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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Krapf, Matthias (University of Zurich); Ursprung, Heinrich W. (University of Konstanz); Zimmermann, Christian (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of pregnancy and parenthood on the research productivity of academic economists. Combining the survey responses of nearly 10,000 economists with their publication records as documented in their RePEc accounts, we do not find that motherhood is associated with low research productivity. Nor do we find a statistically significant unconditional effect of a first child on research productivity. Conditional difference-in-differences estimates, however, suggest that the effect of parenthood on research productivity is negative for unmarried women and positive for untenured men. Moreover, becoming a mother before 30 years of age appears to have a detrimental effect on research productivity. |
| Keywords: | Fertility; research productivity; gender gap; research productivity; life cycle. |
| JEL: | I23 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2014-001&r=dem |
| By: | Naghsh Nejad, Maryam (IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of institutionalized gender inequality, proxied by a women's rights index, on the female high-skilled migration rates relative to that of male (the female brain drain ratio). By developing a model of migration choice I find non-linear effects of gender inequality on the female brain drain ratio as a result of effects of gender inequality on both costs and benefits of migration. At low levels of women's rights, increases in the index lead to increases in the female brain drain ratio. This is consistent with, at low levels of women's rights, prohibitively high costs of migration for females. Once a certain level of protections has been afforded to them, the costs to migration are low enough that many women then decide to leave the oppressive society and migrate where the benefits associated with their human capital are higher. However, as women's rights continue to strengthen, those benefits to migration then tend to decrease. The effect on female brain drain then turns negative. Using a panel of up to 195 countries I find evidence consistent with this model which is robust to instrumental variable approach. A one-point increase in the above average level of this index is associated with an average of about a 25-percentage point decrease in the female brain drain ratio. |
| Keywords: | high skilled female migration, women's rights, institutional quality |
| JEL: | F22 J11 J61 J16 O17 O43 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7864&r=dem |
| By: | Switek, Malgorzata (University of Southern California) |
| Abstract: | Early adulthood is a time of important transitions that shape the future of young adults. How do these transitions affect well-being, and to what degree can they account for the life satisfaction path followed during young adulthood? To answer these questions, longitudinal data from the Swedish Young Adult Panel Study are used for three cohorts interviewed in 1999, 2003, and 2009. Four age intervals covering ages 22 through 40 are constructed. The well-being changes and the main transitions undergone during each age interval are examined. Life satisfaction at ages 22 to 40 follows a slight inverse U-shape peaking around age 30/32 and declining thereafter. The common transition pattern during this time is represented by young adults ages 22 through 30/32 going mainly through partnership (marriage or cohabitation) formation, the school-to-work transition, and the early years of parenting. After age 30 parenting continues as an important life transition, and is joined by an increase in partnership dissolution. This set of transitions alone is found to account for the inverse U-shape of overall life satisfaction. Partnership formation, the school-to-work transition, and parenting younger children are all associated with increasing life satisfaction, mainly through their positive relationship with the financial, and family domains of well-being. After age 30, the monetary burdens, and strains on relationship with partner associated with parenting older children start to set in, and life satisfaction begins to decline. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction, young adults, partnership formation, partnership dissolution, parenting, school-to-work transition |
| JEL: | A12 D60 I31 J10 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7877&r=dem |
| By: | Maria Carmela Lo Bue (Georg-August-University Göttingen) |
| Abstract: | Using panel data from Indonesia, this paper analyzes the linkages between child nutrition, health care, household wealth and parental education in order to detect transmission channels between health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation access, five critical MDG targets. This paper therefore also aims at providing an empirical analysis of the drivers of complementarities between these goals at the micro level micro-level perspective. We find that maternal education has a positive and long term effect on child health and that this effect is partly reflected in reproductive behavior and partly conveyed to child health outcomes through child caring practices such as breastfeeding. Although we cannot rule out the existence of strong complementarities existing between household wealth or income and child health, the effect of positive changes in this variable appears to be present only in the short term. On the other hand, there are supply-side factors such as lack of sanitation and access to health facilities which also strongly affect children in terms of anthropometric outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Millennium Development Goals; Child undernutrition; Panel data; Mundlak model; Indonesia |
| JEL: | I12 I30 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:gotcrc:155&r=dem |
