cognition ability and being indigenous impact negatively in happiness, but being white and more cognitive is better for the English. Physical health is better in both countries considering income, education, employment and mental health. A strong result is that depression and restlessness affect negatively physical health in general. English people seem to deteriorate health because of debts, but not the Mexicans. Elder Mexicans are severely punished in their health when living in consensual unions, but the English are the healthiest living under this family organization. Mental health, approximated with cognition ability, was the relationship with less significance. Divorcees in Mexico have more cognitive ability. Considering gender, we found happier men, but older and more cognitive women in general. |
| Keywords: | Well-being, elderly people, comparative studies, England, Mexico |
| JEL: | J14 J16 I10 I20 O57 |
| Date: | 2012–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cjz:ca41cj:9&r=dem |
| By: | Elena Stancanelli (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Arthur Van Soest (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | The economic litterature on retirement argues that individuals in a couple tend to retire at a choice time because of externalities in leisure. Ealier studies dit not investigate the extent to which partners actually spend more leisure time together upon retiring. Exploiting the law on early retirement age in France, we use a regression discontinuity approach to identify the causal effect of retirement on hours of leisure, separate and together, of the man and woman in a couple. We use a sample of couples drawn from a French Time Use Survey for the analysis. Using four different definitions of joint leisure, we conclude that generally both separate and joint leisure hours of partners increase significantly upon own retirement. In particular, the hours of leisure spent together by the couple increase on average by about an hour and a half per day upon wife's retirement and by less than an hour upon husband's retirement. The positive effect of partners' retirement on joint leisure is close in size to that on separate leisure or house work hours of partners. |
| Keywords: | Regression discontinuity, retirement, leisure. |
| JEL: | C26 C31 J26 J22 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12085&r=dem |
| By: | Casper Worm Hansen (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | Exploiting pre-intervention variation in flu/pneumonia, tuberculosis and maternal mortality, together with time variation arising from medical breakthroughs starting in the late 1930s, this paper studies the aggregate impact of large health shocks across US states. The analysis demonstrates that the shocks influenced income per capita in different ways. While the shock to flu/pneumonia mortality has been conductive for development, the large reduction in the incidence of tuberculosis deaths has been a negative force in the development of US states over the second-half of 20th century. In addition, the decline in maternal mortality has a fragile, but positive relationship with income per capita. Because these specific health shocks affected mortality across the life cycle differently, the evidence here underscores the general tenet of regarding health as multifaceted. |
| Keywords: | Economic development; Mortality; Population growth; Large health shocks; Medical innovations; US states |
| JEL: | I15 J24 O11 O51 |
| Date: | 2012–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2012-29&r=dem |
| By: | Gil S. Epstein (Bar-Ilan University); Erez Siniver |
| Abstract: | Studies in the US have shown that black immigrants have remained at the bottom of the wage ladder and that other groups of immigrants have overtaken them over time. The goal of this research is to determine whether a specific group of immigrants can displace a group at the bottom of the ladder. We use Israeli data to compare two ethnic groups: Israeli Arabs and Ethiopian immigrants. Israeli Arabs were considered to be the least successful ethnic group in the Israeli labor market until they were displaced by the Ethiopian immigrants. The results of our analysis show that an ethnic group at the bottom of the wage ladder can be replaced by another. |
| Keywords: | wage differences, immigrants |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2012-08&r=dem |
| By: | Xiaodong Gong (National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, University of Canberra); Robert Breunig (Treasury, Government of Australia and Research School of Economics, Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of the relationship between child care price and women's labour supply. We specify and estimate a discrete, structural model of the joint household decision over women’s labour supply and child care demand. Parents care about the well-being and development of their children and we capture this by including child care directly in household utility. Our model improves on previous papers in that we allow formal child care to be used for reasons other than freeing up time for mothers to work (such as child development) and we allow mothers’ work hours to exceed formal child care hours. As informal and paternal care are important features of the data, this second relaxation of previous hour constraints is particularly important. We estimate the model using data from 2005 to 2007 from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. We find that on average a one percent increase in the net price of child care leads to a decrease in hours of labour provided by partnered women of 0.10 per cent and a decrease in the employment rate of 0.06 per cent. These estimates are statistically significant. Furthermore, we find that labour supply responses are larger for women with lower wages, less education, and lower income. |
| Keywords: | Child care demand, child care price, women’s labour supply, elasticities, discrete choice model |
