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on Neuroeconomics |
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Issue of 2019‒09‒09
three papers chosen by |
| By: | Dohmen, Thomas (University of Bonn and IZA); van Landeghem, Bert (University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | Governments are showing an increasing interest in quantitative models that give insights into the determinants of unemployment duration. Yet, these models oftentimes do not explicitly take into account that unemployment prospects are influenced by personality characteristics that are not being fully captured by variables in administrative data. Using German survey data linked with administrative data, we show that numeracy skills are strongly related to unemployment duration, while at the same time we confirm well-established patterns documented in the literature. Low numeracy is strongly related to a longer unemployment duration of workers below median age (33) in our sample, even after including a rich set of controls. We find that unrealistic reservation wages are not the main driver, nor do results seem to be driven by locking-in effects caused by programme participation. On the other hand, the absence of a relationship between numeracy and unemployment duration for older workers might well be driven by a locking-in effect for those with high numeracy, as they tend to commit more often to intensive training programmes. Another tentative explanation, which is supported by the data, is that younger people have fewer signals to send such that their cognitive abilities may have a higher relative signalling value. |
| Keywords: | cognitive and noncognitive skills, unemployment duration, numeracy |
| JEL: | D04 D61 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12531&r=all |
| By: | Nikolov, Plamen (State University of New York); Adelman, Alan (State University of New York) |
| Abstract: | Higher life expectancy and rapidly aging populations have led to the introduction of pension programs in developing countries in the last two decades. Using the introduction of a new public policy in China, we estimate the effects of pension benefits on individual cognition, measured by episodic memory and intact mental status, among individuals ages 60 and above. We find large and significant negative effects of the provision of pension benefits on cognitive functioning among the elderly. We find the largest effect of the program on delayed recall, a measure implicated in neurobiological research as an important predictor of the onset of dementia. We show that the program leads to more negative impacts among the female sample. Our findings support the mental retirement hypothesis that decreased mental activity results in atrophy of cognitive skills. We show that retirement plays a significant role in explaining cognitive decline at older ages. |
| Keywords: | life-cycle, cognitive functioning, cognition, aging, health, mental retirement, middle-income countries, developing countries, China |
| JEL: | J14 H55 H75 J26 J24 D91 O12 N35 O10 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12524&r=all |
| By: | von Hinke Kessler Scholder, Stephanie (University of Bristol); Rice, Nigel (University of York); Tominey, Emma (University of York) |
| Abstract: | We identify the causal effect of mothers' mental health during early - and soon after pregnancy on a range of child psychological, socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes measured between ages 4-16. Results suggest a negative effect on children's psychological and socio-emotional skills in early childhood, but these effects fade-out between the ages of 11-13. We find no significant effect on cognitive outcomes. The fade-out of effects may be partly explained by compensatory behaviour of parents, as we find that mental health during or soon after pregnancy raises breastfeeding and improves measures of interaction between mother and child. |
| Keywords: | prenatal psychological health, child psychological outcomes, child socio-emotional outcomes, child cognitive outcomes, ALSPAC |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I3 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12544&r=all |