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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi (Bar-Ilan University); Senik, Claudia (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 led to a massive migration wave from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to Israel. We document the persistence and transmission of the Soviet unconventional gender norms, both vertically across generations of immigrants, and horizontally through neighborhood and school peer effects. Tracking the educational and occupational choices of a cohort of young Israeli women, we identify the persistence of two important features of the Soviet culture: the prioritization of science and technology, and the strong female attachment to paid-work. Women born in the FSU, who immigrated in infancy, are significantly more likely than natives and other immigrants to major in STEM in high school. In tertiary education, they remain over-represented in STEM, but also differ significantly from other women by their specific avoidance of study fields leading to "pink collar" jobs, such as education and social work. They also display a specific choice of work-life balance reflecting a greater commitment to paid-work. Finally, the choice patterns of native women shift towards STEM and away from traditional female study fields as the share of FSU immigrants in their lower-secondary school increases. |
| Keywords: | culture, gender norms, education, STEM, occupational choice, immigration, Soviet Union, Israel |
| JEL: | Z1 I21 J16 J24 P30 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13385&r=all |
| By: | Marie Hull (UNC Greensboro and IZA); Jonathan Norris (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the evolution of cognitive and noncognitive skills gaps for children of immigrants between kindergarten and 5th grade using two cohorts of elementary school students. We find some evidence that children of immigrants begin school with lower math scores than children of natives, but this gap disappears in later elementary school. For noncognitive skills, children of immigrants and children of natives score similarly in early elementary school, but a positive gap opens up in 2nd grade. We find that the growth in noncognitive skills is driven by disadvantaged immigrant students. We discuss potential explanations for the observed patterns of skill development as well as the implications of our results for the labor market prospects of children of immigrants. |
| Keywords: | children of immigrants, test scores, noncognitive skills, early life development |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J15 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:2005&r=all |
| By: | Bárcena-Martín, Elena; Medina-Claros, Samuel; Pérez-Moreno, Salvador |
| Abstract: | This paper explores potential gendered effects of employment protection on earnings mobility, differentiating between upward and downward movements. We conduct a micro-macro mobility analysis for 23 European countries over the economic downturn period 2008–2014. The results confirm that, overall, the higher the protection for regular contracts, the lower the earnings mobility (either upwards or downwards) although the effect is stronger among women of high reproductive age. Nevertheless, protection for temporary employment seems to be only associated with reduced downward earnings mobility when considering transitions into and out of employment, with no gender differential effect. |
| Keywords: | earnings mobility,employment protection,European countries,gender |
| JEL: | D31 J08 J13 J31 J60 O15 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:547&r=all |
| By: | David Autor; David N. Figlio; Krzysztof Karbownik; Jeffrey Roth; Melanie Wasserman |
| Abstract: | Analyzing Florida birth certificates matched to school records, we document that the female advantage in childhood behavioral and academic outcomes is driven by gender gaps at the extremes of the outcome distribution. Using unconditional quantile regression, we investigate whether family socioeconomic status (SES) differentially affects the lower tail outcomes of boys. We find that the differential effects of family SES on boys’ outcomes are concentrated in the parts of the distribution where the gender gaps are most pronounced. Accounting for the disproportionate effects of family environment on boys at the tails substantially narrows the gender gap in high school dropout. |
| JEL: | I24 J12 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27196&r=all |
| By: | Campo, Francesco (University of Milan Bicocca); Mendola, Mariapia (University of Milan Bicocca); Morrison, Andrea (Bocconi University); Ottaviano, Gianmarco (Bocconi University) |
| Abstract: | A possible unintended but damaging consequence of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the policies it inspires, is that they may put high-skilled immigrants off more than low-skilled ones at times when countries and businesses intensify their competition for global talent. We investigate this argument following the location choices of thousands of immigrant inventors across US counties during the Age of Mass Migration. To do so we combine a unique USPTO historical patent dataset with Census data and exploit exogenous variation in both immigration flows and diversity induced by former settlements, WWI and the 1920s Immigration Acts. We find that co-ethnic networks play an important role in attracting immigrant inventors. However, we also find that immigrant diversity acts as an additional significant pull factor. This is mainly due to externalities that foster immigrant inventors' innovativeness. These findings are relevant for today's advanced economies that have become major receivers of migrant flows and, in a long-term perspective, have started thinking about immigration in terms of not only level but also composition. |
