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on Demographic Economics |
|
Issue of 2013‒05‒19
forty papers chosen by Clarence Nkengne Tsimpo University of Montreal and World Bank Group |
| By: | Angelov, Nikolay (IFAU); Johansson, Per (IFAU); Lindahl, Erica (IFAU) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates possible reasons for the gender difference in sickness absence. We estimate both short- and long-term effects of parenthood in a within-couple analysis based on the timing of parenthood. We find that after entering parenthood, women increase their sickness absence by between 0.5 days per month (during the child's third year) and 0.85 days per month (during year 17) more than their spouse. By investigating possible explanations for the observed effect, we conclude that the effect mainly stems from higher home commitment, which reduces women's labour market attachment and, in turn, increases female sickness absence. |
| Keywords: | double burden, health investment, household work, labour market work, moral hazard, parenthood, sickness insurance, work absence |
| JEL: | C23 D13 I19 J22 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7379&r=dem |
| By: | Stefania Albanesi; Aysegül Sahin |
| Abstract: | The unemployment gender gap, defined as the difference between female and male unemployment rates, was positive until 1980. This gap virtually disappeared after 1980--except during recessions, when men's unemployment rates always exceed women's. We study the evolution of these gender differences in unemployment from a long-run perspective and over the business cycle. Using a calibrated three-state search model of the labor market, we show that the rise in female labor force attachment and the decline in male attachment can mostly account for the closing of the gender unemployment gap. Evidence from nineteen OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries also supports the notion that convergence in attachment is associated with a decline in the gender unemployment gap. At the cyclical frequency, we find that gender differences in industry composition are important in recessions, especially the most recent, but they do not explain gender differences in employment growth during recoveries. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment ; Women - Employment ; Business cycles ; Recessions |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:613&r=dem |
| By: | David E. Bloom (Harvard School of Public Health); Roddy McKinnon (International Social Security Association) |
| Abstract: | Developing countries are increasingly aware of the need to design and implement improvements in public systems for providing pensions to the elderly. Such systems may aim to smooth consumption and thus provide reliable income to older people, reduce poverty among the elderly, insure those no longer working against the risk of running out of funds, and promote equal treatment of men and women in retirement security even when lifetime earnings and projected average life expectancy may differ greatly. The increasing share of the elderly in the population of all countries makes implementation of sustainable pension systems both more urgent and more difficult. Planners must consider numerous options in pension system design and choose the combination of policies that will optimize coverage, benefits, and financing given a country’s demographics, history, practices regarding family support of the elderly, political system, extent of informal labour, and fiscal situation. |
| Keywords: | Public Pensions, Public Systems for Elderly, Income to Elderly |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdm:wpaper:10213&r=dem |
| By: | Marianne Bertrand; Jessica Pan; Emir Kamenica |
| Abstract: | We examine causes and consequences of relative income within households. We establish that gender identity – in particular, an aversion to the wife earning more than the husband - impacts marriage formation, the wife's labor force participation, the wife's income conditional on working, marriage satisfaction, likelihood of divorce, and the division of home production. The distribution of the share of household income earned by the wife exhibits a sharp cliff at 0.5, which suggests that a couple is less willing to match if her income exceeds his. Within marriage markets, when a randomly chosen woman becomes more likely to earn more than a randomly chosen man, marriage rates decline. Within couples, if the wife's potential income (based on her demographics) is likely to exceed the husband's, the wife is less likely to be in the labor force and earns less than her potential if she does work. Couples where the wife earns more than the husband are less satisfied with their marriage and are more likely to divorce. Finally, based on time use surveys, the gender gap in non-market work is larger if the wife earns more than the husband. |
| JEL: | J12 J16 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19023&r=dem |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Miller, Paul W. (Curtin University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the labor market assimilation of immigrants in terms of earnings and employment (employment probability, unemployment probability, and hours worked per week). Using the 2006 Australian Census of Population and Housing the analyses are performed separately by gender, and separately by whether or not the origin is an English-speaking developed country (ESDC). Among men in general, 'negative assimilation' is found for immigrants from the ESDC, and positive assimilation for other origins. Among women, the pattern of assimilation in earnings and employment is more positive than among their male counterparts. This may reflect the greater tendency for female immigrants to be tied movers. Among never married immigrant women from the ESDC, who are more likely than married immigrant women from the same countries to be economic migrants, the pattern of negative assimilation is observed. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, assimilation, earnings, hours worked, employment, unemployment |
| JEL: | J61 J31 F22 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7389&r=dem |