| JEL: | C15 C35 J22 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tsy:wpaper:wpaper_tsy_wp_2012_1&r=dem |
| By: | Masako Kimura,Daishin Yasui (Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya City University; Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | In the pre-industrial era, there was a positive association between income and fertility across households within societies, but in the modern era, a clear association does not seem to exist, neither positive nor negative. Why the income-fertility relationship within societies changed over time is an unsolved puzzle in the history of economic growth, one that has been raised by Gregory Clark (e.g., A Farewell to Alms, 2007). This paper suggests that public policy for children has a key role in solving this puzzle. The interaction between changes in public policy for children and economic development generates changes in the income-fertility relationship across households, as well as hump-shaped dynamics of the average fertility rate over time. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koe:wpaper:1224&r=dem |
| By: | Alma Espino (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Fernando Isabella (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Martín Leites (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Alina Machado (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | This research estimates the impact of wages onlabor supply decision in Uruguay considering the extensive and intensive margins, with particular emphasis on female supply. We used the specifications and econometric techniques proposed in Blundel and MaCurdy (1999) and Pencavel (2002) toestimate the supply elasticity over the life cycle (intertemporal elasticity)and the labor supply elasticity responses to parametric changes in the wage profile (uncompensated elasticity). This issue, which has a long history in international and regional literature, has received less attention in the national context, particularly in the case of female labor supply. This topic is relevant for a better understanding of recent changes in decisions to participate in the labor market in Uruguay and because of the policy implications arising from the distinction between both elasticities. The result confirm the regardless of educational level, the participation of the younger cohorts of women in the labor market has increased. Also there found differences in the magnituds between intertemporal and uncompensated elasticitis with a higher substitution effect for women. Finally, heterogeneous behaviors are verified within female population and the different trends relative to decisions on the intensive and extensive margins. |
| Keywords: | Labour supply, Elasticitis, Gender, Pseudopanel |
| JEL: | J10 J20 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-18-12&r=dem |
| By: | Saygin, Perihan Ozge |
| Abstract: | In Turkey, as in many other countries, female students perform better in high school and have higher test scores than males. Nevertheless, men still predominate at highly selective programs that lead to high-paying careers. The gender gap at elite schools is particularly puzzling because college admissions are based entirely on nationwide exam scores. Using detailed administrative data from the centralized college entrance system, I study the impact of gender differences in preferences for programs and schools on the allocation of students to colleges. Controlling for test score and high school attended, I find that females are more likely to apply to lower-ranking schools, whereas males set a higher bar, revealing a higher option value for re-taking the test and applying again next year. I also find that females and males value program attributes differently, with females placing more weight on the distance from home to college, and males placing more weight on program attributes that are likely to lead to better job placements. Together, these differences in willingness to be unassigned and in relative preferences for school attributes can explain much of the gender gap at the most elite programs. |
| Keywords: | gender gap , college admissions , school choice |
| JEL: | C35 I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnh:wpaper:32599&r=dem |
| By: | Hammitt, James; Liu, Jin-Tan; Tsou, Meng-Wen |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the causal effect of parental schooling on children’s schooling using a large sample of adoptees from Taiwan. Using birth-parents’ education to help control for selective placement of children with adoptive parents, we find that adoptees raised with more highly educated parents have higher educational attainment, measured by years of schooling and probability of university graduation. We also find evidence that adoptive father’s schooling is more important for sons’ and adoptive mother’s schooling is more important for daughters’ educational attainment. These results support the notion that family environment (nurture) is important in determining children’s educational outcomes, independent of genetic endowment. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational transmission, education, schooling, adoption |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ler:wpaper:25327&r=dem |
