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on Minorities Research (Ethnic, LGBTQ+, Disabilities) |
| By: | Christa Deneault; Evan Riehl; Jian Zou |
| Abstract: | We use Texas administrative data to assess the long-standing claim that teacher certification exams discriminate against underrepresented minority (URM) candidates. In a regression discontinuity design, we find that failing a certification exam delays entry into teaching and costs the average candidate $10, 000 in forgone earnings. These costs fall disproportionately on URM candidates both because they are more likely to fail and because their earnings losses from failing are 50 percent larger on average. To examine whether these disparities are justified by racial/ethnic differences in teaching quality, we develop a new measure of disparate impact and estimate it using a policy change that increased the difficulty of Texas’ elementary certification exam. The harder exam reduced the URM share of new teachers but had no significant benefits for teaching quality or student achievement. Taken together, our findings show that certification exams have a disparate impact in the sense that they impose much larger economic costs on URM teaching candidates than on white candidates with similar potential teaching quality. |
| Keywords: | Occupational licensing; teacher labor markets; occupational choice |
| Date: | 2026–02–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:102853 |
| By: | Roy, Shalini; Palermo, Tia; Barrington, Clare; Buller, Ana Maria; Heise, Lori; Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Ranganathan, Meghna |
| Abstract: | Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has severe long-term consequences for women’s health and well-being, imposes significant economic costs through lost productivity, and has intergenerational impacts on children. Although evidence exists on effective approaches to reduce VAWG, many interventions are resource-intensive and difficult to scale. Stakeholders increasingly recognize that accelerated progress requires embedding VAWG prevention and response approaches within diverse sectors, including in existing systems and large-scale sectoral programming. Sectors focused on reducing poverty and economic insecurity offer a particularly high-potential but underleveraged opportunity. Despite their extensive reach and influence over the structural drivers of VAWG, these sectors have not traditionally focused on VAWG reduction. The field lacks actionable evidence on how to leverage these large-scale systems to reduce VAWG in ways that governments and other key actors can adopt, finance, and sustain, including approaches that reach women and girls in fragile and climate-vulnerable settings. |
| Keywords: | cash transfers; social protection; domestic violence; gender-based violence; social problems; impact; Africa; Asia; Southern Asia |
| Date: | 2026–02–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:181857 |
| By: | Hongyan Liang (Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States Author-2-Name: Zilong Liu Author-2-Workplace-Name: Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States Author-3-Name: Author-3-Workplace-Name: Author-4-Name: Author-4-Workplace-Name: Author-5-Name: Author-5-Workplace-Name: Author-6-Name: Author-6-Workplace-Name: Author-7-Name: Author-7-Workplace-Name: Author-8-Name: Author-8-Workplace-Name:) |
| Abstract: | " Objective - This study examines whether risk-based mortgage pricing in the U.S. is neutral with respect to borrower gender and race/ethnicity, and whether any observed pricing gaps persist after controlling for borrower credit risk and loan characteristics using a nationally representative dataset. Methodology - Using the National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) Public Use File covering originations from 2013–2020, we evaluate demographic disparities in mortgage rate spreads and default outcomes through a unified empirical framework. Specifically, we employ exact matching and propensity score matching to compare observably similar borrowers, interaction regression models to test whether standard risk factors are priced differently across demographic groups, and residual-based diagnostics to assess unexplained pricing components after conditioning on observable risk factors. Findings - Across methods, female borrowers face higher mortgage rate spreads than comparable male borrowers, despite exhibiting similar or lower observed default risk. Racial disparities are more nuanced: Black and Hispanic borrowers exhibit higher raw loan costs and higher default rates, but conditional rate-spread differences largely attenuate after controlling for observable risk factors, whereas Asian borrowers consistently receive more favorable pricing. Interaction effects indicate that the marginal pricing of key risk variables differs across demographic groups, and residual analysis highlights a persistent unexplained gender pricing component. Novelty - The paper contributes by combining a uniquely rich dataset that links borrower demographics with detailed credit quality and performance measures and by integrating matching, interaction modeling, and residual diagnostics within one unified framework to evaluate both level differences and differential marginal pricing in mortgage rates. Type of Paper - Empirical" |
| Keywords: | Mortgage Pricing; Demographic Disparities; Gender Bias; Racial Bias; Machine Learning; Fair Lending; Propensity Score Matching; Financial Regulation; Credit Risk; Algorithmic Fairness |
| JEL: | G21 G28 C21 D63 J15 |
| Date: | 2026–03–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:gjbssr673 |
| By: | Zachary Bleemer |
| Abstract: | The Vietnam draft conscripted hundreds of thousands of young Americans into an integrated military. I combine near-random draft lottery variation with administrative voter data to study the long-run racial integration effects of coerced national service. Black and Native American veterans became more likely to marry white spouses, identify as Republicans, and live in more-integrated neighborhoods. Improved economic standing may partly mediate these effects. Effects are larger for Southerners and are precisely null for white veterans. Coerced military service generates substantial but asymmetric cross-racial political convergence and racial integration: Vietnam-era service caused about 20 percent of affected cohorts' interracial marriages. |
| JEL: | H56 J12 J15 R21 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34900 |
| By: | Sarah Small; Yana Rodgers; Teresa Perry |