| By: | Grip A. de; Fouarge D.; Künn-Nelen A.C. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first that analyzes the relation between maternal work hours and the cognitive outcomes of young school-going children. When children attend school, the potential time working mothers miss out with their children, is smaller than when children do not yet attend school. At the same time, working might benefit children through, for example, greater family income. Our study is highly relevant for public policy as in most countries maternal employment rates rise when children enter school. We find no negative relation between maternal working hours and child outcomes as is often found for pre-school aged children. Instead, we find that children's sorting test score is higher when their mothers work part-time (girls) or full-time (boys). Furthermore, we find that planned parent-child activities are positively related to children's language test scores. Nevertheless, we do not find that a richer home environment in terms of the number of parent-child activities provided to the child explain the relation between maternal work hours and children's test scores. |
| Keywords: | Household Behavior: General; |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umagsb:2013019&r=dem |
| By: | Montizaan R.M.; Fouarge D.; Grip A. de (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the causal effects of the announcement of an increase in the statutory pension age on employee retirement expectations. In June 2010, the Dutch government signed a new pension agreement with the employer and employee organizations that entailed an increase in the statutory pension age from 65 currently to 66 in 2020 for all inhabitants born after 1954. Given the expected increase in average life expectancy, it was also decided that in 2025 the pension age would be further increased to 67 for those born after 1959. This new pension agreement received huge media coverage. Using representative matched administrative and survey data of public sector employees, we find that the proposed policy reform increased the expected retirement age by 3.6 months for employees born between 1954 and 1959 and by 10.8 months for those born after 1959. This increase is reflected in a clear shift in the retirement peak from age 65 to ages 66 and 67 for the respective treated cohorts. Men respond less strongly to the policy reform than women, but within couples we find no evidence that the retirement expectations of one spouse are affected by an increase in the statutory pension age of the other. Furthermore, we show that treatment effects are largely driven by highly educated individuals but are lower for employees whose job involves physically demanding tasks or managerial and supervisory tasks. |
| Keywords: | Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination; |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umagsb:2013020&r=dem |
| By: | Jose Rosero (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Although the literature on the effectiveness of child care centers in developing countries is thin, most of the studies have concluded that the provision of these services are beneficial to enhance the development of poor children at early ages. Using different matching techniques, the results in this paper contrast with that conclusion as it finds no support of a positive effect of a large scale child care program in Ecuador on any of the dimensions considered of cognitive development. This paper also provides evidence that the program increased mother's labor force participation and family income but reduced health outcomes of children. The results are in line with the ones found in (Rosero and Oosterbeek, 2011) and support the existence of a trade-off between children development and labor market participation that should be considered at the moment of designing and implementing social policies. |
| Keywords: | Early childhood development, child care centers, propensity score matching, developing country, Ecuador |
| JEL: | J13 I28 H40 O12 |
| Date: | 2012–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2012075&r=dem |
| By: | L.J.H. Bettendorf (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Egbert L.W. Jongen (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Paul Muller (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Over the period 2005-2009 the Dutch government increased childcare subsidies substantially, reducing the average effective parental fee by 50%, and extended subsidies to so-called guestparent care. We estimate the labour supply effect of this reform with a difference-in-differences strategy, using parents with older children as a control group. We find that the reform had a moderately sized impact on labour supply. Furthermore, the effects are an upper bound since there was also an increase in an earned income tax credit for the same treatment group over the same period. The joint reform increased the maternal employment rate by 2.3%-points (3.0%). Average hours worked by mothers increased by 1.1 hours per week (6.2%). Decomposing the hours effect we find that most of the increase in hours is due to the intensive margin response. A number of robustness checks confirm our results. |
| Keywords: | Childcare subsidies, labour participation, hours worked, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | C21 H40 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2012–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2012093&r=dem |
| By: | Kornder N.; Dronkers J.; Dronkers J. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | We try to explain the differences between the performance (in both reading and math) of 8430 15-year-old daughters and 8526 15-year-old sons in 17 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development destination countries across Europe and Oceania with the PISA 2009 data from 45 origin countries or regions. In addition to the level of societal gender equality of the origin and destination countries (the gender empowerment measure, or GEM) we use macro indicators of the educational systems, economic development, and religions of the countries of origin. We find that migrant daughters from countries with higher levels of gender equality have higher reading scores than comparable migrant sons (but this is not the case for math scores). In addition, the higher the level of gender equality in the destination countries, the lower the reading and math scores of both the male and female migrants’ children in their destination countries. Further analyses suggest that the difference between the levels of gender equality, rather than the levels themselves, of the origin and destination countries explains more of the educational performance of both female and male migrant pupils. Our results also show that the low level of gender equality in Islamic origin countries is a sufficient explanation of the low educational performance of Islam male and female migrants’ pupils. Finally, migrants’ daughters seem to perform slightly better educationally than comparable migrants’ sons. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umagsb:2013018&r=dem |
