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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Venke Furre Haaland; Mari Rege; Kjetil Telle; Mark Votruba (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Despite well-documented convergence during the later years of the 20th century, labor market attachment remains markedly higher for men than for women. The current paper employs rich longitudinal registry data to investigate the intergenerational transfer of the gender gap in employment. We explore the extent that family- and community-level characteristics, measured in childhood, differentially predict employment for adult Norwegian men and women. Drawing on theories pertaining to the importance of information, skills and gender norms transfer, our empirical analysis demonstrates that a parsimonious set of family- and community-level characteristics can explain a substantial part of the gender gap. These results suggest that female employment continues to be influenced by the intergenerational transfer of beliefs and expectations about family and work. |
| Keywords: | Gender gap; Employment; Labor force particiaption; Intergenerational transfer |
| JEL: | J16 J21 D13 N30 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:767&r=dem |
| By: | Irina Kalabikhina (Department of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University); Alla Tyndik (Institute for Social Analysis and Prediction RANEPA) |
| Abstract: | This article is devoted to investigation current demographic policy in Russia impact on fertility of different educational groups. Authors use qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data for this analysis come from the Gender and Generation Survey in Russia (2004, 2007, 2011 waves). Semi-structured interview method (Moscow, 2010) was used to assess the cognitive and emotional aspects of fertility behaviour (to give birth the next child). One of the important results of this study that Russian population could not be satisfated with current demographic policy. Moreover, higher educated people have stronger demand for family-work measures to reach desired family size. People with higher education estimate influence of existing measures lower as a whole, but influence of potential measures (directed on combination of career and parenthood) the estimated higher. |
| Keywords: | Demographic policy, fertility, educational groups, Russia |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upa:wpaper:0010&r=dem |
| By: | Oreffice, Sonia (University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how spouses' cultural backgrounds mediate the role of intra-household bargaining in the labor supply decisions of foreign-born and US-born couples, in a collective-household framework. Using data from the 2000 US Census, I show that the hours worked by US-born couples, and by those foreign-born coming from countries with gender roles similar to the US, are significantly related to common bargaining power forces such as differences between spouses in age and non-labor income, controlling for both spouses' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Households whose culture of origin supports strict and unequal gender roles do not exhibit any association of these power factors with their labor supply decisions. This cultural asymmetry suggests that spousal attributes are assessed differently across couples within the US, and that how spouses make use of their outside opportunities and economic and institutional environment may depend on their ethnicities. |
| Keywords: | culture, gender roles, household bargaining power, labor supply |
| JEL: | D1 J15 J22 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7997&r=dem |
| By: | Josef Montag |
| Abstract: | Gender differences in productivity, if any, that are unobserved to researchers may produce an omitted variable bias in gender gap studies. Finding a subpopulation with less acute differences in unobserved characteristics would allow this concern to be addressed. This paper argues that gays and lesbians are one such interesting group—for the intra-household division of labor and its effects on market productivity cannot be sex-determined in this subpopulation. Indeed, there are substantial intra-household variations in labor market outcomes and other characteristics; the patterns and magnitudes are similar to different-sex households. Simultaneously, the gender wage gap between gays and lesbians is much smaller than in the heterosexual population; in specifications that control for geographic location it is near zero. These findings suggest that the intra-household division of labor is an important factor driving gender differences in labor market outcomes. Such an interpretation is consistent with recent studies that control for productivity. |
| Keywords: | gender gap; sexual division of labor; discrimination, specialization; |
| JEL: | J16 D10 J22 J24 J70 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp505&r=dem |
| By: | van den Berg, Gerard J. (University of Mannheim); Pinger, Pia (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | At the crossroads of economics and human biology, this paper examines the extent to which pre-puberty nutritional conditions in one generation affect productivity-related outcomes in later generations. Recent studies have found a negative association between conditions at ages 8-12 and the grandchild's over-all and cardiovascular and diabetes mortality in a single historical dataset. It has been argued that this association reflects epigenetic imprinting, which has been corroborated in animal studies. We provide an external validation by analyzing the impact of the German famine of 1916-1918 on children and grandchildren of those exposed to the famine at ages 8-12. Our findings support and extend the evidence so far. Among the third generation, males (females) tend to have higher mental health scores if their paternal grandfather (maternal grandmother) was exposed. We do not find robust effects on the probability of obtaining an upper secondary education. |
| Keywords: | famine, transgenerational transmission, epigenetics, mental health, education, long-run effects, nutrition, intergenerational effects, slow-growth period |
| JEL: | I12 J11 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7999&r=dem |
| By: | Gundi Knies; Alita Nandi; Lucinda Platt |
