Showing papers in "Journal of Human Resources in 2007"
TL;DR: The authors examined whether assignment to a same-gender teacher influenced student achievement, teacher perceptions of student performance, and student engagement, and found that assignment to the same teacher significantly improved the achievement of both girls and boys.
Abstract: A prominent class of explanations for the gender gaps in student outcomes focuses on the interactions between students and teachers. In this study, I examine whether assignment to a same-gender teacher influences student achievement, teacher perceptions of student performance, and student engagement. This study’s identification strategy exploits a unique matchedpairs feature of a major longitudinal study, which provides contemporaneous data on student outcomes in two different subjects. Within-student comparisons indicate that assignment to a same-gender teacher significantly improves the achievement of both girls and boys as well as teacher perceptions of student performance and student engagement with the teacher’s subject.
478 citations
TL;DR: It is found that household wealth and parental education are associated with higher scores, and that these associations are larger among older children than child health and measures of parenting quality.
Abstract: We examine the relationship between early cognitive development, socioeconomic status (SES), child health, and parenting quality in a developing country. We use a sample of more than 3,000 predominantly poor preschool-aged children from Ecuador, and analyze determinants of their scores on a widely used test of language ability. We find that household wealth and parental education are associated with higher scores, and that these associations are larger among older children. Child health and measures of parenting quality are associated with test performance, and account for a fraction, although not the majority, of the association between SES and cognitive development.
405 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the relationship between teacher testing and teacher effectiveness using a unique data set that links teachers to their individual students and found a positive relationship between some teacher licensure tests and student achievement, but they also suggest that states face significant tradeoffs when they require particular performance levels as a precondition to becoming a teacher.
Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between teacher testing and teacher effectiveness using a unique data set that links teachers to their individual students. The findings show a positive relationship between some teacher licensure tests and student achievement. But, they also suggest that states face significant tradeoffs when they require particular performance levels as a precondition to becoming a teacher. Some teachers whom we might wish were not in the teacher work force based on their contribution toward student achievement are eligible to teach based on their performance on the tests; other individuals who would be effective teachers are ineligible. For example, the results suggest that upping the elementary teacher licensure test standard from the one currently used in North Carolina to the higher standard used in Connecticut would lead to the exclusion of less than 0.5 percent of the teacher work force estimated to be very ineffective teachers, but would also result in the exclusion of 7 percent of the teacher work force estimated to be effective teachers.
280 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role that socioeconomic factors play in mothers' time choices was studied using data from the 2003 and 2004 American Time Use Survey, and the results showed that mothers' caregiving time increases with the number of children, decreases with age of the child, and increases with price of child care.
Abstract: Using data from the 2003 and 2004 American Time Use Survey, we study the role that socioeconomic factors play in mothers’ time choices. We estimate a four-equation system in which the dependent variables are the minutes used in home production, active leisure, market work, and child caregiving. Our results show that mothers’ caregiving time increases with the number of children, decreases with age of the child, and increases with the price of child care. We also find a substantial positive wage elasticity for caregiving time, while both leisure and home production time declines with increased wages.
267 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that across the life course SES impacts future health outcomes, although the primary influence is education and not an individuals financial resources in whatever form they are received.
Abstract: Using data from the PSID, across the life course SES impacts future health outcomes, although the primary influence is education and not an individuals financial resources in whatever form they are received. That conclusion appears to be robust whether the financial resources are income or wealth or whether the financial resources represent new information such as the largely unanticipated wealth that was a consequence of the recent stock market boom. Finally, this conclusion is robust across new health outcomes that take place across the short and intermediate time frames of up to 15 years in the future.
241 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed and tested a theory, referred to as preference for whiteness, which predicts that the interracial (white-black) and intraracial wage gap widens as the skin shade of the black worker darkens.
Abstract: This paper develops and tests a theory, referred to as “preference for whiteness,” which predicts that the interracial (white-black) and intraracial wage gap widens as the skin shade of the black worker darkens. Using data drawn from the Multi City Study of Urban Inequality and the National Survey of Black Americans, we report evidence largely consistent with the theory. Moreover, we decompose the estimated interracial and intraracial wage gaps, and find that favorable treatment of lighter-skinned workers is a major source of interracial and intraracial wage differences as predicted by the theory.
