Showing papers by "Institute for the Study of Labor published in 2023"
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors extend the AKM framework to include job-spell fixed effects that account for potential correlation between the worker-firm match and employee age, as well as time-varying firm effects that allow for a correlation between wage-enhancing productivity shocks and software investments.
1 citations
01 Jan 2023
1 citations
TL;DR: Chen et al. as mentioned in this paper conducted a large-scale field experiment and a companion employer survey to study how employers in China value U.S. college education, and found that Chinese-educated applicants are on average 18% less likely to receive a callback than applicants educated in China.
Abstract: One million international students study in the United States each year, and the majority of them compete in global labor markets after graduation. I conducted a large-scale field experiment and a companion employer survey to study how employers in China value U.S. college education. I sent more than 27,000 fictitious online applications to business and computer science jobs in China, randomizing the country of college education. I find that U.S.-educated applicants are on average 18% less likely to receive a callback than applicants educated in China, with applicants from very selective U.S. institutions underperforming those from the least selective Chinese institutions. The United States-China callback gap is smaller at high-wage jobs, consistent with employers fearing U.S.-educated applicants have better outside options and would be harder to hire and retain. The gap is also smaller at foreign-owned firms, consistent with Chinese-owned firms knowing less about American education. Controlling for high school quality, test scores, or U.S. work experiences does not attenuate the gap, suggesting that the gap is not driven by employer perceptions of negative selection. A survey of 507 hiring managers at college career fairs finds consistent and additional supporting evidence for the experimental findings. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: This work was supported by the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University and the Prize Fellowship in Social Sciences awarded by Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4745 .
01 Jan 2023
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: This article provided quantitative evidence on the relationship between military spending and innovation in the 19th century and showed that national military spending is associated with national innovation toward war logistics such as food processing, but less toward war technology such as guns.
Abstract: Abstract We provide quantitative evidence on the relationship between military spending and innovation in the 19th century. Combining innovation data from world fairs and historical military data across Europe, we show that national military spending is associated with national innovation toward war logistics such as food processing, but less toward war technology such as guns. This innovation pattern reflects differences in the historical markets for war supplies: while the armed forces sourced weapons globally, the food market remained local.
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: The authors found that children of anemic mothers are more likely to be anemic, with an intergenerational health correlation of 0.26, indicating that economic status may play a role in the persistence of poor health across generations in developing countries.
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examine how physician decisions are impacted by difficult cases and find that immediately following a difficult case, physicians increase referrals for common tests, including diagnostic tests unrelated to cancer.
Abstract: Abstract We examine how physician decisions are impacted by difficult cases—encounters with newly diagnosed cancer patients. Using detailed administrative data, we compare primary care physicians' decisions in visits that occurred before and after difficult cases and matched comparison cases by the same physicians on other dates. Immediately following a difficult case, physicians increase referrals for common tests, including diagnostic tests unrelated to cancer. The effect lasts only for about an hour and is not driven by patient selection or schedule disruption. The results highlight difficult encounters as a source of variability in physician practice.
TL;DR: The authors found that fees increase study effort and degree completion among first-time university enrollment among high school graduates, and that fees around the zero-price margin have only little effect on overall educational attainment.
TL;DR: In this article , the impact of COVID-19 school closures on differences in online learning usage by regional academic performance was studied using data from Google Trends in Italy, finding that during the first lockdown, regions with a previously lower academic performance increased their searches for e-learning tools more than higher-performing regions.
Abstract: We study the impact of COVID-19 school closures on differences in online learning usage by regional academic performance. Using data from Google Trends in Italy, we find that during the first lockdown, regions with a previously lower academic performance increased their searches for e-learning tools more than higher-performing regions. Analysing school administrative and survey data before the pandemic, we find that both teachers and students in lower performing regions were using no less e-learning tools than higher performing ones. These two findings suggest that the COVID-19 shock widened the e-learning usage gap between academically lower and higher-performing regions. Exploiting the regional variation in school closure mandates during the 2020–2021 academic year, we report that the patterns detected after the first lockdown were no longer present. Regions with different previous academic performance had the same response in terms of online learning usage when faced with stricter school closures.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors exploit variations in the timing of decriminalization of same-sex sexual intercourse across US states to estimate the impact of these law changes on crime through difference-in-differences and event study models.
Abstract: Abstract We exploit variations in the timing of decriminalization of same-sex sexual intercourse across US states to estimate the impact of these law changes on crime through difference-in-differences and event study models. We provide the first evidence that sodomy law repeals led to a decline in the number of arrests for disorderly conduct, prostitution, and other sex offenses. Moreover, in line with the hypothesis that sodomy law repeals enhanced mental health and lessened minority stress, we show that these repeals led to a reduction in arrests for drug and alcohol consumption.
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: A review of the emerging literature in public health and economics on the pandemic effects in Vietnam, with a specific focus on vulnerable population groups, suggests that vulnerable workers were at more health risk than the general population as discussed by the authors .
Abstract: Despite a sizable population and modest status as a low-middle-income country, Vietnam has recorded a low COVID-19 fatality rate that rivals those of richer countries with far larger spending on health. This chapter offers an early review of the emerging literature in public health and economics on the pandemic effects in Vietnam, with a specific focus on vulnerable population groups. The review suggests that vulnerable workers were at more health risk than the general population. The pandemic reduced household income, increased the poverty rate, and worsened wage equality. It increased the proportion of below-minimum-wage workers by 2.5 percentage points (i.e., a 32-percent increase). While government policy responses were generally regarded as effective, public support for these responses was essential for this success, particularly where there was stronger public participation in the political process. The review also indicates the need for a social protection database to identify the poor and informal workers to further enhance targeting efforts. Finally, it suggests future directions for research in the Vietnamese context.
01 Jan 2023
01 Jan 2023
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: This article employed a proxy variable approach to disentangle age from periodic and cohort effects, while allowing the age effect to take a flexible functional form, and showed that risk attitudes are domain-specific.
Abstract: Risk attitudes are important predictors of various economic decisions and socioeconomic outcomes. Although studies show that peoples’ general willingness to take risks decreases with age, there are few reports on the age dependence of domain-specific risk attitudes. Drawing on the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this study employs a proxy variable approach to disentangle age from periodic and cohort effects, while allowing the age effect to take a flexible functional form. Our analyses indicate that risk attitudes are domain-specific. Additionally, we show that age-profiles of general rather than domain-specific risk attitudes can lead to misleading results when they are used to predict life outcomes.