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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2007‒12‒19
four papers chosen by |
| By: | John Beshears; James Choi; David Laibson; Brigitte Madrian |
| Date: | 2007–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levrem:122247000000001760&r=ltv |
| By: | Bertola, Giuseppe; Checchi, Daniele; Oppedisano, Veruska |
| Abstract: | We discuss how a schooling system’s structure may imply that private school enrolment leads to worse subsequent performance in further education or in the labour market, and we seek evidence of such phenomena in Italian data. If students differ not only in terms of their families’ ability to pay but also in terms of their own ability to take advantage of educational opportunities (“talent” for short), theory predicts that private schools attract a worse pool of students when publicly funded schools are better suited to foster progress by more talented students. We analyze empirically three surveys of Italian secondary school graduates, interviewed 3 year after graduation. In these data, the impact of observable talent proxies on educational and labour market outcomes is indeed more positive for students who (endogenously) choose to attend public schools than for those who choose to pay for private education. |
| Keywords: | ability; education; vouchers |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6602&r=ltv |
| By: | Bentolila, Samuel; Dolado, Juan José; Jimeno, Juan Francisco |
| Abstract: | The Phillips curve has flattened in Spain over 1995-2006: unemployment has fallen by 15 percentage points, with roughly constant inflation. This change has been more pronounced than elsewhere. We argue that this stems from the immigration boom in Spain over this period. We show that the New Keynesian Phillips curve is shifted by immigration if natives’ and immigrants’ labour supply or bargaining power differ. Estimation of the curve for Spain indicates that the fall in unemployment since 1995 would have led to an annual increase in inflation of 2.5 percentage points if it had not been largely offset by immigration. |
| Keywords: | Immigration; Phillips curve |
| JEL: | E31 J64 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6604&r=ltv |
| By: | Neuman, Einat; Neuman, Shoshana |
| Abstract: | The standard assumption in economic theory is that preferences do not change as a result of experience with the commodity/service/event. Behavioural scientists have challenged this assumption, claiming that preferences constantly do change as experience is accumulated. This paper tests the effect of experience with a health-care service on preferences for maternity-ward attributes. In order to explore the effect of experience on preferences, the research sample was decomposed into three sub-samples: women pregnant with their first child (no experience); women after one delivery (single experience); and women after more than one delivery (multiple experiences). The preference patterns of the three sub-groups were estimated and compared. A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was employed for establishing the relative importance of the following attributes: number of beds in room; attitude of staff; professionalism of staff; information delivered by personnel; and travel time from residence to hospital. Socio-economic background variables (education, age, and income) were also considered. The basic findings are that preferences change significantly as a result of experience with the health event; that the effect of experience is attribute-specific; that the extent of past experience (number of deliveries) is irrelevant; and that the effect of experience differs by socio-economic status. |
| Keywords: | delivery; Discrete Choice Experiment; experience; health-care; preferences |
| JEL: | D01 D12 I19 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6608&r=ltv |