Showing papers in "Journal of Human Resources in 2012"
TL;DR: The authors found that exposure to political violence during early childhood leads to permanent losses in educational attainment, and the effects of political violence on education are stronger in the short-term than in the long-term.
Abstract: This paper provides empirical evidence of the persistent effect of exposure to political violence on human capital accumulation. I exploit the variation in conflict location and birth cohorts to identify the long- and short-term effects of the civil war on educational attainment. Conditional on being exposed to violence, the average person accumulates 0.31 less years of education as an adult. In the short term, the effects are stronger than in the long run; these results hold when comparing children within the same household. Further, exposure to violence during early childhood leads to permanent losses. I also explore the potential causal mechanisms.
166 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the impact of prenatal total suspended particulate exposure on educational outcomes using county-level variation in the timing and severity of the industrial recession of the early 1980s as a shock to ambient TSPs (similar to Chay and Greenstone 2003b).
Abstract: I examine the impact of prenatal total suspended particulate (TSP) exposure on educational outcomes using county-level variation in the timing and severity of the industrial recession of the early 1980s as a shock to ambient TSPs (similar to Chay and Greenstone 2003b). I then instrument for pollution levels using county-level changes in relative manufacturing employment. A standard deviation decrease in TSPs in a student's year of birth is associated with 2 percent of a standard deviation increase in high school test scores for OLS and 6 percent for IV. I also consider how migration and selection into motherhood relate to my results.
156 citations
TL;DR: The transitory variance of male earnings in the United States started to increase in the early 1970s, continued to increase through the mid-1980s, and then remained at this new higher level through the 1990s and beyond.
Abstract: We estimate the trend in the transitory variance of male earnings in the United States using the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1970 to 2004. Using an error components model and simpler but only approximate methods, we find that the transitory variance started to increase in the early 1970s, continued to increase through the mid-1980s, and then remained at this new higher level through the 1990s and beyond. Thus the increase mostly occurred about 30 years ago. Its increase accounts for between 31 and 49 percent of the total rise in cross-sectional variance, depending on the time period.
133 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the causal effect of education on migration using variation in college attainment due to draft-avoidance behavior during the Vietnam War and found that additional years of college significantly increased the likelihood that affected men resided outside their birth states later in life.
Abstract: We examine the causal effect of education on migration using variation in college attainment due to draft-avoidance behavior during the Vietnam War. We use national and state-level induction risk to identify both college attainment and veteran status for men observed in the 1980 Census. 2SLS estimates imply that additional years of college significantly increased the likelihood that affected men resided outside their birth states later in life. Most of our estimates suggest a causal impact of higher education on migration that is larger in magnitude but not significantly different from the OLS estimates.
124 citations
TL;DR: Using a child's eligibility for public kindergarten in a regression discontinuity instrumental variables framework, the authors estimate how use of a particular subsidy, public school, affects maternal labor supply, finding that public school enrollment increases only the employment of single mothers without additional young children.
Abstract: Many argue that childcare costs limit the labor supply of mothers, though existing evidence has been mixed. Using a child's eligibility for public kindergarten in a regression discontinuity instrumental variables framework, I estimate how use of a particular subsidy, public school, affects maternal labor supply. I find public school enrollment increases only the employment of single mothers without additional young children. I compare this result to previous work, focusing on striking increases in a similar setting but earlier period (Gelabch 2002). Differences in the population of mothers, labor supply, and patterns of lifecycle events likely drive the discrepancy in results.
120 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the relationship between child maltreatment and crime using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and found that maltreatment greatly increases the probability of engaging in crime and that the probability increases with the experience of multiple forms of maltreatment.
Abstract: Child maltreatment is a major social problem. This paper focuses on measuring the relationship between child maltreatment and crime using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). We focus on crime because it is one of the most costly potential outcomes of maltreatment. Our work addresses two main limitations of the existing literature on child maltreatment. First, we use a large national sample, and investigate different types of maltreatment in a unified framework. Second, we pay careful attention to controlling for possible confounders using a variety of statistical methods that make differing assumptions. The results suggest that maltreatment greatly increases the probability of engaging in crime and that the probability increases with the experience of multiple forms of maltreatment.
120 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors found that Chinese women score much lower than do Chinese men, a gender difference that grows among older Chinese cohorts, suggesting that in traditional poor Chinese communities there are strong economic incentives to favor boys at the expense of girls.