199 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that the Working Families' Tax Credit led to a substantial increase in single mothers' employment rate of about five percentage points, which was driven by both a higher rate at which lone mothers remained in the labor force and a higher level of entry into it.
Abstract: In October 1999, the British government enacted the Working Families' Tax Credit, which aimed at encouraging work among low-income families with children. This paper uses panel data collected between 1991 and 2001 to evaluate the effect of this reform on single mothers. We find that the reform led to a substantial increase in their employment rate of about five percentage points, which was driven by both a higher rate at which lone mothers remained in the labor force and a higher rate at which they entered it. Women's responses were highly heterogeneous, with effects double this size for mothers with one preschool-aged child, and virtually no effect for mothers with multiple older children. The employment increase was accompanied by significant increases in paid childcare utilization and our analysis in fact suggests that the generous childcare credit component of the reform played a key role in explaining the estimated employment and childcare usage responses. We also find that the increase in labor market participation was accompanied by reductions in single mothers' subsequent fertility and in the rate at which they married, behavioral responses, which in turn are likely to influence the reform's overall impact on child poverty and welfare.
179 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which married women's labor supply elasticities have changed over the past quarter century has been analyzed, showing that these elasticities decreased substantially, by 60 percent for the hours wage elasticity (from 0.36 to 0.14).
Abstract: This paper demonstrates the extent to which married women’s labor supply elasticities have changed over the past quarter century. Estimates from March Current Population Survey data suggest that these elasticities have decreased substantially, by 60 percent for the hours wage elasticity (from 0.36 to 0.14), 70 percent for the hours income elasticity (from -0.053 to –0.015), 95 percent for the participation wage elasticity (from 0.66 to 0.03), and 60 percent for the participation income elasticity (from –0.13 to –0.05). Changing demographic characteristics explain little of the drop in these elasticities, suggesting that preferences toward work have changed across birth cohorts.
166 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take advantage of the fortuitous randomization of trial outcome to provide a novel strategy to identify the deterrent effect exclusive of incapacitation, and find that California's three-strike legislation significantly reduces felony arrest rates among the class of criminals with two strikes by 17-20 percent.
Abstract: We take advantage of the fortuitous randomization of trial outcome to provide a novel strategy to identify the deterrent effect exclusive of incapacitation. We compare the post-sentencing criminal activity of criminals who were convicted of a strikeable offense with those who were tried for a strikeable offense but convicted of a nonstrikeable offense. As a robustness check, we also make this comparison in states without three-strikes laws. The identification strategy lets us estimate the deterrent effect nonparametrically using data solely from the three-strikes era. We find that California’s three-strike legislation significantly reduces felony arrest rates among the class of criminals with two strikes by 17–20 percent.
159 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors exploit the correlation between weather and crime to examine the short-run dynamics of crime and find that the positive serial correlation is reversed, suggesting that the long-run impact of temporary crime-prevention efforts may be smaller than the short run effects.
Abstract: While the persistence of criminal activity is well documented, this may be due to persistence in the unobserved determinants of crime. There are good reasons to believe, however, that there may actually be a negative relationship between crime rates in a particular area due to temporal displacement. We exploit the correlation between weather and crime to examine the short-run dynamics of crime. Using variation in lagged crime rates due to weather shocks, we find that the positive serial correlation is reversed. These findings suggest that the long-run impact of temporary crime-prevention efforts may be smaller than the short-run effects.
148 citations
TL;DR: The D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program dramatically changed college prices for District of Columbia residents, allowing them to pay in-state tuition at public institutions around the country as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program dramatically changed college prices for District of Columbia residents, allowing them to pay in-state tuition at public institutions around the country. Between 1998 and 2000, the number of D.C. residents attending public institutions in Virginia and Maryland more than doubled; when public institutions in other states were added, this number again nearly doubled. The impact was largest at nonselective public four-year colleges, particularly predominantly black institutions. The total number of financial aid applicants, Pell Grant recipients, and college entrants from D.C. also increased by 15 percent or more.
TL;DR: This article examined the effect of teenagers' outlooks on educational attainment and labor market outcomes and found that locus of control is not a significant determinant of educational outcomes once cognitive ability is controlled for.
