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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
| By: | Jensen, Mathias Fjællegaard; Manning, Alan |
| Abstract: | In Europe, the children of migrants often have worse economic outcomes than those with local-born parents. This paper shows that children born in Denmark with immigrant parents (first-generation locals) have lower earnings, higher unemployment, less education, more welfare transfers, and more criminal convictions than children with local-born parents. However, when we condition on parental socioeconomic characteristics, first-generation locals generally perform as well or slightly better than the children of locals. While children of immigrants are more likely to come from deprived backgrounds, they do not experience substantially different outcomes conditional on parental background. |
| JEL: | I38 J13 J15 J31 J82 |
| Date: | 2025–07–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:126521 |
| By: | David G. Blanchflower; Alex Bryson |
| Abstract: | Using Eurobarometer data for 21 Western European countries since 1973 we show the U-shape in life satisfaction by age, present for so long, has now vanished. In 13 northern European countries - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK - the U-shape has been replaced by life satisfaction rising in age. We confirm these findings with evidence from the European Social Surveys, the Global Flourishing Survey and Global Minds. Evidence of change in the U-shape is mixed for Austria and France. In six southern European countries – Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal - the U-shape was replaced by life satisfaction declining in age. In these southern European countries, life satisfaction of the young has been rising since around 2015. A contributory factor is the rapid decline in youth unemployment from its 2015 peak. |
| JEL: | I31 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33950 |
| By: | Shyamal Chowdhury (Australian National University); Manuela Puente Beccar (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn); Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn); Sebastian O. Schneider (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn); Matthias Sutter (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how strongly the local environment beyond the family can contribute to understanding the formation of children’s economic preferences. Building on precise geolocation data for around 6000 children, we use fixed effects, spatial autoregressive models and Kriging to capture the relation between the local environment and children’s preferences. The spatial models explain a considerable part of so far unexplained variation in preferences. Moreover, the “spatial stability†of preferences exceeds the village level. Our results highlight the importance of the local environment for the formation of children’s preferences, which we quantify to be as large as that of parental preferences. |
| Keywords: | skill formation, spatial models, kriging, local environment, patience, risk attitudes, prosociality, experiments with children, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | D01 C21 C99 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2025_10 |
| By: | Loewi, Alexander Martin |
| Abstract: | To improve human wellbeing, we must understand what drives it. Life satisfaction data have been collected internationally since 2005, but without a rigorous model of what drives these outcomes, it has remained difficult to draw policy lessons. We fill this gap by aggregating life satisfaction data with nation-level data on an unprecedented number of potential drivers (n=5, 533). We use the Lasso, a computational method for variable selection, to construct a simple but highly accurate model with low risk of omitted variables or human selection bias. We show this model has higher prediction accuracy than the current world standard from the United Nations, and the variables it selects are more consistent with studies from political science, social psychology, and other fields. It also selects many variables the current world standard does not, including LGBTQ+ acceptance, gender equity, and accessible political power. Unlike the current standard, which suggests GDP determines 40% of a nation’s satisfaction, our model estimates GDP’s independent contribution at 1.5%. We also find few of the variables hypothesized by recent Nobel-awarded economics work. Finally, we show that our model is more consistent with theories of anti-authoritarian psychology than with “institutions” as a driver of national outcomes. These findings allow policy makers and advocates to prioritize higher-impact goals. It also reveals that current actions in countries across the world directly oppose predictors of satisfaction. In the face of severe global crises, including failure to keep global warming below the “red line” of 1.5C, and a rise in authoritarianism, we need far greater clarity about the future we desire as a society, and how to achieve it. As theories compete on the world stage, often violently, our model offers a simple, empirically driven message to cut through the fog: if we are to improve universal human wellbeing, there is no option but to empower individuals who truly desire that improvement. |
| Date: | 2025–06–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:pnvcb_v1 |
| By: | Sara Lowes; Nathan Nunn |
| Abstract: | Lab-in-the-field experiments, in which lab experiments are conducted in more naturalistic settings, are increasingly being implemented in developing country contexts. In this chapter, we outline the conceptual and logistical challenges typically associated with lab-in-the-field experiments in non-Western settings. We describe the importance of worldviews and how researcher preconceptions may inadvertently shape the types of research questions that are asked. We emphasize the importance of increasing diversity of subject pools and researchers. We also suggest a set of best practices when implementing lab-in-the-field experiments in developing countries. |
| JEL: | C9 N01 N10 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33981 |