Abstract: In this paper, we model gender differences in cognitive ability in China using a new sample of middle-aged and older Chinese respondents. Modeled after the American Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the CHARLS Pilot survey respondents are 45 years and older in two quite distinct provinces-Zhejiang, a high-growth industrialized province on the East Coast, and Gansu, a largely agricultural and poor province in the West-in a sense new and old China. Our cognition measures proxy for two different dimensions of adult cognition-episodic memory and intact mental status. On both measures, Chinese women score much lower than do Chinese men, a gender difference that grows among older Chinese cohorts. We relate both these cognition scores to schooling, urban residence, family and community levels of economic resources, and height. We find that cognition is more closely related to mean community resources than to family resources, especially for women, suggesting that in traditional poor Chinese communities there are strong economic incentives to favor boys at the expense of girls. We also find that these gender differences in cognitive ability have been steadily decreasing across birth cohorts as the economy of China grew rapidly. Among cohorts of young adults in China, there is no longer any gender disparity in cognitive ability. This parallels the situation in the United States where cognition scores of adult women actually exceed those of adult men.
119 citations
TL;DR: This paper shows how to recover an unbiased estimate of discrimination when the correspondence study includes variation in applicant characteristics that affect hiring.
Abstract: Audit studies testing for discrimination have been criticized because applicants from different groups may not appear identical to employers. Correspondence studies address this criticism by using fictitious paper applicants whose qualifications can be made identical across groups. However, Heckman and Siegelman (1993) show that group differences in the variance of unobservable determinants of productivity can still generate spurious evidence of discrimination in either direction. This paper shows how to recover an unbiased estimate of discrimination when the correspondence study includes variation in applicant characteristics that affect hiring. The method is applied to actual data and assessed using Monte Carlo methods.
111 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined whether minority students were less likely to enroll in a four-year public college or receive a degree following a statewide affirmative action ban and found that black and Hispanic enrollment dropped at the top institutions; however, there is little evidence that overall black enrollment at public universities fell.
Abstract: Using institutional data on race-specific college enrollment and completion, I examine whether minority students were less likely to enroll in a four-year public college or receive a degree following a statewide affirmative action ban. As in previous studies, I find that black and Hispanic enrollment dropped at the top institutions; however, there is little evidence that overall black enrollment at public universities fell. Finally, despite evidence that fewer blacks and Hispanics graduated from college following a ban, the effects on graduation rates are very noisy.
101 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effect of the age difference between siblings (spacing) on educational achievement and found that a one-year increase in spacing increases test scores for older siblings by about 0.17 standard deviations.
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of the age difference between siblings (spacing) on educational achievement. We use a sample of women from the 1979 NLSY, matched to reading and math scores for their children from the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults Survey. OLS results suggest that greater spacing is positively associated with test scores for older siblings, but not for younger siblings. However, because we are concerned that spacing may be correlated with unobservable characteristics, we also use an instrumental variables strategy that exploits variation in spacing driven by miscarriages that occur between two live births. The IV results indicate that a one-year increase in spacing increases test scores for older siblings by about 0.17 standard deviations—an effect comparable to estimates of the effect of birth order. Especially close spacing (less than two years) decreases scores by 0.66 SD. These results are larger than the OLS estimates, suggesting that estimates that fail to account for the endogeneity of spacing may understate its benefits. For younger siblings, there appears to be no causal impact of spacing on test scores.
94 citations
TL;DR: This article found that racial quotas increased the proportion of black students and that displacing applicants were from lower socioeconomic status families than displaced applicants, and that there may have been modest racial disparities in academic performance among students in selective departments.
Abstract: In 2004, the University of Brasilia established racial quotas. We find that quotas raised the proportion of black students, and that displacing applicants were from lower socioeconomic status families than displaced applicants. The evidence suggests that racial quotas did not reduce the preuniversity effort of applicants or students. Additionally, there may have been modest racial disparities in college academic performance among students in selective departments, though the policy did not impact these. The findings also suggest that racial quotas induced some individuals to misrepresent their racial identity but inspired other individuals, especially the darkest-skinned, to consider themselves black.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the effects of introducing a more comprehensive upper secondary school system in Sweden, which reduced the differences between academic and vocational tracks through prolonging and increasing the academic content of the latter.
Abstract: By exploiting an extensive pilot scheme that preceded an educational reform, this paper evaluates the effects of introducing a more comprehensive upper secondary school system in Sweden. The reform reduced the differences between academic and vocational tracks through prolonging and increasing the academic content of the latter. As a result, all vocational students became eligible for university studies. The results suggest that the policy change increased the amount of upper secondary schooling obtained among vocational students, but did not affect enrollment in university studies or students' earnings later in life.