| By: | Lucia Rizzica (University College of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of parental migration on children left behind in order to understand whether and how the effects of migration on children depend on which of their parents migrates. I describe the migration of one of the spouses as a sequential game in which the spouse who migrated chooses how much to send back to the spouse left behind in the form of remittances and then the latter decides how to allocate his total available budget within the household. A similar mechanism generates no difference in the share of total household income devoted to investment on children no matter which of the parents migrates, even when the two spouses have different preferences. These predictions are tested using data from Indonesia, where female migration is particularly widespread. To solve the selection problems entailed in the comparison between households with migrant fathers and households with migrant mothers, I focus on households that have at least one migrant parent and develop a model in which the decision about whether to send the man or the woman eventually depends on the expected returns and risk associated to each of the two choices. These measures will provide me with a set of instrumental variables to test the theoretical model. In accordance with the predictions of the model I find that the difference in children related expenditure is not significant between households in which mothers migrate and households in which fathers do. On the other hand I find that in households with migrant mother a significantly larger share of income is devoted to adult goods consumption; this difference reflects the difference in tastes for investment on children between men and women. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Gender, Human Capital |
| JEL: | F22 O15 J13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:361&r=dem |
| By: | Rey Dang; Anne-Françoise Bender; Marie-José Scotto |
| Abstract: | Our research aims at exploring individual’s characteristics of women on Boards in the French context. In the first part of our paper, we discuss the different theoretical frameworks which supported the business case of gender diversity on Boards of Directors and expose our hypothesis regarding differences in women and men characteristics. The second part presents our methods, measurements and data. Then, we focus on our empirical study. Our sample consists of the French Index SBF 120 companies. We studied the profile of 1,250 directors collecting information from the firms’ annual reports of year 2010, using various scales defined by previous research on that field in the Anglo–Saxon literature. Our findings confirm that integrating women on boards has an impact on the Human and Social Capital of Boards but not as much as might have been expected. It is worth noting that men and women board members seem to build their human and social capital through the same educational process in France. Nonetheless, our work shows significant differences between men and women regarding professional experience and board member status. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Governance, Boards of Directors, Diversity, Gender, Board Composition |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:201413&r=dem |
| By: | Constant, Amelie F. (George Washington University, Temple University); Schüller, Simone (IRVAPP); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA and University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Ethnic groups tend to agglomerate and assemble, mostly in urban areas. While ethnic clustering is critically debated in societies and the consequences for economic outcomes are under debate in research, the process is not yet well understood. A separate literature has also examined the cultural and ethnic identity of immigrants and how these affect their economic performance and societal integration. However, an unexplored channel connects ethnic clustering with ethnic identity formation. Therefore this paper examines the role of ethnic geographic clustering in the sociocultural integration of immigrants. It employs survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, combined with disaggregated information at a low geographical level from the unexploited German full census of 1970 and 1987. We employ the exogenous placement of immigrants during their recruitment in the 1960s and 1970s and find that local co-ethnic concentration affects immigrants' cultural integration. Residential ethnic clustering strengthens immigrants' retention of an affiliation with their respective country of origin and weakens identification with the host society. The effects are nonlinear and only become significant at relatively high levels of co-ethnic concentration for the minority identity and at very low levels of local concentration for the majority identity. Our findings are robust to the use of an instrumental variable approach. |
| Keywords: | ethnic minorities, residential segregation, ethnic identity, spatial dispersion, ethnic enclaves |
| JEL: | J15 R23 Z10 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7868&r=dem |
| By: | Uhrig, S.C. Noah |
| Abstract: | Is there a link between sexuality and poverty? If so, has this relationship changed over time? What anti-poverty policies might be relevant to address issues related to sexuality and poverty? The report synthesises literature and adds top-line findings from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. It finds that gay men, and bisexual men and women experience some degree of material disadvantage as compared to heterosexuals. Lesbian disadvantage may be more related to their status as women than their sexuality. Recommendations concern alleviating sexuality related homelessness, school bullying, health inequalities, earnings disparities and social care needs in old age. |
| Date: | 2014–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2014-02&r=dem |
| By: | Geiler, P.H.M.; Renneboog, L.D.R. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: Are female top managers paid less than their male counterparts? Is the gender gap higher in male-dominated industries? What effect on pay do female non-executive directors and remuneration consultants exert? While we find no pay gap for the figure-head (CEO), there is strong pay discrimination at the level of the other top managers. These female executive directors earn over a five-year tenure period £1.3 million less than male directors, and this pay gap is visible for all components of pay. The pay gap is lower for executives in firms with one or more female non-executives. Female executives in ‘male’ industries receive less remuneration than male executives but the gender pay gap is smaller. The advice of top remuneration consultants does not reduce the pay gap. |