| By: | Asadul Islam; Paul A. Raschky |
| Abstract: | Consistent estimates of the effect of ethnic identity on labor market outcomes is complicated by the endogenous relationship between performance on the labor market and attitudes towards ethnic identity. This paper uses measures of genetic and linguistic distance between an immigrants' home and host countries as instruments for ethnic identity. We find some evidence for adverse effects of home country identity on male immigrants' unemployment likelihood. Our results also suggest that a stronger host country identity only has a systematic effect on female employment and job satisfaction. Overall, ethnic identity appears to play only a negligible role in immigrants' labour market performance. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic Identity, Labor Market Outcomes, Instrumental Variables |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J16 Z10 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-21&r=dem |
| By: | Leah Platt Boustan; William J. Collins |
| Abstract: | Black women were more likely than white women to participate in the labor force from 1870 until at least 1980 and to hold jobs in agriculture or manufacturing. Differences in observables cannot account for most of this racial gap in labor force participation for the 100 years after Emancipation. The unexplained racial gap may be due to racial differences in stigma associated with women’s work, which Goldin (1977) suggested could be traced to cultural norms rooted in slavery. In both nineteenth and twentieth century data, we find evidence of inter-generation transmission of labor force participation from mother to daughter, which is consistent with the role of cultural norms. |
| JEL: | J22 N11 N12 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19040&r=dem |
| By: | Belliveau, Stefan |
| Abstract: | This working paper attributes a (potential) path of per-capita US output to demographic effects of the post-war baby boom. To the extent that the baby-boom generation predominates among age cohorts in the US population, a life-cycle model suggests a secular trend in per-capita GDP that is largely congruent with realized (and realizing) potential economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Demography, US, 1945-2046; economic growth; neoclassical growth model;population dynamics |
| JEL: | J11 O41 |
| Date: | 2013–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46912&r=dem |
| By: | Claire Crawford (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Lorraine Dearden (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London); Ellen Greaves (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | Children born at the end of the academic year have lower educational attainment, on average, than those born at the start of the academic year. Previous research shows that the difference is most pronounced early in pupils’ school lives, but remains evident and statistically significant in high-stakes exams taken at the end of compulsory schooling. To determine the most appropriate policy response, it is vital to understand which of the four possible factors (age at test, age of starting school, length of schooling and relative age without cohort) lead to these differences in attainment between those born at different points in the academic year. However, research to date has been unable to adequately address this problem, as the four potential drivers are all highly correlated with one another, and three of the four form an exact linear relationship (age at test = age of starting school + length of schooling). This paper is the first to apply the principle of maximum entropy to this problem. Using two complementary sources of data we find that a child’s age at the time they take the test is the most important driver of the differences observed, which suggests that age-adjusting national achievement test scores is likely to be the most appropriate policy response to ensure that children born towards the end of the year are not at a disadvantage simply because they are younger when they take their exams. |
| Keywords: | Age-period-cohort problem, maximum entropy, month of birth, relative age, educational attainment |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1307&r=dem |
| By: | Jan S. Cramer (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | The initial purpose of this study was to establish the effect of childhood conditions on longevity from the Brabant data set. This data set combines information at ages 12, 43, 53 and mortality between 53 and 71 for a sample of some 3000 individuals born around 1940 in the Dutch province of North Brabant. Proportional hazard analysis confirms the known association of early intelligence or cognitive ability with longevity, with a standardized hazard ratio of .80; this is the only significant childhood influence. Among men, the effect of some elements of adult socio-economic status can also be ascertained: education, income and wealth are each found to contribute about as much to a longer life as intelligence. The joint effect of all four variables is dominated by childhood intelligence and adult wealth at the expense of education and income. |
| Keywords: | Cognitive ability, mortality, socio-economic status, proportional hazards |
| JEL: | C21 I14 |
| Date: | 2012–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2012070&r=dem |
