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on Minorities Research (Ethnic, LGBTQ+, Disabilities) |
| By: | Doan-Pham, Phil; Mavisakalyan, Astghik; True, Jacqui |
| Abstract: | Can legal reforms shift social norms around intimate partner violence (IPV)? We examine Vietnam's 2007 Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control using a difference-in-differences strategy that leverages the greater relevance of legal protections for married and cohabiting women relative to single women, generating differential exposure to the reform. Using nationally representative data from the Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, we find significant reductions in women's acceptance of IPV following the law's introduction. The effects are particularly pronounced among disadvantaged groups, including women with lower education, ethnic minority women, and rural residents. These findings indicate that legal reforms can meaningfully reshape social norms surrounding gender-based violence, with particularly strong impacts among marginalized populations that may face higher barriers to change. |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1743 |
| By: | Qian, Yuting; Gettel, Cameron; Su, Jasmine; Grogan, Elyssa F. L.; Cohen, Inessa; Rothenberg, Craig; Chen, Xi; Hwang, Ula |
| Abstract: | Emergency departments are a primary point of contact between older adults and the healthcare system, yet standard emergency care is poorly adapted to the complex needs of geriatric patients. Geriatric Emergency Departments (GEDs) - accredited units that integrate geriatric-trained staff, age-friendly protocols, and post-visit care coordination - have expanded rapidly across the United States, but rigorous evidence on their effectiveness at the national scale remains scarce. This paper provides the first nationally representative estimates of GED effects on hospitalization and mortality among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. Linking data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to Medicare claims, we estimate multivariable logistic regression models with comprehensive controls for sociodemographic, health, and functional characteristics. We find that older adults treated at a GED were 9.7 percentage points less likely to be hospitalized and 6.1 percentage points less likely to die within 30 days, compared to those treated at a non-GED emergency department. Placebo tests and sensitivity analyses support causal interpretation. However, treatment effect heterogeneity analysis reveals that gains are concentrated among non- Hispanic white patients and adults under age 80; Black and Hispanic older adults exhibit no statistically significant benefit, consistent with persistent disparities in post-discharge care access and social support. These findings suggest that GED accreditation improves downstream health outcomes at scale, but that structural inequities outside the emergency department attenuate benefits for minority patients. Policies targeting both the expansion of GEDs and the broader care infrastructure available to disadvantaged older adults are needed to realize equity gains from the GED model. |
| Keywords: | geriatric emergency department, Medicare, hospitalization, 30-day mortality, racial disparities, health and retirement study, accreditation, aging |
| JEL: | I11 I14 I18 J14 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1736 |
| By: | István Boza (ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies); Szabó Endre (ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Databank); Róbert Károlyi (ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies; Corvinus University of Budapest) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants’ economic integration remains one of the most debated aspects of international migration, as they often experience persistent employment and wage disadvantages compared to natives. We provide the first large-scale evidence on immigrant pay gaps in Hungary (and more generally from Central Eastern Europe) based on administrative matched employer–employee data. Contrary to the pattern documented in Western Europe and North America, most immigrant groups in Hungary earn more than native-born workers on average. We show that this advantage is largely explained by sorting: immigrants are disproportionately employed in higher-paying firms and higher-paying occupation–firm cells, rather than receiving higher pay than natives for the same job in the same workplace. Within-job pay differences are close to zero for transborder Hungarians (ethnic Hungarians born abroad) and remain small but positive for other immigrant groups. These results suggest that immigrant wage differentials in Hungary reflect employer demand and selective recruitment into relatively well-paying segments of the labor market, rather than systematic under or overpayment. Decomposition results (based on the AKM literature) reinforce our interpretation: immigrant–native wage differentials in Hungary are driven mainly by between-job sorting along skill composition and firm and occupation pay premia, not within-job pay inequality. |
| Keywords: | wage differentials, immigration, segregation, wage sorting |
| JEL: | J31 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:2606 |
| By: | Louis-Pierre Lepage; Heather Sarsons; Michael Thaler |
