nep-ltv New Economics Papers
on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty
Issue of 2021‒12‒20
six papers chosen by



  1. Gender Differences in Economics PhD Field Specializations with Correlated Choices By Eva Sierminska; Ronald Oaxaca
  2. Modelling errors in survey and administrative data on employment earnings: sensitivity to the fraction assumed to have error-free earnings By Jenkins, Stephen P.; Rios-Avila, Fernando
  3. Educational expectations of UK teenagers and the role of socio-economic status and economic preferences By Silvan Has; Jake Anders; John Jerrim; Nikki Shure
  4. Family Social Norms and Child Labor By Gil S. Epstein; Shirit Katav Herz
  5. What Future Happiness Research? By Bruno S. Frey; Anthony Gullo
  6. Discontinuities in the Age-Victimization Profile and the Determinants of Victimization By Bindler, Anna; Hjalmarsson, Randi; Ketel, Nadine; Mitrut, Andreea

  1. By: Eva Sierminska; Ronald Oaxaca
    Abstract: We model the process of field specialization choice among beginning economists within a multivariate logit framework that accommodates single and dual primary field specializations and incorporates correlations among field specialization choices. Conditioning on personal, economic, and institutional variables reveals that women graduate students are less likely to specialize in Labor/Health, Macro/Finance, Industrial Organization, Public Economics, and Development/Growth/International and are more likely to specialize in Agricultural/Resource/Environmental Economics. Field-specific gender faculty ratios and expected relative salaries as well as economics department rankings are significant factors for gender doctoral specialization dissimilarity. Preferences and characteristics contribute about equally to field specialization dissimilarity
    Keywords: gender; economics; specialization; salaries
    JEL: J08 J16 J31
    Date: 2021–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2021-11&r=
  2. By: Jenkins, Stephen P.; Rios-Avila, Fernando
    Abstract: Kapteyn and Ypma (Journal of Labour Economics 2007) is an influential study of errors in survey and administrative data on employment earnings. To fit their mixture models, Kapteyn and Ypma assume a specific fraction of their sample have error-free earnings. Using a new UK dataset, we assess the sensitivity of model estimates and post-estimation statistics to variations in this fraction and find some lack of robustness.
    Keywords: measurement error; misclassification error; labour earnings; Kapteyn-Yuma model
    JEL: C81 D31
    Date: 2020–07–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:104560&r=
  3. By: Silvan Has (UCL Social Research Institute); Jake Anders (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities); John Jerrim (UCL Social Research Institute); Nikki Shure (UCL Social Research Institute)
    Abstract: Young people's decision making process to go to university might depend on both family background and character traits. In this study, we research the association between long-term socio-economic status (SES) during adolescence, economic preferences such as risk attitudes and time preferences, and teenagers' expectations of going to university. Using data on British teenagers from the Millennium Cohort Study we find that higher SES is associated with higher educational expectations. Furthermore, more patient teenagers think it more likely for them to go to university. However, risk attitudes are not associated with educational expectations. All results are robust to including rich sets of background variables including cognitive measures and school grades. This implies that for the British education system to become more meritocratic and to improve intergenerational mobility, future policies should target the SES gap in educational expectations. Furthermore, improving patience in young people could be a channel through which educational policy helps improve university attendance.
    Keywords: Human capital formation; Educational investment; Risk preferences; Time preferences; Socio-economic status.
    JEL: I24
    Date: 2021–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucl:cepeow:21-11&r=
  4. By: Gil S. Epstein (Bar-Ilan University); Shirit Katav Herz
    Abstract: Child labor is a widespread phenomenon and therefore is of interest to both researchers and policy makers. Various reasons for the existence of child labor have been proposed with the goal of designing appropriate solutions. While household poverty is viewed as the main reason for child labor, we choose to focus on the phenomenon that parents who worked during own childhood are more likely to send their children to work. We also look at the effect of social norms on the parents’ child labor decision and analyze both these effects on the supply of labor and equilibrium in the labor market. Finally, we suggest an explanation for the phenomenon of poor societies with similar income levels that differ significantly in literacy rates and propose policy improvements.
    Keywords: Child Labor, Social norms, Intergenerational Transmission
    JEL: D13 D64 D91 J22 Z10
    Date: 2021–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2021-03&r=
  5. By: Bruno S. Frey; Anthony Gullo
    Date: 2021–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2021-29&r=
  6. By: Bindler, Anna (University of Colonge); Hjalmarsson, Randi (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Ketel, Nadine (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Mitrut, Andreea (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)
    Abstract: Many rights are conferred on Dutch youth at ages 16 and 18. Using national register data for all reported victimizations, we find sharp and discontinuous increases in victimization rates at these ages: about 13% for both genders at 16 and 9% (15%) for males (females) at 18. These results are comparable across subsamples (based on socio-economic and neighborhood characteristics) with different baseline victimization risks. We assess potential mechanisms using data on offense location, cross-cohort variation in the minimum legal drinking age driven by a 2014 reform, and survey data of alcohol/drug consumption and mobility behaviors. We conclude that the bundle of access to weak alcohol, bars/clubs and smoking increases victimization at 16 and that age 18 rights (hard alcohol, marijuana coffee shops) exacerbate this risk; vehicle access does not play an important role. Finally, we do not find systematic spillover effects onto individuals who have not yet received these rights.
    Keywords: victimization; crime; youth; youth protection laws; alcohol; inequality; RDD
    JEL: I12 I14 J13 K36 K42
    Date: 2021–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0817&r=

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