| Keywords: | executive compensation;gender pay gap;gender discrimination;pay-for-performance;glass ceiling;glass cliff |
| JEL: | J31 J33 M52 G30 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2014004&r=dem |
| By: | Bellido, Héctor (University of Zaragoza); Molina, José Alberto (University of Zaragoza); Solaz, Anne (INED, France); Stancanelli, Elena G. F. (CNRS, Sorbonne Economics Research Center (CES)) |
| Abstract: | Children can be considered as a marriage-specific investment that increases the value of the marriage, making a divorce more costly. We exploit the richness of pre- and post-marital information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79, for the United States, to investigate the relation between fertility and marriage instability. In our model of marriage breakdown, we use the number of siblings of the respondent and, alternatively, multiple births, to instrument the number of children conceived during first marriage. Our results indicate that the presence of children significantly reduces the probability of marital disruption. In addition, the younger the children, the greater the deterrent effect. In contrast, we conclude that children conceived before first marriage increase the risk of marital disruption. Finally, the higher the parents' level of education, the larger the positive effect of fertility on marital stability. |
| Keywords: | children, marriage, divorce, IV approach |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J19 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7858&r=dem |
| By: | Keyu Jin (London School of Economics); Nicolas Coeurdacier (SciencesPo Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of the 'one child policy' in China on its household saving behavior. First, it develops a life-cycle model with endogenous fertility, intergenerational transfers and human capital accumulation. We show a macroeconomic and a microeconomic channel of a fall in fertility on raising aggregate household saving: at the macroeconomic level, the population composition shifts initially towards the middle-aged—the high savers of the economy. At the microeconomic level, (1) expenditures of children fall—despite higher education investment in each child—as quantity substitutes for quality; (2) middle-aged save additionally for retirement in anticipation of reduced transfers from their only child. Second, our quantitative model implies policy-induced changes in aggregate savings and age-saving profiles broadly consistent with estimates from Chinese household-level data. Third, an empirical study using the birth of twins as a source of exogenous increase in fertility is shown to support the micro-economic channels we highlight. Overall, our estimation suggests that the policy is able to account for 30% to 50% of the rise in household savings rate since its implementation in 1980. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed013:790&r=dem |
| By: | Francis, Bill (Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); Hasan, Iftekhar (Schools of Business, Fordham University, New York, NY 10019, USA and Bank of Finland, 00101, Helsinki, Finland); Park, Jong Chool (College of Business and Public Administration, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA); Wu, Qiang (Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of CFO gender on corporate financial reporting decision-making. Focusing on firms that experience changes of CFO from male to female, the paper compares the firms’ degree of accounting conservatism between pre- and post-transition periods. We find that female CFOs are more conservative in their financial reporting. In addition, we find that the relation between CFO gender and conservatism varies with the levels of various firm risks such as litigation risk, default risk, systematic risk, and CFO specific risk such as job security risk. We further find that risk-aversion of female CFOs is associated with less equity-based compensation, lower firm risk, higher tangibility level, and lower dividend payout level. Overall, the study provides strong support for the notion that female CFOs are more risk averse than male CFOs, which leads female CFOs to adopt more conservative financial reporting policies. |
| Keywords: | accounting conservatism; gender; CFO; risk-aversion |
| JEL: | J16 M41 |
| Date: | 2014–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofrdp:2014_001&r=dem |
| By: | Razzolini, Tiziano (University of Siena); Leombruni, Roberto (University of Turin); Mastrobuoni, Giovanni (Collegio Carlo Alberto); Pagliero, Mario (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Despite its policy relevance there is little evidence on the joint evolution of gender differences in wages and workplace safety. Between 1994 and 2002 Italian micro-level data show a decline in both gaps, as well as an increased concentration of injuries among low-skilled female workers. The reduction in the gender wage gap is driven by sorting of workers across sectors and occupations, while the reduction in the gender injury gap and the increased concentration of injuries among low skilled female workers appears to be driven by changes in unobservables characteristics. Moreover, our findings indicate that in 2002 women became more vulnerable to non-employment spells, which seems to be followed by both wage reductions and increased workplace risk for the re-employed low-skilled female workers. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, workplace injury, job amenities, wage differentials |
| JEL: | J16 J28 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7849&r=dem |