| By: | Schmitt, Maike |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relation between air quality and individual life satisfaction in Germany. Life satisfaction data from the German socio-economic panel is connected with daily county pollution in terms of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone from 1998 to 2008. The assumed microeconometric happiness function is estimated considering individual fixed effects. Ozone has a significant negative impact on life satisfaction. The effect of carbon monoxide as well as nitrogen dioxide is not significant. Moreover, I found that people with environmental worries are more affected by ozone pollution. This was not the case for people with a bad health status. Using the marginal rate of substitution between income and air pollution, it is calculated that an increase of one µg/m³ in average county ozone has to be compensated by an increase of € 11.33 in monthly net household income to hold an average individual's life satisfaction constant. |
| Date: | 2025–06–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:155306 |
| By: | Alberto Bisin; Thierry Verdier |
| Abstract: | In this chapter we survey recent advances in modeling cultural transmission in the economics literature. We first present the basic canonical model of the evolution of cultural traits in the social sciences. Both Economics and Evolutionary anthropology build on this canonical model but their approaches are conceptually very different. After elucidating these differences, we introduce several recent economic models of cultural transmission which address a rich set of novel and interesting questions in the literature. We present these models as extensions of the canonical framework, organized along theoretical dimensions that we categorize as pertaining to preferences and technology. We finally briefly discuss how cultural evolution represents a fundamental component - alongside institutional change - of recent theoretical work on the political economy of long-run growth. We conclude suggesting interesting areas for future research. |
| JEL: | C60 D1 N0 P0 Z10 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33928 |
| By: | Sigurd Galaasen; Andreas R. Kostøl; Joan Monras; Jonathan Vogel |
| Abstract: | What is the effect of immigration on native labor-market outcomes? An extensive literature identifies the differential impact of immigration on natives employed in jobs that are more exposed to immigrant labor (supply exposure). But immigrants consume in addition to producing output. Despite this, no literature identifies the impact on natives employed in jobs that are more exposed to immigrant consumption (demand exposure). We study native labor-market effects of supply and demand exposures to immigration. Theoretically, we formalize both measures of exposure and solve for their effects on native wages. Empirically, we combine employer-employee data with a newly collected dataset covering electronic payments for the universe of residents in Norway to measure supply and demand exposures of all native workers to immigration induced by EU expansions in 2004 and 2007. We find large, positive, and persistent effects of demand exposure to EU expansion on native worker income. |
| JEL: | F0 J0 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33930 |
| By: | Listo, Ariel (University of Maryland); Muñoz, Ercio A. (Inter-American Development Bank); Sansone, Dario (University of Exeter) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how attitudes among supervisors, co-workers, and customers are related to discrimination against sexual minority individuals in the workplace. Participants from a large, nationally representative online sample in Chile took part in double list experiments – which reduce social desirability bias when eliciting views on sensitive topics – followed by direct questions on attitudes toward sexual minority individuals. The findings reveal a discrepancy between reported and actual levels of comfort with gay individuals in the labor market. The respondents underreported their discomfort by 15-23 percentage points, with the largest bias and lowest comfort levels observed when they were asked about supervising gay employees. These attitudinal patterns were mirrored in incentivized donation behavior: individuals who chose not to donate any amount from a lottery to a local LGBTQ-related nonprofit reported lower comfort levels and exhibited greater misreporting. Finally, the respondents consistently underestimated the broader societal support for gay employees and co-workers. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, Chile, LGBTQ+ |
| JEL: | C93 D91 J15 J71 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17976 |
| By: | Bagues, Manuel (University of Warwick); Zinovyeva, Natalia (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | Gender segregation in higher education persists across developed countries and is paradoxically stronger in wealthier, more gender-equal societies. Using data from over 500, 000 children across 37 Western countries, we show that this segregation has roots in childhood. We document a strong correlation at the country level between segregation in higher education and in childhood friendships. Longitudinal data from 10, 000 British households further shows that children with fewer opposite-sex friends at age 7 are significantly more likely to select gender-dominated educational subjects a decade later. The stronger segregation observed in richer countries seems to reflect economic prosperity rather than backlash against gender equality: while children from wealthier households report fewer cross-gender friendships, those whose parents hold more gender-egalitarian views have more opposite-sex friends. We identify two mechanisms explaining this income gradient: affluent families’ structured activities that emphasize children’s self-expression foster gender-segregated environments, and higher-income children’s personality traits reduce demand for cross-gender friendships. |
| Keywords: | gender equality paradox, cross-gender friendships, women in STEM |
| JEL: | J16 I21 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17988 |