Abstract: This paper examines the effect of teenagers’ outlooks—specified as their locus of control—on educational attainment and labor market outcomes. I replicate the study of Coleman and DeLeire (2003) and test the predictions of their theoretical model using a different data set—National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The findings fail to support the predictions of the model and suggest that locus of control is not a significant determinant of educational outcomes once cognitive ability is controlled for; however, locus of control is rewarded in the labor market later in life.
TL;DR: The authors investigated whether the September 11, 2001 terrorists' attacks had any effect on employment, earnings, and residential mobility of first and second-generation Arab and Muslim men in the United States.
Abstract: We investigated whether the September 11, 2001 terrorists’ attacks had any effect on employment, earnings, and residential mobility of first- and second-generation Arab and Muslim men in the United States. We find that September 11th did not significantly affect employment and hours of work of Arab and Muslim men, but was associated with a 9-11 percent decline in their real wage and weekly earnings, with some evidence that this decline was temporary. The adverse earnings effects were strongly linked to hate crime incidence. Estimates also suggest that the terrorists’ attacks reduced intrastate migration of Arab and Muslim men.
TL;DR: The authors found that high school employment and its lag have small, negative impacts on academic grade point average for both males and females, and the hours effects diminish when a fixed person effect is included, and they become statistically insignificant when hours are instrumented.
Abstract: This paper asks whether employment during high school impacts youths' grade point average. Unlike much of the prior literature, it allows for the endogeneity of the hours and dropout decisions, uses ASVAB test scores, and tests whether youth employment is dynamic. The results indicate that high school employment and its lag have small, negative impacts on academic grade point average for both males and females. The hours effects diminish when a fixed person effect is included, and they become statistically insignificant when hours are instrumented.
TL;DR: The results suggest that some organizations are better at getting doctors to perform at capacity and that understanding the link between organizational structure and protocol adherence is important in any attempt to increase the quality of care.
Abstract: Adherence to medical protocol (quality) is low in most developing countries. We show that, although the differences in knowledge of protocol among doctors in Arusha region of Tanzania are explained by years of training, the differences in actual adherence to protocol and the gap between knowledge and actual adherence are best understood by examining the types of organizations in which these doctors work. These results suggest that some organizations are better at getting doctors to perform at capacity and that understanding the link between organizational structure and protocol adherence is important in any attempt to increase the quality of care.
TL;DR: For male workers, job-related exercise has causal effects on weight, but for female workers, the effects seem primarily selective as discussed by the authors, and these effects are strongest for the heaviest quartile of men.
Abstract: We use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to investigate on-the-job exercise and weight. For male workers, job-related exercise has causal effects on weight, but for female workers, the effects seem primarily selective. A man who spends 18 years in the most physical fitness-demanding occupation is about 25 pounds (14 percent) lighter than his peer in the least demanding occupation. These effects are strongest for the heaviest quartile of men. Conversely, a male worker spending 18 years in the most strength-demanding occupation is about 28 pounds (15 percent) heavier than his counterpart in the least demanding job.
TL;DR: The authors developed and estimated a model for the choice of part-time and full-time employment and the decision to pay for childcare among single mothers, and found that a lower childcare price and a higher full time wage rate both lead to an increase in overall employment and use of paid childcare.
Abstract: This paper develops and estimates a model for the choice of part-time and full-time employment and the decision to pay for childcare among single mothers. The results indicate that a lower childcare price and a higher full-time wage rate both lead to an increase in overall employment and the use of paid childcare. The part-time wage effects are found to be too small to have significant behavioral implications. An analysis of cost-effectiveness indicates that the additional hours of work generated per dollar of government expenditure is larger for a childcare subsidy than a wage subsidy.
TL;DR: It is found that much of the reduction in fertility in the early 1970s was permanent, in that women did not compensate by having more children later, and that it largely reflects an increased share of women remaining childless throughout their fertile years.
Abstract: The early-1970s abortion legalization led to a significant drop in fertility. We investigate whether this decline represented a delay in births or a permanent reduction in fertility. We combine Census and Vital Statistics data to compare the lifetime fertility of women born in early-legalizing states, whose peak childbearing years occurred in the early 1970s, to that of women from other states and cohorts. We find that much of the reduction was permanent, in that women did not compensate by having more children later, and that it largely reflects an increased share of women remaining childless throughout their fertile years.