| Keywords: | international migration, cultural diversity, innovation |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O31 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13381&r=all |
| By: | Zhang, Xiaohan |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how alcohol prohibition affected labor force and parental characteristics by exploiting county-level variations in prohibition status. These local alcohol prohibition laws lead to a “sobering effect” that improved labor market and educational outcomes of working-age adults. However, they also introduced significant levels of negative selection into parenthood. Evidence on job displacements in a variety of alcohol-related industries suggests that such negative selection could be explained by the life-cycle fertility model, where displacement shocks affected those on the lower end of the income distribution, reduced their opportunity cost of fertility, and nudged them into parenthood. The sobering effect mitigated the negative selection effect, and the net effect suggests a minor underestimation of the benefits of limiting parental drinking in the prohibition literature. |
| Keywords: | Prohibition, labor force, parents, selection, labor market, education. |
| JEL: | H73 I18 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101038&r=all |
| By: | Christopher Avery; William Bossert; Adam Thomas Clark; Glenn Ellison; Sara Ellison |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a critical review of models of the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that have been influential in recent policy discussions. It notes potentially important features of the real- world environment that the standard models do not incorporate and discusses reasons why estimating critical parameters is difficult. These limitations may bias forecasts and lead forecasters to overstate confidence in their predictions. They also provide social scientists with opportunities to advance the literature and enable improved policies. This paper also discusses how optimal policies might depend on what is learned from new data and models. |
| JEL: | C02 I10 I18 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8293&r=all |
| By: | Andri Chassamboulli; Xiangbo Liu |
| Abstract: | How do legal and illegal immigrants affect the fiscal balance and welfare of natives in the host country? To answer this question we develop a general equilibrium model with search frictions in the labor market that accounts for both the direct net contribution of immigrants to the fiscal balance and their indirect fiscal effects through their labor market impact. We calibrate the model to the US economy and find that legal immigrants increase native welfare, mainly due to their positive direct net contribution to the fiscal balance. On the other hand, illegal immigrants' positive welfare impact stems mainly from their positive effect on job creation, which helps improve the fiscal balance, but also increases income to natives and in turn consumption. A legalization program leads to a fiscal gain and increases native welfare and it is more beneficial to the host country's citizens than a purely restrictive immigration policy that reduces the illegal immigrant population. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Search Frictions, Fiscal Impact, Welfare, Job creation, Immigration Policies |
| JEL: | J61 J64 E20 F22 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:07-2020&r=all |
| By: | Edwyna Harris (Monash University); Sumner La Croix (University of Hawai‘i) |
| Abstract: | Great Britain established the new colony of South Australia in 1834 and migration from Britain to the colony began in 1836. After six turbulent years, the discovery of two large deposits of copper at Kapunda (1843/1844) and Burra (1844/1845) renewed the colony’s economic prospects. Over the 1845-1850 period, SA supplied 8-9 percent of the world’s copper production. Immigration to SA from Britain soared, with the colony’s population more than tripling between 1844 and 1851. We augment the Beine et al. (2015) model of an economy with a booming resource sector to incorporate endogenous immigration, and use its comparative statics to frame our empirical investigation of the boom’s effects on the export of other traded goods and worker living standards. Using newly developed SA wage and price series for this period, we find modest increases in SA living standards, increases in the export of wool and wheat, and a larger share of the labor force working in the non-traded goods sector. Finally, we conclude that the decision by Governor Grey to force broad ownership of the “monster” Burra mine and the use of rents from the booming sector to subsidize immigration helped SA avoid the corruption and rent-seeking associated with other resource booms. |
| Keywords: | copper mining; Dutch disease; standard of living; South Australia; immigration |
| JEL: | Q33 N47 N57 F22 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:202012&r=all |
| By: | Falk, Armin (briq, University of Bonn); Kosse, Fabian (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München); Pinger, Pia (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | Inequality of opportunity strikes when two children with the same academic performance are sent to different quality schools because their parents differ in socio-economic status. Based on a novel dataset for Germany, we demonstrate that children are significantly less likely to enter the academic track if they come from low socio-economic status (SES) families, even after conditioning on prior measures of school performance. We then provide causal evidence that a low-intensity mentoring program can improve long-run education outcomes of low SES children and reduce inequality of opportunity. Low SES children, who were randomly assigned to a mentor for one year are 20 percent more likely to enter a high track program. The mentoring relationship affects both parents and children and has positive long-term implications for children's educational trajectories. |
