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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
| By: | David G. Blanchflower; Alex Bryson |
| Abstract: | We examine how workers’ and non-workers’ wellbeing varies by age across 171 countries in eight international surveys. In 103 countries (60%) we find evidence that workers’ wellbeing rises with age and workers' illbeing falls with age. This relationship appears to have strengthened over time in some countries. Patterns are different among non-workers and are sensitive to survey mode. Where surveys are conducted using Computer-Assisted Web-based Interviews (CAWI) non-workers’ wellbeing is U-shaped, but this is less clear-cut when the data are collected with Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI). The change in the age profile of workers’ wellbeing may reflect changes in selection into (out of) employment by age, changes in job quality, or changes in young workers’ orientation to similar jobs over time. But changes in smartphone usage – often the focus of debate regarding declining young peoples’ wellbeing – are unlikely to be the main culprit unless there are sizeable differences in smartphone usage across young workers and non-workers, which appears unlikely. |
| JEL: | I31 J28 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34786 |
| By: | Orazio Attanasio (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews recent developments in the economics of human development, focusing on the early years of life as a critical period for shaping long-term outcomes. Early childhood development is inherently multidimensional: cognitive and socioemotional skills evolve dynamically and interact with health, nutrition, and environmental influences. Economists have contributed to this field by providing a conceptual unifying framework that highlights how key drivers of development reflect the choices of individuals operating under incentives and constraints. Within this framework, the paper emphasizes two central challenges: understanding the interactions among multiple dimensions of development and identifying causal linksÑparticularly the effects of different inputs at different ages. Measurement issues are a recurring theme, given the difficulty of assessing young children and the need for comparability across contexts. The paper also stresses these issuesÕ policy relevance for poverty reduction and social mobility by discussing early childhood interventions in both developed and developing countries. |
| Date: | 2026–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2491 |
| By: | Philippe Aghion (Coll ge de France, INSEAD, LSE); Ingvild AlmŒs (University of Zurich, CEPR, IIES); Costas Meghir (Yale University, NBER, CEPR, IFS) |
| Abstract: | Human capital is central to efforts to promote growth, convergence, and the elimination of poverty. Drawing on seminal macroeconomic frameworks by Nelson-Phelps, Lucas, and subsequent developments, alongside macro and microeconomic evidence, the chapter examines the role of human capital in driving innovation and growth, emphasizing how different types of human capital matter at different stages of development, and discussing obstacles to accumulation and evidence from policy interventions. |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2485 |
| By: | Wilson King; Edward Miguel; Michael W. Walker |
| Abstract: | Taller people earn more, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We present among the first evidence of this phenomenon in Africa, using longitudinal microdata on a cohort of middle-aged Kenyan adults. We document a substantial height/earnings premium: controlling for gender, age, and other socio-demographics, monthly earnings increase by 1.07% per centimeter (or 2.72% per inch). Nearly half this effect can be explained by differences in cognition, measured from an unusually rich battery containing 27 modules. Additional shares of the premium can be attributed to measures of physical strength and non-cognitive ability. In contrast to prior work, we find little role for occupational sorting: conditional on cognitive and non-cognitive ability, taller people do not appear more likely to work in higher paid sectors. Leveraging repeated measures of height and an instrumental variables specification, we find suggestive evidence that measurement error may be attenuating the estimated relationship. |
| JEL: | I15 J1 O11 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34769 |