| Abstract: | Using a rich, nationally representative data set with a large sample of minorities and matched small area characteristics, we explore differences in life satisfaction for ethnic groups living in UK. We test the hypothesis that minorities will be less satisfied, which will in part be explained by less favourable individual and area contexts, but that living in areas with a larger proportion of own ethnic group promotes well-being. We find that satisfaction is lower among minorities, ceteris paribus, but area concentration is associated with higher life satisfaction for certain groups. We discuss the implications of our findings. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction; happiness; ethnic group; neighbourhood; subjective wellbeing; UKHLS |
| JEL: | I31 J15 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:55669&r=dem |
| By: | Cremer, Helmuth (Toulouse School of Economics); Roeder, Kerstin (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | We show that once interfamily exchanges are considered, Becker's rotten kids mechanism has some remarkable implications that have gone hitherto unnoticed. Specifically, we establish that Cornes and Silva's (1999) result of efficiency in the contribution game amongst siblings extends to a setting where the contributors (spouses) belong to different families. More strikingly still, the mechanism does not just have consequences for efficiency but it may have dramatic redistributive implications. In particular, we show that the rotten kids mechanism combined with a contribution game to a household public good may lead to an astonishing equalization of consumptions between the spouses and their parents, even when their parents' wealth levels differ. We consider two families, each consisting of a parent and an adult child, who are "linked" by the young spouses. Children contribute part of their time to a household (couple) public good and provide attention to their respective parents "in exchange" for a bequest. Spouses behave towards their respective parents like Becker's rotten kids; they are purely selfish and anticipate that their altruistic parents will leave them a bequest. The most striking results obtain when wages are equal and when parents' initial wealth levels are not too different. For very large wealth differences the mechanism must be supplemented by a (mandatory) transfer that brings them back into the relevant range. When wages differ but are similar the outcome will be near efficient (and near egalitarian). |
| Keywords: | rotten kids, altruism, private provision of public good, subgame perfect equilibrium, family aid |
| JEL: | D13 D61 D64 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7998&r=dem |
| By: | Huang, Haifang (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Humphreys, Brad (West Virginia University); Zhou, Li (University of Alberta, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Access to legal gambling has expanded in Canada. Casinos can generate both positive and negative local impacts. We analyze the effect of new urban Canadian casinos on nearby neighborhoods in terms of population growth and composition, and housing market outcomes based on more than 40 urban casinos opened in Canada between 1986 and 2007. We define neighborhoods based on spatial proximity, and analyze impacts on changes in census tract profiles. We find no evidence that casino openings affect population growth or population composition by age, gender and martial status, or home ownership rates, and evidence that casino openings reduced unemployment in surrounding areas, and are correlated with faster growth in household income. We also find evidence of negative effects on changes in housing values and rents despite the faster income growth. The findings suggest a double-edged nature to casino openings: positive for employment and income growth but negative for residential amenities. |
| Keywords: | casino; economic impact; amenities; employment |
| JEL: | L83 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2014_002&r=dem |
| By: | Averett, Susan L. (Lafayette College); Wang, Yang (Lafayette College) |
| Abstract: | Intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread among women, with substantial and long-lasting negative consequences. Researchers have documented a strong positive correlation between alcohol abuse and IPV. Yet prior researchers have struggled with the problem of the potential endogeneity of alcohol abuse. In this paper, we deal with this problem by exploring a unique instrumental variable - the September 11 terrorist attack (9/11) - in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. 9/11 was found in our data to lead to a significant increase in the frequency of alcohol abuse for respondents interviewed just after 9/11 compared to those interviewed before. Our OLS results indeed confirm earlier research of a strong positive correlation between alcohol abuse and IPV. However, the 2SLS results show no statistically significant effect of alcohol abuse on IPV. These results indicate that alcohol abuse might not have causal effects on IPV, and therefore have important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | intimate partner violence, alcohol abuse, 9/11, instrumental variable |
| JEL: | I12 I18 J12 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7996&r=dem |
| By: | Heckman, James J. (University of Chicago); Mosso, Stefano (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | This paper distills and extends recent research on the economics of human development and social mobility. It summarizes the evidence from diverse literatures on the importance of early life conditions in shaping multiple life skills and the evidence on critical and sensitive investment periods for shaping different skills. It presents economic models that rationalize the evidence and unify the treatment effect and family influence literatures. The evidence on the empirical and policy importance of credit constraints in forming skills is examined. There is little support for the claim that untargeted income transfer policies to poor families significantly boost child outcomes. Mentoring, parenting, and attachment are essential features of successful families and interventions to shape skills at all stages of childhood. The next wave of family studies will better capture the active role of the emerging autonomous child in learning and responding to the actions of parents, mentors and teachers. |
| Keywords: | capacities, dynamic complementarity, parenting, scaffolding, attachment, credit constraints |
| JEL: | J13 I20 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8000&r=dem |