| Keywords: | mentoring, childhood intervention programs, education, human capital investments, inequality of opportunity, socio-economic status |
| JEL: | C90 I24 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13387&r=all |
| By: | Bart Cockx; Michael Lechner; Joost Bollens |
| Abstract: | Based on administrative data of unemployed in Belgium, we estimate the labour market effects of three training programmes at various aggregation levels using Modified Causal Forests, a causal machine learning estimator. While all programmes have positive effects after the lock-in period, we find substantial heterogeneity across programmes and unemployed. Simulations show that “black-box” rules that reassign unemployed to programmes that maximise estimated individual gains can considerably improve effectiveness: up to 20% more (less) time spent in (un)employment within a 30 months window. A shallow policy tree delivers a simple rule that realizes about 70% of this gain. |
| Keywords: | policy evaluation, active labour market policy, causal machine learning, modified causal forest, conditional average treatment effects |
| JEL: | J68 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8297&r=all |
| By: | Gensowski, Miriam (University of Copenhagen); Gørtz, Mette (University of Copenhagen); Schurer, Stefanie (University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | We describe gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the Big Five personality traits over the life cycle, using a facet-level inventory linked to administrative data. We estimate life-cycle profiles non-parametrically and test for cohort and sample-selection effects. We discuss the economic implications of the following findings: Women of all ages score more highly than men on all personality traits, including three that are positively associated with wages; Individuals with high own or parental education have more favorable traits except Conscientiousness; Over the life cycle, gender and socioeconomic gaps widen in Openness and shrink in Neuroticism, a trait associated with worse outcomes. |
| Keywords: | inequality, socio-emotional skills, personality traits, Big Five facets, life cycle dynamics, gender gap, intergenerational transmission |
| JEL: | J24 I24 J62 I31 J16 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13378&r=all |
| By: | Michael Christl (European Commission - JRC); Silvia De Poli (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | Financial incentives affect the labour supply decisions of households, but typically the impact of such incentives varies significantly across household types. While there is a substantial literature on the labour supply effects of tax reforms and in-work benefits, the impact of changes in social assistance benefits has received less attention. This paper analyses the impact of the Austrian reform proposal 'Neue Sozialhilfe' ("New Social Assistance"), which was introduced in 2019 and substantially cut social assistance benefits for migrants and families with children. We show that the labour supply effects of these changes in social assistance differ substantially across household types. While women exhibit higher labour supply elasticities in our estimates, the overall effects of the reform are especially strong for men and migrants. Couples with children and migrants, i.e. the groups which were hit the hardest by the reform's social assistance reductions, show the strongest labour supply reactions to the 'New Social Assistance'. Furthermore, we show that overall the reform has a positive, but small, effect on the intensive margin of labour supply. |
| Keywords: | social assistance, reform, labour supply, discrete choice, microsimulation, EUROMOD |
| JEL: | J08 H31 H53 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:taxref:202005&r=all |
| By: | William D. Larson (Federal Housing Finance Agency); Tara M. Sinclair (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | Near term forecasts, also called nowcasts, are most challenging but also most important when the economy experiences an abrupt change. In this paper, we explore the performance of models with different information sets and data structures in order to best nowcast US initial unemployment claims in spring of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that the best model, particularly near the structural break in claims, is a state-level panel model that includes dummy variables to capture the variation in timing of state-of-emergency declarations. Autoregressive models perform poorly at first but catch up relatively quickly. Models including Google Trends are outperformed by alternative models in nearly all periods. Our results suggest that in times of structural change there may be simple approaches to exploit relevant information in the cross sectional dimension to improve forecasts. |
| Keywords: | land prices, price gradient, land value taxation, price dynamics |
| JEL: | C53 E24 E27 J64 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hfa:wpaper:20-02&r=all |