| By: | Cahit Guven; Asadul Islam |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to estimate the causal effects of language proficiency on the earnings and social assimilation of Australian immigrants. Identifying the effects of languages on socio-economic outcomes is inherently difficult, due to the endogeneity of the language skills. This study exploits the phenomenon that younger children learn languages more easily than older children to construct an instrumental variable for language proficiency. To achieve this, we exploit the age at arrival of immigrants who came as children from Anglophone and non-Anglophone countries. We find English proficiency to have a significant positive effect on wages and promotions among adults who immigrated to Australia as children. English proficiency decreases the perceived risk of job loss, but leads to lower levels of health and life satisfaction. People with better English skills take more risks and drink more, and English proficiency increases the age at marriage. Partners of immigrants with better English skills drink more in general. Parents' proficiency in speaking English has a significant, positive effect on their children's English-speaking proficiency, high school achievements and occupational prestige. We show that IV estimates cannot be explained by alternative theories such as reverse causality and immigrants from English-speaking countries being a poor control group for non-language age-at-arrival effects. |
| Keywords: | Economics of Immigration; English Proficiency; Socio-economic Outcomes; Instrumental Variable; Australia. |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J24 J31 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-18&r=dem |
| By: | Liangshu Qi; Xiao-Yuan Dong |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first estimates of the effects of housework burdens on the earnings of men and women in China, using data from the country’s time use survey in 2008. The analysis shows that working women in China not only spend many more hours on housework than their male co-workers but are also more likely to experience interference with their market work by housework activities. Three indicators are introduced to measure the degree to which market work is intertwined with housework. The estimates show that both housework time and its interference with market work have negative effects on the earnings of men and women. Quantitatively, the gender differences in housework-related indicators account for 27 to 28 percent of the gender earnings gap. This result supports the feminist contention that gender inequality at home is a major contributor to the weaker position of women in the labor market. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:win:winwop:2013-01&r=dem |
| By: | Sander Hoogendoorn (University of Amsterdam); Mirjam van Praag (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | One of the most salient and relevant dimensions of team heterogeneity is ethnicity. We measure the causal impact of ethnic diversity on the performance of business teams using a randomized field experiment. We follow 550 students who set up 45 real companies as part of their curriculum in an international business program in the Netherlands. We exploit the fact that companies are set up in realistic though similar circumstances and that we, as outside researchers, had the unique opportunity to exogenously vary the ethnic composition of otherwise randomly composed teams. The student population consists of 55% students with a non-Dutch ethnicity from 53 different countries of origin. We find that a moderate level of ethnic diversity has no effect on team performance in terms of business outcomes (sales, profits and profits per share). However, if at least the majority of team members is ethnically diverse then more ethnic diversity has a positive impact on the performance of teams. In line with theoretical predictions, our data suggest that this positive effect could be related to the more diverse pool of relevant knowledge facilitating (mutual) learning within ethnically diverse teams. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic diversity, team performance, field experiment, entrepreneurship, (mutual) learning |
| JEL: | J15 L25 C93 L26 M13 D83 |
| Date: | 2012–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2012068&r=dem |
| By: | Govert Bijwaard (NIDI, The Hague, IZA, Bonn); Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Justus Veenman (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We aim to disentangle the relative contributions of (i) cognitive ability, and (ii) education on health and mortality using a structural equation model suggested by Conti et al. (2010). We extend their model by allowing for a duration dependent variable, and an ordinal educational variable. Data come from a Dutch cohort born around 1940, including detailed measures of cognitive ability and family background at age 12. The data are subsequently linked to the mortality register 1995-2011, such that we observe mortality between ages 55 and 75. The results suggest that the treatment effect of education (i.e. the effect of entering secondary school as opposed to leaving school after primary education) is positive and amounts to a 4 years gain in life expectancy, on average. Decomposition results suggest that the raw survival differences between educational groups are about equally split between a 'treatment effect' of education, and a 'selection effect' on basis of cognitive ability and family background. |
| Keywords: | Education, Cognitive Ability, Mortality, Structural Equation Model, Duration Model |
| JEL: | C41 I14 I24 |
| Date: | 2013–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2013044&r=dem |
| By: | Claire Crawford (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Lorraine Dearden (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London); Ellen Greaves (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from a rich UK birth cohort to estimate the differences in cognitive and non-cognitive skills between children born at the start and end of the academic year. It builds on the previous literature on this topic in England by using a more robust regression discontinuity design and is also able to provide new insight into the drivers of the differences in outcomes between children born in different months that we observe. Specifically, we compare differences in tests that are affected by all three of the potential drivers (age at test, age of starting school and relative age) with differences in tests sat at the same age (which are therefore not affected by the age at test effect) as a way of separately identifying the age at test effect. We find that age at test is the most important factor driving the difference between the oldest and youngest children in an academic cohort; highlighting that children born at the end of the academic year are at a disadvantage primarily because they are almost a year younger than those born at the start of the academic year when they take national achievement tests. An appropriate policy response in this case is to appropriately age-adjust these tests. However, we also find evidence that a child’s view of their own scholastic competence differs significantly between those born at the start and end of the academic year, even when eliminating the age at test effect. This means that other policy responses may be required to correct for differences in outcomes amongst children born in different months, but not necessarily so: it may be that children’s view of their scholastic competence would change in response to the introduction of appropriately age-adjusted tests, for example as a result of positive reinforcement. |