| Abstract: | There is widespread opposition to affirmative action policies. We study whether personal disappointments shape preferences for such policies. Specifically, we test whether individuals' college admissions outcomes, relative to their expectations, influence their attitudes toward affirmative action policies. Using a retrospective survey among recent White and Asian college applicants, we find that disappointed individuals - those who were admitted to fewer schools than anticipated - action policies, and are more willing to donate to an anti-affirmative action organization. They also hold more negative views about the academic qualifications of under-represented minorities. To isolate the causal effect of "bad news" from selection, we conduct a complementary survey experiment with parents of future college applicants. We randomize whether parents receive information about their child's admissions prospects. Providing bad news to overconfident parents causes them to increase opposition to affirmative action and donate to an anti-affirmative action organization. Results suggest that some individuals attribute bad news to external factors, specifically policies that benefit out-groups. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action, policy views, disappointment |
| JEL: | I23 I28 D91 D83 J15 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12593 |
| By: | Louis-Pierre Lepage; Heather Sarsons; Michael Thaler |
| Abstract: | There is widespread opposition to affirmative action policies. We study whether personal disappointments shape preferences for such policies. Specifically, we test whether individuals' college admissions outcomes, relative to their expectations, influence their attitudes toward affirmative action policies. Using a retrospective survey among recent White and Asian college applicants, we find that disappointed individuals—those who were admitted to fewer schools than anticipated—are relatively more likely to believe that affirmative action played an important role in their admissions outcomes, have the lowest support for affirmative action policies, and are more willing to donate to an anti-affirmative action organization. They also hold more negative views about the academic qualifications of under-represented minorities. To isolate the causal effect of "bad news" from selection, we conduct a complementary survey experiment with parents of future college applicants. We randomize whether parents receive information about their child's admissions prospects. Providing bad news to overconfident parents causes them to increase opposition to affirmative action and donate to an anti-affirmative action organization. Results suggest that some individuals attribute bad news to external factors, specifically policies that benefit out-groups. |
| JEL: | D83 J78 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35045 |
| By: | Chao Li; Xing Su; Chao Fan; Yang Li; Luping Li; Chunmo Zheng; Wenglong Chao; Leena Jarvi; Han Lin; Juan Tu |
| Abstract: | While climate-induced population migration has received rising attention, the role played by human climate endeavors remains underexplored. Here, we combine machine learning with attribution mapping to analyze the impacts of 4, 713 heat-related policies (HPs) on 11, 177 migration flows between U.S. counties. We find that heat adaptation policies (APs) and heat mitigation policies (MPs) have significant and opposing impacts on internal migration: APs reduce out-migration, while MPs increase it. These policies have heterogeneous effects on migration among policy types. Behavioral and cultural MPs at origins lead to a 0.24%-0.68% (95% confidence interval) increase in annual outflows per policy, whereas behavioral and cultural APs at destinations elevate outflows of origins by 0.11%-1.55% (95% confidence interval). Migration patterns are nonlinearly moderated by income, ageing, education, and racial diversity of both origin and destination counties. Ageing rates have the most noticeable U-shaped relationship in shaping migration responses to behavioral and cultural MPs at origins, and inverted U-shapes for institutional MPs at origins and nature-based MPs at destinations. These findings offer critical insights for policymakers on how HPs influence migration as global warming and policy interventions persist. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.10570 |
| By: | Souhei Ishida (Hitotsubashi University); Makoto Kuroki (Kobe University); Akinobu Shuto (The University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on compliance with disability employment regulations in Japan and examines the effect of board gender diversity (BGD) on compliance with other diversity-related regulations, as well as on ‘diversity washing.’ Using a difference-in-differences design, we identify the effect of BGD on disability employment outcomes and document that the presence of female directors increases the probability of achieving the statutory employment rate and decreases the likelihood and level of disability diversity washing. Our results suggest that increased BGD promotes compliance with other diversity-related regulations and curbs opportunistic disclosure behavior, i.e., diversity washing. This study contributes to the accounting literature by providing evidence on (1) the determinants of disability employment compliance, (2) the interrelationships among different dimensions of diversity, and (3) governance factors that mitigate diversity washing. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfi:fseres:cf622 |
| By: | Alison Doxey; Ezra Karger; Peter Nencka |
| Abstract: | Between 1850 and 1910, the share of young Americans living in towns with high schools increased from 17% to 46%—the fastest expansion of school access in U.S. history. Using new data on every high school in the United States, we show that this expansion transformed economic opportunities for many young adults but widened class and racial inequalities. We find sharp increases in school attendance rates for high school-aged children in towns that opened a high school relative to children in nearby towns without one. Linking children to adult outcomes, we show that high schools increased women's labor force participation and job quality, while reducing the probability of early marriage and childbearing. Increased access to high school accounts for a third of the increase in women's labor force participation between 1870 and 1930. High schools had the largest effects on children from already-wealthy families, and did not, on average, benefit Black children. While the high school movement substantially narrowed gender gaps in labor market outcomes, it also widened existing race- and class-based disparities. |