TL;DR: The authors found that left-handed males have particular talents such as enhanced creativity and were paid significantly more than right-handed females. But their results are inconsistent with the view that lefthanders in general are handicapped either innately or through experiencing a world geared toward right-handers.
Abstract: This paper estimates the effects of handedness on earnings. Augmenting a conventional earnings equation with an indicator of left-handedness shows there is a positive effect on male earnings with manual workers enjoying a slightly larger premium. These results are inconsistent with the view that left-handers in general are handicapped either innately or through experiencing a world geared toward right-handers. Left-handed females however are paid significantly less. The results are consistent with a range of mostly psychological evidence, which suggests that left-hander males have particular talents such as enhanced creativity.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use new data to estimate the impact of shocks to teachers on student learning in mathematics and English using absenteeism in the 30 days preceding the survey as a measure of these shocks and find that a 5 percent increase in the teacher's absence rate reduces learning by 4 to 8 percent of average gains over the year.
Abstract: A large literature examines the link between shocks to households and the educational attainment of children The authors use new data to estimate the impact of shocks to teachers on student learning in mathematics and English Using absenteeism in the 30 days preceding the survey as a measure of these shocks they find large impacts: A 5 percent increase in the teacher's absence rate reduces learning by 4 to 8 percent of average gains over the year This reduction in learning achievement likely reflects both the direct effect of increased absenteeism and the indirect effects of less lesson preparation and lower teaching quality when in class The authors document that health problems-primarily teachers' own illness and the illnesses of their family members-account for more than 60 percent of teacher absences; not surprising in a country struggling with an HIV/AIDS epidemic The relationship between shocks to teachers and student learning suggests that households are unable to substitute adequately for teaching inputs Excess teaching capacity that allows for the greater use of substitute teachers could lead to larger gains in student learning
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider an approach in which the wife's labor supply is expressed as a function of the household demand for one specific good, and demonstrate that the main properties of Chiappori's initial model are preserved and apply their results on French data.
Abstract: In Chiappori's (1988) collective model of labor supply, hours of work are supposed flexible. In many countries, however, male labor supply does not vary much. In that case, the husband's labor supply is no longer informative about the household decision process and individual preferences. To identify structural components of the model, additional information is needed. We thus consider an approach in which the wife's labor supply is expressed as a function of the household demand for one specific good. We demonstrate that the main properties of Chiappori's initial model are preserved and apply our results on French data.
TL;DR: In this paper, a multivariate mixed proportional hazard model (MMPH) was used to analyze nurses' pattern of work, sickness absence, non-employment, and social insurance dependency from 1992 to 2000, and how that pattern was affected by workplace characteristics.
Abstract: Based on Norwegian register data, we set up a multivariate mixed proportional hazard model (MMPH) to analyze nurses’ pattern of work, sickness absence, nonemployment, and social insurance dependency from 1992 to 2000, and how that pattern was affected by workplace characteristics. The model is estimated by means of the nonparametric maximum-likelihood estimator (NPMLE). We find that downsizing processes involve a significant increase in the level of sickness absence among still-employed nurses. They also cause a significant increase in the probability of entering into more long-lasting health-related social insurance dependency.
TL;DR: The authors found that no-fault divorce laws are associated with increases in the labor supply of married mothers relative to married nonmothers, even after controlling for changes in female labor supply.
Abstract: We use a difference-in-difference-in-difference estimator to compare changes in labor force participation, weeks, and hours of work associated with no-fault divorce laws, allowing for differential responses for married women with and without children. Although other research has found that the labor supply of women in general does not respond to no-fault divorce laws, we find that no-fault divorce laws are associated with increases in the labor supply of married mothers relative to married nonmothers, even after controlling for changes in female labor supply in states without no-fault divorce laws and for property division rules associated with the laws.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the female-male gap in starting-salary offers for new college graduates using data from the annual surveys of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), unique (and proprietary) data that have not previously been used for this purpose.
Abstract: We analyze the female-male gap in starting-salary offers for new college graduates using data from the annual surveys of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), unique (and proprietary) data that have not previously been used for this purpose. A major advantage of working with a data set on salaries for new college graduates is that we can remove the possible influence of gender differences in experience, promotions, job changes, and other factors on the salary gap. We find that as much as 95 percent of the overall gender gap in starting- salary offers can be explained by differences in college majors selected.