| Keywords: | Month of birth, regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1306&r=dem |
| By: | Lutfunnahar Begum; Asadul Islam; Russell Smyth |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the link between the Female Secondary School Stipend Program in Bangladesh, its effects on schooling of girls, and the subsequent impact on the education of their younger siblings. The stipend program was introduced nationwide in 1994, and affected girls in rural areas who were of secondary school age (grades 6-10) in 1994 or later, but not boys of the same cohort. We examine the effect of educational attainment of older siblings on schooling outcomes of younger siblings. We also examine the role of the gender of older siblings on the schooling outcomes of younger siblings. We find that the education of older siblings has a positive effect on the schooling of younger siblings, and that the effect is stronger on younger brothers than on younger sisters. When we take into account the endogeneity of education of older siblings, we find that their gender composition generally has no effect on the schooling attainment of younger siblings. The instrumental variable estimates, using stipend program eligibility as an instrument, suggest that the completed years of schooling by younger siblings would increase by about 0.13 years if the education of older siblings increased by one year. The intent-to-treat effect suggests that the stipend program increased schooling by 2.6 years. This implies about a 10 per cent increase in the schooling of younger siblings if elder siblings participated in the program. Our results suggest that school programs that benefit children's education could bring both short- and long-term gains, not only directly to the affected children, but also indirectly to their siblings. |
| Keywords: | Girls' education, stipend program, siblings' schooling, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | J16 H52 I28 D13 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-17&r=dem |
| By: | Vinod Mishra; Russell Smyth |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between gender of the barrister and appeal outcomes on the High Court of Australia. We find evidence of asymmetries in that gender matters if a female barrister presents oral argument for the appellant opposed to a respondent, for which one or more male barristers present oral argument, but the reverse is not true. Specifically, we find that an appellant represented in oral argument by a female barrister, opposed to a respondent represented in oral argument by a male barrister, is less likely to receive the vote of a justice in the majority. However, we also find that the appellant disadvantage of having a female barrister present oral argument is (partially) offset in the case of liberal justices and on panels having a higher proportion of female justices. The extent to which the disadvantage is offset and potentially turns from being a disadvantage to an advantage depends on the degree to which the judge is liberal and the proportion of female justices on the panel. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-15&r=dem |
| By: | Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Owen O'Donnell (Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece); Eddy van Doorslaer (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | While there is no doubt that health is strongly correlated with education, whether schooling exerts a causal impact on health is not yet firmly established. We exploit Dutch compulsory schooling laws in a Regression Discontinuity Design applied to linked data from health surveys, tax files and the mortality register to estimate the causal effect of education on mortality. The reform provides a powerful instrument, significantly raising years of schooling, which, in turn, has a large and significant effect on mortality even in old age. An extra year of schooling is estimated to reduce the probability of dying between ages of 81 and 88 by 2-3 percentage points relative to a baseline of 50 percent. High school graduation is estimated to reduce the probability of dying between the ages of 81 and 88 by a remarkable 17-26 percentage points but this does not appear to be due to any sheepskin effects of finishing high school on mortality beyond that predicted lin early by additional years of schooling. |
| Keywords: | Health, Mortality, Education, Causality, Regression Discontinuity |
| JEL: | D30 D31 I10 I12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:0000037&r=dem |
| By: | Majumder, Rajarshi |
| Abstract: | Demographic transition creates a small window for countries to leverage their demographic dividend and leapfrog to a higher level of income-employment situation. This opportunity comes in the middle stage of demographic transition when the population pyramid shows signs of maturity and bulges in the middle, indicating a relatively larger share of youth or working age persons in total population, and hence a low dependency ratio. Consequently, countries can engage this human resource to augment its productive capacity. If sensibly utilised, this can raise per capita income level dramatically – pulling up the country to a substantially higher plane of living standards. However, the efforts will fall flat if this group of youth, on which so much depends, are not productive enough to enhance output significantly. Often questions are raised about the employability of the youth because of their inadequate education, training, and market ready skill and if the youth are not absorbed meaningfully into the workforce and are productive enough, this demographic dividend will turn into a demographic nightmare. Huge youth unemployment is the surest way to social tension, unrest, and unlawful activities. Hence to understand India’s readiness in this aspect we must look at the issue of education, skill formation and employment among youth in India. In this overview paper we find that current skill/training situation of youth in India is inadequate. Surplus and shortage coexists in the labour market indicating serious mismatch between supply and demand. There is an urgent need to relook at human resource development pattern in the country. It appears that a socioeconomic crisis is looming large and demographic opportunities will turn to threat unless intervened immediately. |