| JEL: | I2 I25 I28 N00 N31 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35068 |
| By: | Pinka Chatterji; Fangning Li; Sara Markowitz |
| Abstract: | The incidence of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in the U.S. has been rising among mothers over time, with especially pronounced increases among Black mothers. In this paper, we examine why this might be happening. Previous literature takes a limited-scope approach by focusing on select variables as determinants of SMM. We take a broader approach and evaluate the contributions of a large set of variables over a long time span to let the data inform us what factors may be most influential in determining SMM. We use inpatient data from 1998-2019 to see how maternal, hospital, and county-level characteristics may be associated with both the rising trends and the racial disparity in SMM. Decomposition methods show that the observed characteristics explain very little of the overall variation of SMM, but account for a substantial share of the Black-White SMM gap. Medical and pregnancy-related comorbid conditions are the largest drivers of the observed variations. The associational findings indicate that focusing on patients with comorbid conditions and delving more deeply into the features of hospital environments may help researchers identify policy-relevant drivers of SMM and SMM disparities. |
| JEL: | I0 J1 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35062 |
| By: | Maria Giovanna Bosco (Department of Management, Marche Polytechnic University, Italy); Elisa Valeriani (Department of Law, University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia, Italy); Linda Armano (Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem - Temporary Project Centre, Ca' Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | The study rigorously analyzes the occupational trajectories of foreign- and native-born workers in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. Using a comprehensive administrative dataset spanning 2008-2015, we assess patterns of upward professional mobility and empirically test the widely discussed stepping-stone hypothesis by examining job transitions across skill levels. Our empirical findings reveal a persistent and significant disparity. Specifically, foreign workers have a substantially higher probability of remaining in low-skilled occupations, indicating limited upward mobility. We also separately analyze the stability of initial employment and the incidence of subsequent unemployment spells, revealing clear and quantifiable differences between the two cohorts. These results provide robust evidence for the existence of an ethnicity penalty and a low-skill penalty that systematically impede professional advancement within the regional labor market. This form of occupational segregation, differentiated by ethnic origin, is consistent with patterns observed in other Southern European and Asian economies. |
| Keywords: | Foreign workers, low-skill jobs, occupational mobility |
| JEL: | J20 J21 J41 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:507 |
| By: | Marcello D’Amato (University of Naples Federico II and CSEF, University Suor Orsola Benincasa); Francesco Flaviano Russo (University of Naples Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | We explore whether and how the similarity of pre-existing cultural traits between ethnic groups in the former colonies and colonizers contributes to explain the legacies of colonization. We find higher levels of income per capita, and a lower probability of a “Reversal of Fortunes”, in the territories where the local population had more similar oral traditions to the colonizers and where the dispersion of this folklore similarity was smaller. Exploring the mechanisms, we find that more oral tradition similarity, and less dispersion, are associated with more similar (de iure) constitutions established at independence, a higher frequency of a direct colonial rule, more conversions to Christianity and better education. |
| Keywords: | Colonial Relationship; Culture; Orality; Folklore Narratives; Historical Development |
| JEL: | J15 Z10 |
| Date: | 2026–03–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:774 |
| By: | C. Monfardini; E. Pisanelli |
| Abstract: | Why do large gender inequalities in everyday life persist even as women strengthen their attachment to paid work? Existing evidence shows that women continue to do more unpaid work than men, but much of that evidence is based on individual diaries, says little about how inequality is jointly organized within couples, and rarely links daily time allocation to directly measured gender attitudes. This paper addresses that gap using the TIMES Observatory, an original survey of 1, 928 co-resident couples with at least one child younger than 11 in Emilia-Romagna or Campania. The data combine matched partner diaries for one weekday and one weekend day with rich socio-economic information and direct measures of gender norms. We document three main findings. First, women do substantially more unpaid work and spend more time with children, while men do more paid work and enjoy more leisure without children. Second, these asymmetries remain sizeable even among dual full-time couples, implying that stronger female labor-market attachment does not by itself equalize daily life. Third, more traditional gender attitudes - especially among men - are descriptively associated with lower male participation in childcare and domestic work and with wider gaps in discretionary leisure. The analysis is descriptive rather than causal, but it shows that gender inequality within couples is visible not only in the amount of work performed, but also in the distribution of time that is genuinely discretionary. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.13896 |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Gordon B. Dahl; Dan-Olof Rooth |