| Abstract: | This paper examines changes in occupational crowding of immigrant women in frontline industries in the United States during the onset of COVID-19, and we contextualize their experiences against the backdrop of broader race-based and gender-based occupational crowding. Building on the occupational crowding hypothesis, which suggests that marginalized workers are crowded in a small number of occupations to prop up wages of socially-privileged workers, we hypothesize that immigrant, Black, and Hispanic workers were shunted into frontline work to prop up the health of others during the pandemic. Our analysis of American Community Survey microdata indicates that immigrant workers, particularly immigrant women, were increasingly crowded in frontline work during the onset of the pandemic. We also find that US-born Black and Hispanic workers disproportionately faced COVID-19 exposure in their work, but were not increasingly crowded into frontline occupations following the onset of the pandemic. The paper also provides a rationale for considering the occupational crowding hypothesis along the dimensions of both wages and occupational health. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2603.01247 |
| By: | Lihini de Silva (Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University); David Johnston (Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University); Sundar Ponnusamy (Department of Economics, Deakin University) |
| Abstract: | Government funding for environmental disasters and climate adaptation can strongly influence community recovery and resilience-building. Yet given funding is often distributed via competitive schemes, inequities may arise if allocation is determined by factors such as cost effectiveness rather than need. Consequently, disadvantaged communities may receive inadequate support and be highly vulnerable to future disasters. We examine whether federal government community grants following the Australian 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires were distributed equitably. Using detailed grant-level data including where the grant activity took place, the recipient organisation, and the amount awarded, we find that even after controlling for physical exposure to the fires, communities that are more vulnerable by demographics (e.g., more children, elderly people, non-working individuals, and First Nations people) receive less. Communities with larger ethnic minority populations also get less though this result is not as robust. Conversely, communities with greater built environment vulnerability (i.e., more remote) receive more. We demonstrate that lower funding for demographics and minority vulnerable communities manifest mostly via grants targeting economic and social outcomes whilst higher funding for built environment vulnerable communities is largely driven by infrastructure grants. Furthermore, inequities persist across organisation types including government institutions, which are expected to more carefully consider equity compared to non-government organisations. Finally, the observed inequities hold even across grants received by the same organisation. Altogether, our findings suggest a tension in competitive grant schemes between targeting need and funding projects that are more likely to be successful and cost effective, resulting in socially vulnerable communities receiving less. |
| Keywords: | disaster relief, equity, social vulnerability, disaster resilience |
| JEL: | Q54 H76 I38 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mhe:chemon:2026-03 |
| By: | Raffaele Fiorentino; Simona Mandile |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the unintended consequences of policies perceived as inequitable by leveraging Italy’s Quota 100 pension reform, which denied early retirement to workers with identical contribution histories who did not meet an age cutoff. Using SHARE data and a difference-in-differences design, we first establish that excluded workers experienced no change in unemployment or disability status, while their relative probability of being retired fell mechanically. We then document a significant deterioration in their mental health, with effects emerging immediately upon the reform’s introduction and persisting for at least two years. These effects are concentrated among workers who satisfy the contribution requirement but are denied eligibility solely on the basis of age, implicating perceived unfairness as a primary channel. Using European Social Survey data and a regression discontinuity design, we find that the reform led to a reduction in trust in institutions among age-ineligible workers. Finally, electoral data show that the League, the reform’s principal architect, suffered vote share losses in municipalities with higher concentrations of excluded workers, with penaltiesexceeding any gains accrued in areas with more beneficiaries. |
| Keywords: | pension reform, mental health, perceived unfairness, institutional trust, electoral accountability |
| JEL: | J26 I10 D3 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12518 |
| By: | Tuda, Dora (Economic and Social Research Institute); Doorley, Karina (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin); Sandorova, Simona (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the labour market, welfare receipt and health effects of a reform to the Irish State Pension system which increased the age at which some workers could claim a State Pension. We use longitudinal data on ageing in Ireland and a causal identification strategy based on the random date of birth threshold around which workers with adequate contributions are differently affected by the reform. We find that the reform does not increase the employment probability of those affected. However, we find an increased probability of disability payment receipt for those affected by the reform (+12-13 pp). This effect is robust to extensive sensitivity analysis, multiple hypothesis testing and alternative identification methods. We also find an increase in the probability of receiving unemployment benefit. We find little evidence of worsening mental health outcomes and no effect on subjective or objective physical health outcomes for those affected by the reform. |
| Keywords: | pension age, labour supply, welfare, health |
| JEL: | I10 J14 J18 J26 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18411 |
| By: | Maré, David (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust); Alimi, Omoniyi (University of Waikato and World Bank) |