| By: | Javier Polavieja (IMDEA-Social Sciences Institute); Lucinda Platt (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the role of parental socialization and children’s agency in the formation of sex-typed occupational preferences using data for British children aged between 11 and 15. We anchor agency in observable psychological attributes associated with children’s capacity to act in the face of constraints. We focus on two such attributes, motivation and self-esteem. Our findings identify two main sources of parental influence: 1) parental socio-economic resources, which affect children’s occupational ambition, and 2) parental sex-typical behaviors, from which children learn which occupations are appropriate for each sex. We find, additionally, that girls with high motivation and both girls and boys with high self-esteem are less likely to aspire to sex-typical occupations, net of inherited traits and parental characteristics. Motivation and self-esteem help girls to aim higher in the occupational ladder, which automatically reduces their levels of sex-typicality. In the case of boys, however, self-esteem reduces sex-typicality at all levels of the aspired occupational distribution. This suggests that boys with high self-esteem are better equipped to contradict the existing social norms regarding sex-typical behavior. The implications of our findings are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Gender Segregation, Occupational Aspirations, Children, Socialization, Personality Traits |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J24 Z13 |
| Date: | 2012–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1210&r=dem |
| By: | Felfe, Christina (University of St. Gallen); Nollenberger, Natalia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Rodríguez-Planas, Núria (IZA, IAE-CSIC and UPF) |
| Abstract: | What happens to children's long-run cognitive development when introducing universal high-quality childcare for 3-year olds mainly crowds out maternal care? To answer this question we exploit a natural experiment framework and employ a difference-in-difference approach. We find sizable improvements in children's reading and math skills at age 15, as well as in grade progression during primary and secondary school. Effects are driven by girls and disadvantaged children. |
| Keywords: | long-term consequences, universal high-quality childcare, cognitive skills |
| JEL: | J13 I28 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7053&r=dem |
| By: | Cremer, Helmuth (Toulouse School of Economics); Pestieau, Pierre (CREPP, Université de Liège); Roeder, Kerstin (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the risk of divorce affects the human capital decisions of a young couple. We consider a setting where complete specialization (one of the spouses uses up all the education resources) is optimal with no divorce risk. Symmetry in education (both spouses receive an equal amount of education) then acts like an insurance device in case of divorce particularly when the institutions do not compensate for differences in earnings. But, at the same time symmetry in education is less efficient than the extreme specialization. This is the basic tradeoff underlying our analysis. We show that the symmetric allocation will become more attractive as the probability of divorce increases, if risk aversion is high and/or labor supply elasticity is low. However, it is only a “second-best” solution as the insurance protection is achieved at the expense of an efficiency loss. Efficiency can be restored through suitably designed marriage contracts because they can provide the appropriate insurance against divorce to a couple who opts for specialization. Finally, we study how the (economic) use of marriage is affected by the possibility of divorce. |
| Keywords: | post-marital education, marriage contract, divorce |
| JEL: | D13 J24 K36 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7038&r=dem |
| By: | Nolan Ritter; Colin Vance |
| Abstract: | Drawing on household data from Germany, this study econometrically analyzes the determinants of automobile ownership, focusing specifically on the extent to which decreases in family size translate into fewer cars at the national level. Beyond identifying several variables over which policy makers have direct leverage, including the price for fuel, the supply of public transit, and land use features, the analysis uses the estimated coefficients from a multinomial logit model to simulate car ownership rates under alternative scenarios pertaining to demographic change and other socioeconomic variables. Our baseline scenario predicts continued increases in the number of cars despite decreases in population, a trend that could be partially offset by substantial increases in fuel prices. |
| Keywords: | Car ownership; demographic change; Germany; multinomial logit; simulation |
| JEL: | C25 D10 R41 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0385&r=dem |
| By: | Cally Ardington (SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town); Till Bärnighausen (Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies and Harvard School of Public Health); Anne Case (Princeton University); Alicia Menendez (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Using a large longitudinal dataset, we quantify the impact of adult deaths on household economic wellbeing. The timing of lower socioeconomic status observed for households in which members die of AIDS suggests that the socioeconomic gradient in AIDS mortality is being driven primarily by poor households being at higher risk for AIDS. Following a death, households that experienced an AIDS death are observed being poorer still. However, the additional socioeconomic loss following death is very similar to the loss observed from deaths from other causes. Funeral expenses can explain some of the impoverishing effects of death in the household. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:91&r=dem |
| By: | Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio (University of Zaragoza); Molina, José Alberto (University of Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between time allocation decisions of the unemployed, gender, and regional unemployment rates. Using the Spanish Time Use Survey 2002-2003 and 2009-2010, we find that higher regional unemployment rates are associated with increases in the time devoted to study by men, and to household production by women, and with decreases in the time devoted to personal care by men and leisure by women. We also find evidence favoring consumption smoothing as the channel through which others' unemployment affects time allocation decisions of the unemployed. As higher regional unemployment rates imply a lower availability of jobs for the unemployed, it decreases the expectations individuals have of finding a job, and thus households may try to increase their time spent on household production to reduce the market expenditures needed to maintain their consumption. We interpret our results as evidence that others' unemployment has several effects that need to be considered in the analysis of the wellbeing of the unemployed during business cycles. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, time use, regional unemployment rates, gender |