| Keywords: | Demographic Dividend; Employment; Skill Gap; Labour Demand |
| JEL: | I28 J11 J21 J24 J60 |
| Date: | 2013–04–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46880&r=dem |
| By: | Javed I. Ahmed; Brad M. Barber; Terrance Odean |
| Abstract: | Early withdrawals from retirement accounts are a double-edged sword, because withdrawals reduce retirement resources, but they also allow individuals to smooth consumption when they experience demographic and economic shocks. Using tax data, we show that pre-retirement withdrawals increased between 2004 and 2010, especially after 2007, but early withdrawal rates are substantial (relative to new contributions) in all of those years. Early withdrawal events are strongly correlated with shocks to income and marital status, and lower-income taxpayers are more likely to experience the types of shocks associated with early withdrawals and more likely to have a taxable withdrawal when they experience a given shock. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2013-23&r=dem |
| By: | Yamamura, Eiji |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to ascertain the determinants of watching anime in Japan based on individual-level data from Japan. In particular, this study investigates how adults are influenced by the existence of their children. After controlling for individual characteristics, it was found that people are more likely to watch anime when they have children aged less than 12 years. Such an effect is larger for women than for men. This tendency is observed even when respondents are full-time workers. This implies that the externality coming from children results in parents watching anime. Furthermore, the externality is larger for women than men regardless of their time constraints. |
| Keywords: | Anime; Japan; Externality |
| JEL: | D12 Z11 Z19 |
| Date: | 2013–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46878&r=dem |
| By: | Gwozdz, Wencke (Copenhagen Business School); Sousa-Poza, Alfonso (University of Hohenheim); Reisch, Lucia A. (Copenhagen Business School); Ahrens, Wolfgang (University of Bremen); De Henauw, Stefaan (Ghent University); Eiben, Gabriele (University of Gothenburg); Fernández-Alvira, Juan M. (University of Zaragoza); Hadjigeorgiou, Charalampos (affiliation not available); Kovács, Eva (affiliation not available); Lauria, Fabio (affiliation not available); Veidebaum, Toomas (affiliation not available); Williams, Garrath (Lancaster University); Bammann, Karin (University of Bremen) |
| Abstract: | The substantial increase in female employment rates in Europe over the past two decades has often been linked in political and public rhetoric to negative effects on child development, including obesity. We analyse this association between maternal employment and childhood obesity using rich objective reports of various anthropometric and other measures of fatness from the IDEFICS study of children aged 2-9 in 16 regions of eight European countries. Based on such data as accelerometer measures and information from nutritional diaries, we also investigate the effects of maternal employment on obesity's main drivers: calorie intake and physical activity. Our analysis provides little evidence for any association between maternal employment and childhood obesity, diet or physical activity. |
| Keywords: | maternal employment, children, obesity, Europe |
| JEL: | I12 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7371&r=dem |
| By: | Robert Argento; Victoria L. Bryant; John Sabelhaus |
| Abstract: | Early withdrawals from retirement accounts are a double-edged sword, because withdrawals reduce retirement resources, but they also allow individuals to smooth consumption when they experience demographic and economic shocks. Using tax data, we show that pre-retirement withdrawals increased between 2004 and 2010, especially after 2007, but early withdrawal rates are substantial (relative to new contributions) in all of those years. Early withdrawal events are strongly correlated with shocks to income and marital status, and lower-income taxpayers are more likely to experience the types of shocks associated with early withdrawals and more likely to have a taxable withdrawal when they experience a given shock. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2013-22&r=dem |
| By: | Majumder, Rajarshi |
| Abstract: | Researchers claim that India is poised for reaping demographic dividend and leapfrog to a higher level of income-employment situation utlising the relatively larger share of youth or working age persons in total population. However, the outcome depends on the contribution of youth to national product. India at present suffers from remarkably high educated unemployment and questions are also raised about the employability of the youth because of their inadequate education, training, and market ready skill. Huge youth unemployment, especially educated unemployment is the surest way to social tension, unrest, and unlawful activities turning the demographic dividend into a demographic nightmare. In this paper we look at the issue of education, skill formation and unemployment among youth in India, focusing specially on educated unemployment. We find that current skill/training situation of youth in India is inadequate. Surplus and shortage coexists in the labour market indicating serious mismatch between supply and demand. There is an urgent need to relook at human resource development strategies in the country. Regional analysis suggests presence of both demand scarcity and excess supply of educated youth in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | Youth; Unemployment; India; Skill Gap; Labour Demand; |
| JEL: | I28 J21 J23 J24 J6 J60 |
| Date: | 2013–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46881&r=dem |