| By: | Bloom, David E. (Harvard University); Humair, Salal (Harvard School of Public Health); Rosenberg, Larry (Harvard School of Public Health); Sevilla, J.P. (George Mason University); Trussell, James (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | Managing rapid population growth and spurring economic growth are among the most pressing policy challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa. We discuss the links between them and investigate the potential of family planning programs to address these challenges. Specifically, we estimate the impact of family planning programs on income per capita that can arise via the demographic dividend (DD), a boost to per capita income that operates through a chain of causality related to declining fertility. We develop a model to determine the impact of "meeting unmet need" (MUN) for modern contraceptive methods on fertility and hence on the population age structure in the coming years. We also estimate empirically the DD that has been observed in other countries, using a cross-country regression with panel data covering 40 years. Using the age structure projected by MUN and the empirical estimates of the DD, we estimate the potential for additional economic growth in Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. We find that in 2030, these countries can enjoy an increase in per capita income of 8-13% by meeting one-third of their unmet need for modern contraception and can enjoy a 31-65% higher income per capita by meeting all of the unmet need. By 2050, these ranges become 13-22% and 47-87% respectively. We discuss the policy implications of our findings. |
| Keywords: | aging, health care, labor studies |
| JEL: | J11 J13 O55 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7855&r=dem |
| By: | Biavaschi, Costanza (IZA); Giulietti, Corrado (IZA); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA and University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | While a growing literature has analyzed the effects of parental migration on the educational outcomes of children left behind, this is the first study to highlight the importance of sibling interactions in such a context. Using panel data from the RUMiC Survey, we find that sibling influence on schooling performance is stronger among left- behind children. Hence, parental migration seems to trigger changes in the roles and effects among children. However, it is primarily older sisters who exhibit a positive influence on their younger siblings. We corroborate our results by performing a series of tests to mitigate endogeneity issues. The results from the analysis suggest that sibling effects in migrant households might be a mechanism to shape children's outcomes and success and that adjustments within the family left behind have the potential to generate benefits – or reduce hardship – in response to parental migration. |
| Keywords: | left behind, siblings, human capital |
| JEL: | O15 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7859&r=dem |
| By: | Diette, Timothy M. (Washington and Lee University); Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: | The influx of immigrants has shifted the ethnic composition of public schools in many states including North Carolina. Recent evidence from North Carolina suggests that increases in Limited English students' concentration have led to a slight decline in performance solely for students at the top of the achievement distribution. The heterogeneous peer effects by achievement level lead us to explore in this paper whether the increased immigration has differential effects by gender and race. Utilizing fixed effects methods that allow us to address possible endogeneity with respect to the schools' students attend, we find heterogeneous peer effects of limited English students on natives' performance in math and reading. Specifically, we find no peer effects on white females but small negative effects on males and blacks on average. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, student achievement, peer effects, education, race, gender, limited English students |
| JEL: | I20 I21 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7856&r=dem |
| By: | Facchini, Giovanni (University of Nottingham); Patacchini, Eleonora (Syracuse University); Steinhardt, Max (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | Using novel information from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the period 1996-2011, we document that migrants with a German friend are more similar to natives than those without a local companion along several important dimensions, including engagement in social activities, concerns about the economy, interest in politics and broad policy issues like the environment, crime and xenophobia. When looking at the determinants of friendship acquisition, we find that the acquisition of a new job is the cause (rather than the product) of social network variations. Other factors driving the acquisition of a native friend include the number of years the migrant has spent in the country, the birth of a child, residential mobility and additional education in the host country. |
| Keywords: | culture, migration, friendship formation, ethnic minorities |
| JEL: | A14 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7881&r=dem |
| By: | Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Schwerdt, Guido (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Wiederhold, Simon (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Existing estimates of the labor-market returns to human capital give a distorted picture of the role of skills across different economies. International comparisons of earnings analyses rely almost exclusively on school attainment measures of human capital, and evidence incorporating direct measures of cognitive skills is mostly restricted to early-career workers in the United States. Analysis of the new PIAAC survey of adult skills over the full lifecycle in 22 countries shows that the focus on early-career earnings leads to underestimating the lifetime returns to skills by about one quarter. On average, a one-standard-deviation increase in numeracy skills is associated with an 18 percent wage increase among prime-age workers. But this masks considerable heterogeneity across countries. Eight countries, including all Nordic countries, have returns between 12 and 15 percent, while six are above 21 percent with the largest return being 28 percent in the United States. Estimates are remarkably robust to different earnings and skill measures, additional controls, and various subgroups. Intriguingly, returns to skills are systematically lower in countries with higher union density, stricter employment protection, and larger public-sector shares. |
| Keywords: | cognitive skills, education, labor market, earnings, international comparisons |
| JEL: | J31 I20 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7850&r=dem |