TL;DR: Sons (daughters) with criminal fathers have 2.06 (2.66) times higher odds of having a criminal conviction than those with non-criminal fathers as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Sons (daughters) with criminal fathers have 2.06 (2.66) times higher odds of having a criminal conviction than those with noncriminal fathers. One additional paternal sentence increases sons' (daug ...
TL;DR: This paper studied the impact of globalization on Indian districts with different costs of learning English and showed that these districts benefited more from globalization: they experienced greater growth in information technology and school enrollment.
Abstract: Recent studies suggest that globalization increases inequality, by increasing skilled wage premiums in developing countries. This effect may be mitigated, however, if human capital responds to global opportunities. I study how the impact of globalization varies across Indian districts with different costs of learning English. Linguistic diversity in India compels individuals to learn English or Hindi. Some districts have lower relative costs of learning English due to linguistic predispositions. I demonstrate that these districts benefited more from globalization: They experienced greater growth in information technology and school enrollment. Consistent with this response, they experienced smaller increases in skilled wage premiums.
TL;DR: The authors found that assignment to the treatment group substantially reduced the likelihood of plagiarism, particularly among students with lower SAT scores, who had the highest rates of plagiarisms, and a followup survey suggests that the intervention reduced plagiarism by increasing student knowledge rather than by increasing the perceived probabilities of detection and punishment.
Abstract: Plagiarism appears to be a common problem among college students, yet there is little evidence on the effectiveness of interventions designed to minimize plagiarism. This study presents the results of a field experiment that evaluated the effects of a web-based educational tutorial in reducing plagiarism. We found that assignment to the treatment group substantially reduced the likelihood of plagiarism, particularly among student with lower SAT scores who had the highest rates of plagiarism. A followup survey suggests that the intervention reduced plagiarism by increasing student knowledge rather than by increasing the perceived probabilities of detection and punishment.
TL;DR: The evidence presented in this paper shows that these law changes increased human capital accumulation and hence adult wages, and that the majority of the cohort benefits from backing up the cutoff, not just those who must delay entry.
Abstract: During the past half-century, there has been a trend toward increasing the minimum age a child must reach before entering school in the United States. States have accomplished this by moving the school-entry cutoff date earlier in the school year. The evidence presented in this paper shows that these law changes increased human capital accumulation and hence adult wages. Backing up the cutoff by one month increases average male hourly earnings by approximately 0.6 percent. The evidence also suggests that the majority of the cohort benefits from backing up the cutoff, not just those who must delay entry.
TL;DR: Policy interventions that affect environmental conditions at the time of birth and determining the health outcomes of young children in India could effectively impact the health and achievement of these children in a manner similar to nutrition and micronutrient supplementation programs.
Abstract: The authors use data from three waves of the India National Family Health Survey to explore the relationship between the month of birth and the health outcomes of young children in India. They find that children born during the monsoon months have lower anthropometric scores compared with children born during the fall and winter months. The authors propose and test four hypotheses that could explain such a correlation. The results emphasize the importance of seasonal variations in affecting environmental conditions at the time of birth and determining the health outcomes of young children in India. Policy interventions that affect these conditions could effectively impact the health and achievement of these children, in a manner similar to nutrition and micronutrient supplementation programs.
TL;DR: Examination of the negative correlation between the provision of piped water and household sanitary behavior in Cebu, the Philippines shows results consistent with the hypotheses that clean water and sanitation are substitutes and that neighbors' sanitation levels are complements.
Abstract: Water supply investments in developing countries may inadvertently worsen sanitation if clean water and sanitation are substitutes. This paper examines the negative correlation between the provision of piped water and household sanitary behavior in Cebu, the Philippines. In a model of household sanitation, a local externality leads to a sanitation complementarity that magnifies the compensatory response. Empirical results are consistent with the hypotheses that clean water and sanitation are substitutes and that neighbors' sanitation levels are complements. In this situation, clean water may have large unintended consequences.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present new evidence of the causal effect of family size on child quality in a developing-country context, by exploring the exogenous variation in family size driven by the presence of twins in the family.