| By: | Kalb, Guyonne (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research); Meekes, Jordy (University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how wage growth varies among Australian employees with different individual characteristics and job characteristics, and how the role of these characteristics has changed over the 2001-2018 period. The results show that after increasing between 2002 and 2007, wage growth had significantly slowed down post 2008, and particularly from 2013 onwards, returning to the levels of the early 2000s. Employees' age, education, employment contract, occupation and industry explain a large share of differences in wage growth between individuals, and these characteristics are more important than aggregate business cycle effects. Conversely, the employee's gender seems less important. Interestingly, the employee's occupation is more important post-2008 than pre-2008, with managers and professionals experiencing substantially higher wage growth than others since 2014, whereas education was more important pre-2008. Finally, we find that casual employees receive a wage growth premium during the economic upturn and a penalty during the economic downturn. |
| Keywords: | individual wage growth, aggregate wage growth, business cycle, wage differentials |
| JEL: | J31 J53 L24 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13327&r=all |
| By: | Danilo Bolano (University of Lausanne); Daniele Vignoli (Università di Firenze) |
| Abstract: | The present study adds to the growing literature on union formation in case of uncertainty by proposing an operational distinction between actual constraints and perceived uncertainty regarding the future. Using longitudinal data from 17 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, we examine the effect of the type of contract, by empirically disentangling objective, actual constraints, their subjective perception, and perceived uncertainty about the future on the hazard of entry into the first union. Our results corroborate the notion that, alone, objective measures give only a partial and possibly inaccurate perspective: the specter of the future also matters. Relevant differences in selection into first union are observed according to the level of uncertainty faced by individuals. Moreover, our findings reveal a nonlinear relationship between uncertainty and family formation. Faced by either very low or very high uncertainty, individuals who are employed tend to invest their resources in family formation—a trend which may well be respectively encouraged or discouraged by the state of the labor market. With mid-levels of uncertainty, individuals may instead prefer to invest into the labor market and postpone union formation. |
| Keywords: | Employment conditions; Perceived employment uncertainty; First unions; Australia. |
| JEL: | J12 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fir:econom:wp2020_07&r=all |
| By: | Alexander Ahammer; Analisa Packham |
| Abstract: | Using administrative data for Upper Austrian workers from 2003--2013, we show that an extension in unemployment insurance (UI) duration increases unemployment length and impacts worker physical and mental health. These effects vary by gender. Specifically, we find that women eligible for an additional 9 weeks of UI benefits fill fewer opioid and antidepressant prescriptions and experience a lower likelihood of filing a disability claim, as compared to non-eligible unemployed women. Moreover, estimates indicate within-household spillovers for young children. For men, we find that extending UI benefit duration increases the likelihood of a cardiac event and eventual disability retirement filing. |
| JEL: | I18 I38 J18 J65 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27267&r=all |
| By: | Carlos Carrillo-Tudela; Hermann Gartner; Leo Kaas |
| Abstract: | Recruitment behavior is important for the matching process in the labor market. Using unique linked survey-administrative data, we explore the relationships between hiring and recruitment policies. Faster hiring goes along with higher search effort, lower hiring standards and more generous wages. To analyze the mechanisms behind these patterns, we develop a directed search model in which firms use different recruitment margins in response to productivity shocks. The calibrated model points to an important role of hiring standards for matching efficiency and for the impact of labor market policy, whereas search effort and wage policies play only a minor role. |
| Keywords: | vacancies, recruitment, labor market matching |
| JEL: | E24 J23 J63 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8299&r=all |
| By: | Marie Connolly (Department of Economics, University of Quebec in Montreal); Catherine Haeck (Department of Economics, University of Quebec in Montreal); Jean-William Laliberte (Department of Economics, University of Calgary) |
| Abstract: | Intergenerational mobility has decreased over time for the cohorts of children born between the 1960s and the 1980s in Canada. At the same time, returns to education have gone up. Both factors have contributed to exacerbating income gaps between children of parents with and without secondary education. However, the transmission of residual parental income differences that cannot be accounted for by differences in educational attainment have increased at a faster rate than overall intergenerational income transmission. In addition, overall income mobility has shrunk less in communities that have experienced greater increases in parental high school completion rates over time. There is no significant relationship with changes in university education. Overall, these patterns suggest that fostering high school completion may help slow down the worsening of intergenerational income mobility. |
| Keywords: | social mobility, intergenerational income transmission, income inequality, education, Canada |
| JEL: | J62 D63 I24 I26 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grc:wpaper:20-05&r=all |
