Showing papers by "Daniel L. Millimet published in 2005"

Robust inference concerning recent trends in US environmental quality

Abstract: Understanding trends in environmental quality is important for individuals and policymakers. Typically, trends in environmental quality are determined solely through comparisons of unconditional or conditional mean pollution levels. However, reaching unambiguous conclusions on the basis of only the first moment of the (unconditional or conditional) distribution is problematic since it ignores what is occurring in different regions of the distribution. Even relying on indices that incorporate both mean and variance is suspect to the extent that relative rankings are not typically robust to index choice. Addressing these concerns, we adapt recent developments in the stochastic dominance literature to test for unambiguous relations between current and past distributions of toxic releases. Using EPA data from 1988–1999, we find statistically significant evidence that the unconditional 1999 distributions of air, land, underground and total toxic releases dominate in a first-degree sense their respective 1988 distributions. While some of this improvement is explained by economic growth, pollution net-of-income improved over the sample period as well. Finally, we document robust differences in the distribution of pollution across regions in the US. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Class Size and Educational Policy: Who Benefits from Smaller Classes?

Abstract: The impact of class size on student achievement remains an open question despite hundreds of empirical studies and the perception among parents, teachers, and policymakers that larger classes are a significant detriment to student development. This study sheds new light on this ambiguity by utilizing nonparametric tests for stochastic dominance to analyze unconditional and conditional test score distributions across students facing different class sizes. Analyzing the conditional distributions of test scores (purged of observables using class-size specific returns), we find that there is little causal effect of marginal reductions in class size on test scores within the range of 20 or more students. However, reductions in class size from above 20 students to below 20 students, as well as marginal reductions in classes with fewer than 20 students, increase test scores for students below the median, but decrease test scores above the median. This nonuniform impact of class size suggests that compen...

Job search skills, employer size and wages

Abstract: Many theories concerning the underlying cause of the observed positive correlation between employer size and wages have been evaluated empirically, with a sizeable residual remaining unexplained. This study presents and tests a new theory: successful applicants for vacancies in larger employers possess greater job search skills and therefore are able to obtain a wage closer to their maximum potential wage. Empirical results confirm that differential job search abilities can account for approximately 20% of the difference in average observed wages across large and small employers.

Bounding the Impact of Market Experience on Rationality: Evidence from a Field Experiment with Imperfect Compliance

Abstract: While laboratory experiments documenting some level of irrational behavior are now commonplace, explorations into whether such irrationalities exist in the field are rare. Equally as scarce are studies that explore the influence of market experience on the level and evolution of irrationality. Using field data gathered from more than 200 subjects of age 6-18, we investigate these issues using Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference experiments. To circumvent the endogeneity of market experience, we exogenously induce such experience through the design of a field experiment. Compliance with the experiment was not perfect, however. We are, nevertheless, able to bound the average treatment effect. Empirical results indicate that deviations from rational behavior exist in the field, but that market experience is a significant contributor to the development of rational choice.

Is the Quantity-Quality Trade-off Really a Trade-off for All?

Abstract: Although the theoretical trade-off between the quantity and quality of children is well-established, empirical evidence supporting such a causal relationship is limited Moreover, empirical studies that have been undertaken typically focus on education as a measure of child quality and have been predominantly limited to linear regression analysis, thereby focusing on the impact of the quantity of children on the (conditional) mean In contrast, this paper uses two measures of child health as well as recently developed nonparametric tests for stochastic dominance to assess whether the quantity-quality trade-off holds across the entire distribution, or whether the benefits of smaller families are only experienced by some Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey and controlling for the potential endogeneity of fertility, we find evidence that the trade-off exists over the majority of the distribution However, robust rankings of distributions by sibship size are only possible if one accounts for ‘dispersion’ in child health Moreover, the magnitude of the trade-off is not always uniform; individuals in the lower tail of the distribution may face a greater trade-off

The Distribution of Returns to Marriage

Abstract: The phenomenon that married men earn a higher wage on average than unmarried men, the so-called marriage premium, is rather well established. However, the robustness of the marriage premium across the wage distribution and the underlying cause of the marriage premium are not well known. Focusing on the entire wage distribution and employing recently developed nonparametric tests for stochastic dominance, our findings question the current conception of the marriage premium, calling instead for the introduction of a broader concept incorporating wage dispersion. This broader notion arises from evidence suggesting that the marriage premium is primarily confined to the lower tail of the wage distribution; the premium is negligible at best in the upper tail. Finally, the majority of the premium is explained by selection, but there is a small role for ‘causal’ explanations.Length: 54 pages

Time to Learn? The Organizational Structure of Schools and Student Achievement

Abstract: Utilizing parametric and nonparametric techniques, we asses the impact of a heretofore relatively unexplored ‘input ’in the educational process, time allocation, on the distribution of academic acheivement. Our results indicate that school year length and the number and average duration of classes are salient determinants of student performance. However, the effects are not homogeneous — in terms of both direction and magnitude — across the distribution. We find that students below the median benefit from a shorter school year, while a longer school year benefits students above the median. Furthermore, low-achieving students benefit from fewer, shorter classes per day, while high-achieving students benefit from more and longer classes per day.Length: 30 pages