TL;DR: In the 1990s, many states liberalized statutory rules regarding the tax treatment of earned and unearned income for welfare program eligibility and benefit levels as mentioned in this paper, which resulted in significant reductions in effective tax rates and guarantees.
Abstract: In the 1990s, many states liberalized statutory rules regarding the tax treatment of earned and unearned income for welfare program eligibility and benefit levels. I use quality control data from the AFDC/TANF program over 1983–2002 to document changes in the corresponding effective tax rates and benefit guarantees. After welfare reform I find that effective tax rates fell by 50 percent on earned income and by at least 70 percent on unearned income. States that aggressively reformed their welfare programs, especially those that implemented a stringent sanctions policy on benefits, experienced more rapid reductions in effective tax rates and guarantees.
TL;DR: This paper found that as individuals reach their late 20s, they earn less the longer they were exposed to a higher minimum wage at younger ages, and the adverse longer run effects are stronger for blacks.
Abstract: Exposure to minimum wages at young ages could lead to adverse longer-run effects via decreased labor market experience and tenure, and diminished education and training, while beneficial longer-run effects could arise if minimum wages increase skill acquisition. Evidence suggests that as individuals reach their late 20s, they earn less the longer they were exposed to a higher minimum wage at younger ages, and the adverse longer-run effects are stronger for blacks. If there are such longer-run effects of minimum wages, they are likely more significant than the contemporaneous effects on youths that are the focus of research and policy debate.
TL;DR: This article showed that the decrease in the benefit of pursuing education for men was followed by a fall in their educational achievement relative to women and by a decrease in their relative entry wages, suggesting that high school dropout rates could be reduced by policies increasing the immediate benefits of studying education and that it would yield a substantial improvement in early labor market outcomes.
Abstract: Before 1997, education was a way for young French men to avoid military service in the army. After the abolition of compulsory conscription in 1997, this incentive to stay on in education disappeared. We show that the decrease in the benefit of pursuing education for men was followed by a fall in their educational achievement relative to women and by a decrease in their relative entry wages. These results suggest that high school dropout rates could be reduced by policies increasing the immediate benefits of pursuing education and that it would yield a substantial improvement in early labor market outcomes.
TL;DR: This paper found that almost half of the overall racial wage inequality remains in the blue-collar sector after controlling for each worker's academic skill and that black workers are actually more likely to work in the white-collared sector than white workers.
Abstract: The nature of racial wage inequality appears to differ across occupation sectors. Specifically, I find that all of the racial wage inequality in the white-collar job sector can be accounted for by controlling for the academic skill level of each worker, but almost half of the overall racial wage inequality remains in the blue-collar sector after controlling for each worker’s academic skill. Relatedly, after controlling for academic skill, I find that black workers are actually more likely to work in the white-collar sector than white workers. I show that these findings are consistent, and arguably directly implied by, both preference-based and statistical-based models of discrimination. However, omitted variable bias and measurement error also cannot be ruled out as possible explanations.
TL;DR: The results suggest that the relationship between health and cognitive achievement is complex, and the effects may be sensitive to time between measurements and the timing of malnutrition itself.
Abstract: This study uses longitudinal data from South Africa to estimate the relationship between early childhood nutritional status and schooling outcomes five years later. Preferred estimates from the full sample aged zero to five, which treat prior nutritional status as endogenous, show no impact of past nutritional status on current schooling, in contrast to a recent article in this journal using data from Pakistan. However, we find significant estimates for children who were malnourished, as well as among children younger than three years of age in the base year. These results suggest that the relationship between health and cognitive achievement is complex, and the effects may be sensitive to time between measurements and the timing of malnutrition itself.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used 1990 Census data to calculate the sex mix by industry-occupation cell and then used these results to predict divorce among ever-married respondents in the 1990 Census and the NLSY79.
Abstract: As women have entered the work force and occupational sex segregation has declined, workers experience increased contact with the opposite sex on the job. The sex mix a worker encounters on the job should affect the cost of search for alternative mates and therefore the probability of divorce. This paper uses 1990 Census data to calculate the sex mix by industry-occupation cell. These results are then used to predict divorce among ever-married respondents in the 1990 Census and the NLSY79. The results indicate that those who work with a larger fraction of workers of the opposite sex are more likely to be divorced.