| By: | Robert S. Scholte (VU University Amsterdam); Gerard J. van den Berg (University of Mannheim, VU University Amsterdam); Maarten Lindeboom (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This is the first study to analyze effects of in utero exposure to the severe Dutch Hunger Winter famine (1944/45) on labor market outcomes and hospitalization. This famine is clearly demarcated in time and space. It was not anticipated. Nutritional conditions were stable before and after the famine. We provide results of exposure by sub-interval of gestation. We are the first to use population registers for the full population. We find a significantly negative effect of exposure during the first trimester of gestation on employment outcomes 53 or more years after birth, as well as effects on hospitalization. |
| Keywords: | famine, long-run effects, labor and hospitalization outcomes |
| JEL: | I10 I12 J01 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2012013&r=dem |
| By: | Bloom, David E. (Harvard University); Canning, David (Harvard School of Public Health); Fink, Günther (Harvard School of Public Health) |
| Abstract: | Acemoglu and Johnson (2007) present evidence that improvements in population health do not promote economic growth. We show that their result depends critically on the assumption that initial health has no causal effect on subsequent economic growth. We argue that such an effect is likely, primarily because childhood health affects adult productivity. In our augmented model, which includes initial health, the instrumental variable proposed by Acemoglu and Johnson has no significant predictive power for improvements in health and does not identify the effect of contemporaneous improvements in health on economic growth. |
| Keywords: | health, development, economic growth |
| JEL: | I10 O40 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7391&r=dem |
| By: | UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | Negli ultimi vent'anni, Internet è diventata parte integrante della nostra vita. Abbiamo abbracciato con entusiasmo il suo potenziale in termini di comunicazione, intrattenimento e ricerca di informazioni. Per molti bambini di oggi, Internet, telefoni cellulari e tecnologie affini costituiscono una presenza familiare e costante: si muovono agevolmente tra ambiente online e offline, tanto che ai loro occhi la distinzione risulta sempre più irrilevante. La ricerca analizza il comportamento, I rischi e le vulnerabilità dei bambini in Internet e documenta le misure preventive e protettive contro lo sfruttamento e l'abuso di minori online attualmente in vigore. |
| Keywords: | child pornography; child protection; children's participation; communication systems; |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:innins:innins693&r=dem |
| By: | Tine De Moor |
| Abstract: | The beguine movement is in many ways one of the most remarkable movements in the history of the Low Countries; the impetus for the movement as a whole still remains to be explained. Factors such as the sex-ratio, diminished access to convents, and the religious revival of the late Middle Ages have been put forward, but remain insufficient to explain the specificity of the movement and its popularity in the long run. In many ways, the beguine movement stands out as different from other female organisations or religious movements. The question then arises why this was possible and whether the local conditions of the Low Countries had something to do with it. In this paper, I argue that the specific attitude towards women in the Low Countries that is reflected in their wages, as well as their level of human capital, and labour market participation created a fertile basis for the beguinages to develop: the beguinages may have offered women in the Low Countries – who enjoyed an exceptional “liberated” position regarding social and financial independence, the origins of this position lying in the emergence of the European Marriage Pattern (EMP) – safety and security in case they chose to remain single |
| Keywords: | beguines, single women, Low Countries, agency |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucg:wpaper:0040&r=dem |
| By: | Claire Crawford (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Lorraine Dearden (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London); Ellen Greaves (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | Children born at the end of the academic year have lower educational attainment, on average, than those born at the start of the academic year. Previous research has shown that the difference is most pronounced early in pupils’ school lives, but remains evident and statistically significant in high-stakes exams taken at the end of compulsory schooling. Those born later in the academic year are also significantly less likely to participate in post-compulsory education than those born at the start of the year. We provide the first evidence on whether these differences in childhood outcomes translate into differences in the probability of employment, occupation and earnings for adults in the UK. We also examine whether there are differences in broader measures of well-being such as self-perceived health and mental health. We find that the large and significant differences observed in educational attainment do not lead to pervasive differences in adulthood; those born towards the end of the academic year are more likely to experience unemployment (which is particularly true for females and those that don’t achieve a degree level qualification) but in general there are few substantial or statistically significant differences in terms of occupation, earnings and self-perceived health and mental health. It is not clear why this should be the case, but if employers reward productivity equally as they learn more about their workers, irrespective of their educational attainment, then this lack of significant differences may not be surprising. |
| Keywords: | Month of birth, wages, employment, educational attainment |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1305&r=dem |
| By: | Blundell, Richard (University College London); Costa Dias, Monica (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London); Meghir, Costas (Yale University); Shaw, Jonathan (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London) |