| JEL: | D13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7043&r=dem |
| By: | Bandiera, Oriana; Rasul, Imran; Viarengo, Martina |
| Abstract: | We provide new estimates of migrant flows into and out of America during the Age of Mass Migration at the turn of the twentieth century. Our analysis is based on a novel data set of administrative records covering the universe of 24 million migrants who entered Ellis Island, New York between 1892 and 1924. We use these records to measure inflows into New York, and then scale-up these figures to estimate migrant inflows into America as a whole. Combining these flow estimates with census data on the stock of foreign-born in America in 1900, 1910 and 1920, we conduct a demographic accounting exercise to estimate out-migration rates in aggregate and for each nationality-age-gender cohort. This exercise overturns common wisdom on two fronts. First, we estimate flows into the US to be 20% and 170% higher than stated in official statistics for the 1900-10 and 1910-20 decades, respectively. Second, once mortality is accounted for, we estimate out-migration rates from the US to be around .6 for the 1900-10 decade and around .75 for the 1910-20. These figures are over twice as high as official estimates for each decade. That migration was effectively a two-way flow between the US and the sending countries has major implications for understanding the potential selection of immigrants that chose to permanently reside in the US, their impact on Americans in labor markets, and institutional change in America and sending countries |
| Keywords: | Ellis Island; migration accounting; migratory inflows and outflows |
| JEL: | F22 N31 N32 O15 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9248&r=dem |
| By: | Asadullah, Niaz (University of Reading); Wahhaj, Zaki (University of Kent) |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the determinants of secondary school attendance in Bangladesh with a focus on the interaction between community gender norms and relative supply of madrasas (i.e. Islamic schools). We present a theoretical framework where the probability of children's school participation varies with respect to a non‐economic factor – how the community observes social norms regarding female mobility – conditional upon the types of available schools. Household data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS) is combined with community information on the availability of non‐religious secondary schools and madrasas to test our theoretical predictions. We find that in communities which are more 'progressive', in the sense that women have a relatively high level of mobility, the effect of non‐religious school availability on attendance does not vary by gender. However in the more 'conservative communities', female schooling is more sensitive to the availability of, or distance to, madrasas. |
| Keywords: | burka, school availability, gender norms, female education, madrasa, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | D04 I21 O15 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7059&r=dem |
| By: | Verbist, G. (Gerlinde); Matsaganis, M. (Manos) |
| Abstract: | Welfare states provide social benefits in cash and in kind. Cash benefits are income transfers, such as retirement pensions, family and unemployment benefits and social assistance. Benefits in kind are commodities directly transferred to recipients at zero or below-market prices (Barr 2012). In Europe, benefits in kind are usually services, such as health, education, child care and care for the elderly. For example, hospital care in most countries is provided either free of charge or at near-zero prices (at the point of use). User fees are even rarer in the case of primary and secondary education: enrolment is compulsory up to a certain age, while tuition is provided free of charge to all children attending publicly funded schools, irrespective of family income. Moreover, child care is often heavily subsidised; kindergartens are run by the state (most commonly local governments) or government-supervised private organisations, while user fees, where applicable, are usually income-related (in the sense that higher-income families pay higher fees, while lower-income ones pay less or are fully exempted). Elderly care may also be available on similar terms; besides, several countries have developed long-term care insurance schemes, to cater for the future needs of an ageing population. ... |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:53&r=dem |
| By: | Rachel Shapiro; Ellen Kisker |
| Keywords: | Sex Education, Pregnancy Prevention, Family Support |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2012–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7582&r=dem |
| By: | Goedemé, T. |