| By: | Maiti, Surya Nath; Pakrashi, Debayan; Saha, Sarani; Smyth, Russell |
| Abstract: | We study the potential for pleasant and cooperative contact to reduce preconceived prejudice between religious groups in the context of India. We randomly assign Hindus and Muslims into groups, in which they interact over the course of a week-long vocational training program. We find that intergroup contact reduces the prejudice of both Hindu and Muslim participants toward members of the other religion one week after the training program finished. While we find that most of the positive effect of intergroup contact on reducing prejudice dissipates after six months, the baseline results for Hindu attitudes toward Muslims are persistent. |
| Keywords: | religion,attitude,prejudice,vocational training |
| JEL: | C93 J15 Z12 Z18 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:549&r=all |
| By: | Stähler, Nikolai |
| Abstract: | We build a life-cycle model in which a representative firm produces a final good using routine and non-routine labor as well as traditional and automation capital (e.g. robots). Robots can substitute for routine labor. We show that both, population aging and higher robot productivity, foster the increased use of robotics. Population aging decreases and progress in robot technology increases long-run output per capita. In both cases, inequalities in labor income, wealth and consumption rise. Although expected advances in automation technologies are able to mitigate or even circumvent output losses in the aggregate and improve consumption possibilities for everyone, this comes at the cost of increased inequality because non-routine workers benefit disproportionately. |
| Keywords: | Life-Cycle model,Automation,Robots,Inequality |
| JEL: | J11 J23 J24 O33 O49 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:302020&r=all |
| By: | William J. Collins |
| Abstract: | The Great Migration from the US South is a prominent theme in economic history research not only because it was a prime example of large scale internal migration, but also because it had far-reaching ramifications for American economic, social, and political change. This essay offers a concise review of the literature focused on questions of timing, selection, and migrants’ outcomes, and then offers a more speculative interpretation of how the Great Migration fostered the advancement of Civil Rights. |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J7 N32 N92 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27268&r=all |
| By: | Lukas Kiessling (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies parental beliefs about the returns to two factors affecting the development and long-term outcomes of children: (i) parenting styles defined by the extent of warmth and control parents employ in raising children, and (ii) neighborhood quality. Based on a representative sample of 2,119 parents in the United States, I show that parents perceive large returns to the warmth dimension of parenting as well as neighborhood quality, and document that parenting is perceived to compensate for the lack of a good environment. Mothers expect larger returns than fathers, but there is no socioeconomic gradient in perceived returns despite a high degree of heterogeneity. Furthermore, I introduce a measurement error correction by leveraging beliefs measured in two different domains, and show that parents’ perceived returns relate to their actual parenting styles. My results suggest that parental beliefs are an important determinant of parental decision-making, but cannot explain socioeconomic differences in parenting. |
| Keywords: | Beliefs, Parenting styles, Neighborhoods, Child outcomes, Human capital |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J13 J24 D19 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2020_14&r=all |
| By: | Beland, Louis-Philippe; Brodeur, Abel; Haddad, Joanne; Mikola, Derek |
| Abstract: | We study the impacts of COVID-19 on domestic violence and family stress. Our empirical analysis relies on a unique online survey, the Canadian Perspective Survey Series, which allows us to investigate the mechanisms through which COVID-19 may affect family stress and domestic violence. We find no evidence that changes in work arrangements are related to self-reported levels of family stress and violence in the home due to confinement, suggesting that remote work on a large scale does not lead to family violence. In contrast, we find that the inability to meet financial obligations and maintaining social ties significantly increase reported family stress and domestic violence. These findings are consistent with two alternative mechanisms: social isolation and decreased bargaining power for women. Last, we provide suggestive evidence that receiving financial relief does not mitigate the effect of financial worries on domestic violence and family stress. We conclude that targeted programs supporting victims of domestic violence may be more effective. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,lockdown,domestic violence,family stress,isolation and remote work |
| JEL: | D03 I18 J12 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:clefwp:27&r=all |
| By: | Barigozzi, Francesca (University of Bologna); Di Timoteo, Cesare (Glovo); Monfardini, Chiara (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | We estimate gender gaps in the allocation of time by Italian adults and their trends over the years 2002-2014. We disentangle time use in weekdays and weekend days and analyse separately full-time working parents with young children, representing the subsample more mindful of gender parity. In the complete sample, the positive gap (females-males) in time devoted to Household work and the negative gap in Market work and Leisure have narrowed, while the positive gap in time devoted to Child care (Basic and Quality time together) remained constant. In 2014, family duties still appear heavily unbalanced. In the subsample, full-time working mothers devote to total work (paid and unpaid) 13 hours per week more and to Leisure 11 hours per week less than their partners. On the positive side, the gender gap in Quality child care exhibits a reversed sign, which is driven by fathers' engagement in weekend days. |