| Abstract: | We consider the impact of tax credits and income support programs on female education choice, employment, hours and human capital accumulation over the life-cycle. We analyze both the short run incentive effects and the longer run implications of such programs. By allowing for risk aversion and savings, we quantify the insurance value of alternative programs. We find important incentive effects on education choice and labor supply, with single mothers having the most elastic labor supply. Returns to labor market experience are found to be substantial but only for full-time employment, and especially for women with more than basic formal education. For those with lower education the welfare programs are shown to have substantial insurance value. Based on the model, marginal increases to tax credits are preferred to equally costly increases in income support and to tax cuts, except by those in the highest education group. |
| Keywords: | labour supply, human capital, welfare reform |
| JEL: | J22 J24 H31 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7375&r=dem |
| By: | Gabriel Picone (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Robyn Kibler (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Benedicte Apouey (Paris School of Economics, CNRS) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the importance of malaria prevalence, malaria ecology, and indoor residual spraying on the probability of sleeping under an insecticide-treated net (ITN) in six African countries. Using individual data on ITN usage combined with the malaria prevalence and ecology data for the area where the person lives, we show that malaria prevalence and ecology have positive effects on ITN usage. However, ITN usage is inelastic with respect to malaria prevalence, with elasticity of 0.181 for children under 5 and of 0.223 for adult women. We also find that indoor residual spraying does not crowd out ITN usage. |
| Keywords: | Malaria prevalence elasticity, ITN usage, public intervations |
| JEL: | I12 I15 I18 H4 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:0313&r=dem |
| By: | Jousten, Alain (University of Liège); Lefèbvre, Mathieu (CREPP, Université de Liège) |
| Abstract: | The paper studies retirement behavior of wage‐earners in Belgium – for the first time using rich survey data to explore retirement incentives as faced by individuals. Specifically, we use SHARE data to estimate a model à la Stock and Wise (1990). Exploring the longitudinal nature of SHARELIFE, we construct measures of financial and non‐financial incentive. Our analysis explicitly takes into account the different take‐up rates of the various early retirement exit paths across time and ages. The results show that financial incentives play a strong role. Health and education also matter, as does regional variation – though the latter in an unexpected way. A set of policy simulations illustrate the scope and also the limits associated with selective parametric reforms. |
| Keywords: | pensions, social security, disability, early retirement, unemployment, labor force participation |
| JEL: | H55 J21 J26 J14 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7387&r=dem |
| By: | Shinya Sugawara (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo); Jiro Nakamura (Advanced Research Institute for the Sciences and Humanities, Nihon University) |
| Abstract: | 　　 　　 This study evaluates the Japanese Long-Term Care Insurance(LTCI) a decade after its launch, focusing on the effects of its 2006 amendment. The radical program led to the emergence of markets for various care services such as home care, daycare and temporary institutional care besides permanent institutional care, which comprises only a formal care sector in many developed countries. We analyze the labor market behavior of women who face requirement for elderly care in their household, under the availability of the various formal care services. Our empirical analysis shows that the 2006 amendment reduced the negative impacts of care requirement both on the rate of female labor force participation and their working hours. However, our results also indicate that regular workers are more likely to utilize formal care, while many non-regular workers provide informal care by themselves. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2013cf888&r=dem |
| By: | Jose Rosero (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of a housing assistance program on school enrollment, child labor and poverty reduction among poor families in Ecuador. Administrative data is merged to a household panel to link the history of a voucher application with socioeconomic information. Two empirical approaches are employed. First, I exploit variation in duration of the different stages to obtain a voucher and convert it into a house, using a sample of approved applicants. Second, I use variation across siblings that arises from the fact that siblings are exposed to the program at different ages. Results show that the program improves enrollment into post-compulsory education, decreases the probability that a child participates in the labor market and reduces the likelihood to live in poverty. Potential mediating factors are increased access to sanitation, better quality materials of the house and a reduced probability to live overcrowded. |
| Keywords: | Housing assistance programs, Housing voucher, Children, Fixed Effects, Within family estimators, Developing country, Ecuador |
| JEL: | H53 I28 I38 R21 |
| Date: | 2012–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:2012074&r=dem |
| By: | Brañas Garza, Pablo; Espinosa Alejos, María Paz; Giritligil, Ayca E. |
| Abstract: | This study addresses the issue of intergenerational transmission of democratic values embedded in social choice rules. We focus on a few rules which have been the focus of social choice theory: plurality, plurality with a runoff, majoritarian compromise, social compromise and Borda rule. We confront subjects with preferences profiles of a hypothetical electorate over a set of four alternatives. Different rules produce different outcomes and subjects decide which alternative should be chosen for the society whose preference profile is shown. We elicit each subject's preferences over rules and his/her parents' and check whether there is any relationship; 186 students and their parents attended the sessions at Istanbul Bilgi University. Overall, we find support for the hypothesis of parental transmission of democratic values and gender differences in the transmitted rule. |
| Keywords: | experiments, political transmission, democratic values, social choice |
| JEL: | D71 D72 C90 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehu:dfaeii:10013&r=dem |