| Abstract: | We estimate intergenerational earnings persistence for 6 ethnic groups using linked administrative data for approximately 288, 000 individuals in New Zealand born between 1986 and 1992. Linking data from administrative datasets, censuses, and surveys, we focus on 198, 000 parent-child pairs actively participating in the labour market. Our preferred IV rankrank slope which adjusts for earnings measurement error is 0.27, suggesting that children inherit roughly one-quarter of parental earnings advantage or disadvantage. We analyse relative and absolute persistence, variations by ethnicity and gender, and explore the role of observable characteristics. Finally, we discuss underlying factors influencing persistence, including the potential role of discrimination and racism in labour markets and broader society. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational earnings persistence, ethnicity, Aotearoa New Zealand |
| JEL: | J62 J70 J15 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18422 |
| By: | Gauthier Fontanive (DEM, Université du Luxembourg); Emma Thill (DEM, Université du Luxembourg); |
| Abstract: | "We study how shared experiences that make immigration salient impact public attitudes toward immigration. Combining 11 waves of the European Social Survey (2002-2023) with data on European national football team performance in major international competitions and team diversity, we exploit quasi-random variation in match timing relative to survey interviews to identify shifts in immigration attitudes. We develop two measures of diversity: a surname-based ancestry index and a racial classification based on visible markers using machine learning tools. We find that following defeats, respondents in countries with a more diverse national team perceive immigrants to have a worse impact on their country. Victories, in contrast, lead to higher desired levels of immigration. These effects are strongest following unexpected or close defeats and victories. In addition, defeats tend to boost support for far-right parties when team diversity is high. Our results are robust to alternative specifications in the case of defeats, suggesting a scapegoating mechanism that is translated from (perceived) out-group players onto the out-group as a whole. Our findings showcase that shared experiences such as international sporting competitions that make diversity salient generate strong emotional responses that may translate into temporary important attitude and preference shifts towards diversity." |
| Keywords: | Immigration attitudes, Football, Diversity, Migration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 O15 O52 Z20 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:26-05 |
| By: | Brie, Mircea |
| Abstract: | This text is a discussion of the Inclusivity journal development project, a presentation of the institutional and academic frameworks in which it was created, and a concise justification of the main research directions that this editorial endeavor will address and promote. Inclusivity, which operates under the auspices of the EuroINCLUS Research Center, is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in the field of EU studies and was established with the objective of disseminating information on EU-related topics to a broader audience. This initiative is poised to foster enhanced understanding and engagement between the EU and the general public, thereby strengthening the bond between the EU and its citizens. Concurrently, Inclusivity journal endeavors to adopt an analytical and synthetic approach in its pursuit to consider fundamental and specific concerns pertaining to the theorization, conceptualization, and operationalization of concepts related to identity management and minority issues, fundamental human rights, the promotion of integration processes, inclusion, intercultural education, societal security, and the societal resilience of minorities, immigrants, and refugees. |
| Keywords: | Inclusivity, identity, minority, integration, culture, interculturalism |
| JEL: | F51 F52 F53 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127638 |
| By: | Caroline Gray |
| Abstract: | This article examines the conditions under which asymmetric decentralisation arrangements that grant enhanced powers to minority-nationalist regions sustain or undermine the legitimacy of the territorial model among the remaining regions, drawing on evidence from Spain. While much scholarship has focused on how asymmetry accommodates minority regions and mitigates secessionist pressures, this study highlights the role of ‘standard regions’. Based on elite interviews in Andalusia, Extremadura, Murcia and the Valencian Community, contextualised with survey data, the findings indicate that asymmetry loses acceptance when it is seen as opaque, system-weakening or generating distributive grievances. Under these conditions, asymmetry risks fuelling renewed territorial tensions rather than fostering stability. |
| Keywords: | asymmetric decentralisation, fiscal federalism, intergovernmental relations, territorial politics, minority nationalism, Spanish politics |
| JEL: | H70 H77 H10 H30 |
| Date: | 2026–01–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ida:wpaper:wp2604 |
| By: | Debora Di Gioacchino; Emanuela Ghignoni; Laura Sabani |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how healthcare financing arrangements and the strength of primary care jointly shape population health outcomes across European countries. Focusing on 25 European health systems, we analyse the role of public healthcare expenditure, voluntary health insurance and out-of-pocket payments, while explicitly accounting for differences in sectoral orientation toward primary versus secondary care. Using a two-step approach, we first identify distinct healthcare system typologies through principal component and cluster analyses. We then estimate a dynamic panel threshold model with age-standardised disability-adjusted life years as a measure of population health. Our results show that public healthcare spending is associated with improved population health outcomes, with stronger marginal effects below a threshold of approximately 5 per cent of GDP. The effectiveness of public expenditure is further enhanced in systems characterised by strong primary care. This finding is further supported by the significant role of preventive expenditure in reducing DALYs. By contrast, we find no robust evidence that voluntary health insurance improves population health. Out-of-pocket payments exhibit a non-linear and adverse association with population health outcomes, beyond an endogenously determined threshold. |
| Keywords: | healthcare systems; public–private financing mix; primary vs secondary care; population health; cluster analysis; dynamic panel; non-linearities. |
| JEL: | H42 I13 I14 C40 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp275 |