| Abstract: | There has been a dramatic rise in disability employment since the pandemic. At the same time, work from home (WFH) has risen four-fold. This paper asks whether the two are causally related. Controlling for compositional changes and labor market tightness, a 1 percentage point increase in WFH increases full-time employment by 1.0% for individuals with a physical disability. The postpandemic increase in working from home explains 68%-85% of the rise in full-time employment. Wage data suggests that WFH increased the supply of workers with a physical disability, likely by reducing commuting costs and enabling better control of working conditions. |
| Keywords: | work from home, disability employment |
| JEL: | J14 J42 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12604 |
| By: | Devereux, Kevin; Long, Blair; Samahita, Margaret |
| Abstract: | In 2019 Canada's second-largest province introduced a selective ban on religious clothing in the public service as part of a broader effort to promote secularism in the public sphere. Using novel survey data we find evidence of spillovers onto labour force participation and religious expression among those outside the public service. We study the largest legally targeted group: Muslim women. Conducting a difference-in-difference analysis comparing Muslim women in Quebec to those in the rest of Canada, we find a relative reduction in the most liminal religious behaviour - wearing a veil in public - among both Canadian-born Muslim women and immigrants. We also find a relative increase in labour force participation among Canadian-born Muslim women, but not among immigrants. We corroborate the employment results using high quality administrative tax records, and document an anticipation effect: Muslim women sort into the targeted occupations in the year before implementation. The results are consistent with social norm signaling influencing private religious behaviour and labour market outcomes. |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:clefwp:340037 |
| By: | Diego Marino-Fages (Durham University); Agustina Martínez-Pozo (University of Leicester) |
| Abstract: | How does the advent of political information influence social norms? This paper examines the impact of Jair Bolsonaro’s victory in the 2018 Brazilian presidential electionon the prevalence of hate speech. We apply Natural Language Processing techniques to detect hate speech in over 37.6 million tweets, and leverage the electoral surprise ofBolsonaro’s victory in a difference-in-differences design. Our findings reveal a substantial increase in online hate speech following the election, particularly in municipalities where Bolsonaro’s vote share was lower—where his local and national support diverged most. The increase is primarily driven by the extensive margin of hate speech and is concentrated in homophobic and sexist content—areas in which Bolsonaro’s rhetoric was highly controversial. Overall, these patterns suggest that the election outcome reshaped perceptions of the social acceptability of expressing hate. |
| Keywords: | Hate speech; Social Media; Social Norms |
| JEL: | D72 D83 J15 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:391 |
| By: | Tabuga, Aubrey D.; Ocbina, John Joseph S.; Pilar, Kevin Robert B. Jr.; Limqueco, Jorge Kerby B. |
| Abstract: | The Philippines' care economy remains deeply shaped by persistent cultural expectations and gender norms, economic constraints, and other challenges. Filipino women continue to bear the disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work, a dynamic that significantly restricts their participation in the paid economy. As the world faces demographic, technological, social, and climate-related transitions, it is crucial to anticipate how these changes can affect the care economy today and in the future, including women's economic empowerment. This paper characterizes the future demand for care in the context of global and local transitions. It also highlights the implications of enduring gender norms and economic challenges, despite the country's relatively rapid development, as well as the current state of the wider care economy on present and future care provision. Additionally, it examines the role of the government in fostering a sound care economy and its concrete responses through an assessment of publicly provided care facilities. Information reflecting various perspectives was collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders, including families of the elderly, young children, and persons with disabilities; paid care workers; care facility managers; representatives from government, nongovernmental organizations, academia, development partners; and the private sector. Secondary data from national surveys were also analyzed to understand demand for care at various levels, locations, and income groups. Findings show that future demand for care is likely to be shaped not only by various demographic, technological, social, and economic transitions but also by how the current challenges in the care economy are addressed. Currently, the care landscape is characterized by limited access to care services, an underdeveloped care industry, a shortage of qualified care workers and professionals, an uneven distribution of existing facilities, and a family-oriented social context that reinforces gender norms in care provision. In conclusion, this paper draws insights from its findings and offers recommendations for policy and future research. Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from the date of posting. Email publications@pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | future demand for care, gender, children, senior citizen, persons with disabilities, care provision, care services |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2025-66 |