| Keywords: | child care, gender gaps, time use, household work |
| JEL: | J13 J22 H31 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13348&r=all |
| By: | Lassassi, Moundir |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of attending early childcare on the quality of parent–child interactions and children’s cognitive outcomes. My identification strategy exploits geographical differences in terms of exposure to the program, controlling for the period when the program is implemented across Algerian municipalities as an instrument for individual early childcare attendance. I estimate 2SLS regression analysis and employ a difference-in-difference strategy. I use two Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys conducted in 2006 and 2012. I find a positive effect of preschool on the cognitive development of children. In turn, the effect is only significant for mother with negative effect on the interaction between mother and children, which means that there is a substitution effect, mother use this time to do something else. These findings call for future research on parents’, especially mother’s, time use when their children attend early childcare. |
| Keywords: | Childcare,Cognitive skills,Family–child interaction,Time use,two stage least squares,Difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | J13 H75 I20 I28 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:557&r=all |
| By: | Jules Gazeaud; Eric Mvukiyehe; Olivier Sterck |
| Abstract: | Will the fast expansion of cash-based programming in developing countries increase international migration? Theoretically, cash transfers may favor international migration by relaxing liquidity, credit, and risk constraints. But transfers, especially those conditional upon staying at home, may also increase the opportunity cost of migrating abroad. This paper evaluates the impact of a cash-for-work program on migration. Randomly selected households in Comoros were offered up to US$320 in cash in exchange for their participation in public works projects. We find that the program increased migration to Mayotte – the neighboring and richer French Island – by 38 percent, from 7.8% to 10.8%. The increase in migration is explained by the alleviation of liquidity and risk constraints, and by the fact that the program did not increase the opportunity cost of migration for likely migrants. |
| Keywords: | Migration, cash transfers, financial constraints, risk-aversion |
| JEL: | J61 O12 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:novafr:wp2004&r=all |
| By: | di Porto, Edoardo (University of Naples Federico II); Naticchioni, Paolo (University of Rome 3); Scrutinio, Vincenzo (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of the lockdown on COVID-19 infections. After the 22nd of March 2020, the Italian government shut down many economic activities to limit the contagion. Sectors deemed essentials for the economy were, however, allowed to remain active. We exploit the distribution of the density of essential workers across provinces and rich administrative data in a difference in difference framework. We find that a standard deviation increase in essential workers per square kilometre leads to an additional daily registered case per 100,000 inhabitants. This is a sizeable impact, and it represents about 18% of the daily increase in COVID-19 cases after the 22nd of March. Back of envelope computations suggest that the about one third of the cases considered could be attributed to the less stringent lockdown for essential sectors, with an additional 107 million Euros in direct expenditure. Although this assessment should be taken with caution, this suggests that the less stringent lockdown came at moderate public health related economic costs. In addition, we find that these effects are heterogeneous across sectors, with services having a much larger impact than Manufacturing, while there are only small differences across geographic areas. These results are stable across a wide range of specifications and robustness check. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, lockdown, essential sectors |
| JEL: | J18 I18 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13375&r=all |
| By: | Dimitris Papanikolaou; Lawrence D.W. Schmidt |
| Abstract: | We analyze the supply-side disruptions associated with Covid-19 across firms and workers. To do so, we exploit differences in the ability of workers across industries to work remotely using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We find that sectors in which a higher fraction of the workforce is not able to work remotely experienced significantly greater declines in employment, significantly more reductions in expected revenue growth, worse stock market performance, and higher expected likelihood of default. In terms of individual employment outcomes, lower-paid workers, especially female workers with young children, were significantly more affected by these disruptions. Last, we combine these ex-ante heterogeneous industry exposures with daily financial market data to create a stock return portfolio that most closely replicate the supply-side disruptions resulting from the pandemic. |
| JEL: | E23 G10 J00 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27330&r=all |