| Abstract: | In Europe, the elderly stand out for their heavy reliance on welfare state arrangements for securing their living standard. In spite of relatively high elderly at-risk-of-poverty rates in many EU member states, the past two decades have witnessed a tendency to re-strengthen the link between past contributions and pension benefi ts, and to rely more strongly on private pensions. At the same time, public pension replacement rates are projected to decrease in a large number of European countries. In this context, minimum income protection for Europe’s elderly is likely to become even more important for alleviating elderly poverty than is the case today. Yet, minimum income protection schemes targeted at the elderly have remained largely undocumented in the international literature. Therefore, this chapter reviews existing minimum income policies for the elderly in Europe and develops a typology based on entitlement and eligibility criteria. Building on data from a project involving national experts from 25 EU member states, it is shown that in the 2000s welfare erosion of elderly persons’ non-contributory minimum income guarantees has been limited. Moreover, a substantial number of countries has pursued a deliberate policy of increases in minimum income benefi ts for the elderly. Nonetheless, only in a few countries benefi ts are adequate for lifting elderly persons above the poverty line. At the same time, differences between EU member states in terms of mode of access and benefi t levels remain large. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:27&r=dem |
| By: | Ferrarini, T. (Tommy); Nelson, K. (Kenneth); Höög, H. (Helena) |
| Abstract: | Welfare states have been subject to a subtle and a sometimes unrecognized transformation: the fiscalization of social benefits. This change of national policy is notable in the area of family policy, where various forms of child tax benefits have been introduced. The composition and level of child benefits varies therefore not only across countries, but also over historical time (Kamerman and Kahn, 1981; MacNicol, 1992; Wennemo, 1994; Gauthier, 1996). In the immediate Post-War period many countries either complemented or replaced various types of income-tested child benefits with universal ones, introducing a shift in the distributive profile of the system. However, far from all welfare states relied only on the principle of universalism in the design of child benefits. Child tax benefits and fiscal policy has often been used as an alternative or complement to social policy legislation. During the era of welfare state stagnation and decline since the mid-1970s some countries have relocated parts of the child benefit package from social policy to the income tax system. During this process of fiscalization, elements of income-testing have once again been introduced to child benefits, thus, adding stronger elements of vertical redistribution between socio-economic groups. The change of scenery involves not only a shift in the relative emphasis of social and fiscal policies in the redistributive budgets of the European countries, but also a greater degree of selectivity and low-income targeting is introduced to the provision of child benefits. ... |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:49&r=dem |
| By: | Conti, Gabriella (University of Chicago); Heckman, James J. (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Pediatricians should consider the costs and benefits of preventing rather than treating childhood diseases. We present an integrated developmental approach to child and adult health that considers the costs and benefits of interventions over the life cycle. We suggest policies to promote child health which are currently outside the boundaries of conventional pediatrics. We discuss current challenges to the field and suggest avenues for future research. |
| Keywords: | health, prevention, remediation, capabilities, technology of capability formation |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7060&r=dem |
| By: | Mechelen, N. (Natascha) van; Bradshaw, J. (Jonathan) |
| Abstract: | In this paper the focus is on the child benefit package for working families and its contribution to tackling in-work child poverty. Tackling child poverty is high on the European Union’s political agenda. It was a priority in the March 2006 European Council, a focus of many of the National Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006-2008, and the main work of the EU experts on the National Action Plans in 2007. An influential report by the Social Protection Committee (2008) reflected much of this effort and contained detailed comparative analysis of child poverty using the new European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2005. The report drew attention to the fact that in the majority of the EU member states, children are at a higher risk of poverty than the population as a whole. More recent analyses of the EU-SILC (Tarki, 2010; Atkinson and Marlier, 2010; Tarki, 2011) confirmed this finding. As a part of its 10-year economic plan, the June 2010 European Council set the target to reduce poverty and social exclusion in the EU by 20 million (European Council, 2010). If this objective is to be achieved, parents and their children will need to be a key focus of anti-poverty policies... |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:50&r=dem |
| By: | Karagiannaki, E. (Eleni) |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper presents the first UK estimates of the association between parental wealth during adolescence and a range of children’s outcomes in early adulthood. Parental wealth is positively associated with all outcomes examined (which include educational attainment, employment, earnings and homeownership). The estimated associations are found to operate over and above parental education and income and in many cases are stronger than them. For labour market outcomes a small share of the association reflects the indirect effect of parental wealth on children’s education whereas for homeownership the estimated association appear to mainly reflect the effect of parental wealth transfers. Further analysis by wealth component shows that degree attainment is more strongly associated with housing wealth than financial wealth. However, important effects are also estimated for financial wealth indicating the existence of financial constraints for low wealth-financial indebted households. For homeownership and earnings the estimated association are stronger for financial wealth. JEL: D1, D3, I21, J62, J31 |
| Keywords: | wealth, intergenerational transmission, educational attainment |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:58&r=dem |