Abstract: This paper presents new evidence of the causal effect of family size on child quality in a developing-country context We estimate the impact of family size on child labor and educational outcomes among Brazilian children and young adults by exploring the exogenous variation of family size driven by the presence of twins in the family Using the Brazilian Census data for 1991, we find that the exogenous increase in family size is positively related to labor force participation for boys and girls and to household chores for young women We also find negative effects on educational outcomes for boys and girls and negative impacts on human capital formation for young female adults Moreover, we obtain suggestive evidence that credit and time constraints faced by poor families may explain the findings
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors replicated the results in Dynarski (2008) but also found important differences in the results between the 1 percent and 5 percent PUMS, especially for women.
Abstract: In a recent paper in the Journal of Human Resources , Dynarski (2008) used data from the 1 percent 2000 Census Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files to demonstrate that merit scholarship programs in Georgia and Arkansas increased the stock of college-educated individuals in those states. This paper replicates the results in Dynarski (2008) but we also find important differences in the results between the 1 percent and 5 percent PUMS, especially for women. We also demonstrate that the author's use of clustered standard errors, given the small number of clusters and only two policy changes, severely understates confidence intervals.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the intra-family allocation of elderly care in the context of international migration where migrant children may be able to provide financial assistance to their parents but are unable to offer physical care.
Abstract: This paper considers the intrafamily allocation of elderly care in the context of international migration where migrant children may be able to provide financial assistance to their parents but are unable to offer physical care. To investigate sibling interaction, I estimate best response functions for individual physical and financial contributions as a function of siblings’ contributions. After addressing the endogeneity of siblings’ contributions and selection into migration, I find evidence that siblings’ financial contributions function as strategic complements while time contributions operate as strategic substitutes. This suggests that contributions may be based on both strategic bequest and public good motivations.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured the longitudinal effect of disability on earnings, marriage, and divorce and found that the onset of a work-preventing disability is associated with a precipitous decline in earnings and an increase in divorce.
Abstract: This study measures the longitudinal effect of disability on earnings, marriage, and divorce. The data come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation matched to administrative data on longitudinal earnings. Using event-study methods, the results show that the onset of a work-preventing disability is associated with a precipitous decline in earnings and an increase in divorce. Consistent with theory, the association between disability and divorce is greatest among young and educated males who experience a work-preventing, rather than a work-limiting, disability.
TL;DR: The authors found that children of mothers with some education spend 75 minutes more on educational activities at home compared with children whose mothers report no education at all, and test scores for children with mothers having some education are higher in English, Urdu (the vernacular), and mathematics by 0.24-0.35 standard deviations.
Abstract: Female education levels are very low in many developing countries. Does maternal education have a causal impact on children's educational outcomes even at these very low levels of education? By combining a nationwide census of schools in Pakistan with household data, the authors use the availability of girls' schools in the mother's birth village as an instrument for maternal schooling to address this issue. Since public schools in Pakistan are segregated by gender, the instrument affects only maternal education rather than the education levels of both mothers and fathers. The analysis finds that children of mothers with some education spend 75 minutes more on educational activities at home compared with children whose mothers report no education at all. Mothers with some education also spend more time helping their children with school work; the effect is stronger (an extra 40 minutes per day) in families where the mother is likely the primary care-giver. Finally, test scores for children whose mothers have some education are higher in English, Urdu (the vernacular), and mathematics by 0.24-0.35 standard deviations. There is no relationship between maternal education and mothers time spent on paid work or housework - a posited channel through which education affects bargaining power within the household. And there is no relationship between maternal education and the mother's role in educational decisions or in the provision of other child-specific goods, such as expenditures on pocket money, uniforms, and tuition. The data therefore suggest that at these very low levels of education, maternal education does not substantially affect a mother's bargaining power within the household. Instead, maternal education could directly increase the mother's productivity or affect her preferences toward childrens education in a context where her bargaining power is low.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a unique panel data set constructed from 192 self-reported diaries of sex workers in Western Kenya to show that women who supply transactional sex develop relationships with regular clients, and that these clients send transfers in response to negative income shocks.
Abstract: Why do women engage in transactional sex? While much of the explanation is that sex-for-money pays more than other jobs, we use a unique panel data set constructed from 192 self-reported diaries of sex workers in Western Kenya to show that women who supply transactional sex develop relationships with regular clients, and that these clients send transfers in response to negative income shocks. Regular clients are the primary source of interperson insurance that women receive, and women report in a separate survey that client transfers are an important reason that they participate in the market.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a natural experiment where the increase in the size of the elite track was followed by a significant improvement in average educational outcomes, and the experiment provides a rare opportunity to isolate the overall effect of allowing entry to the exclusive track for a group that was previously only at the margin of being admitted.
Abstract: The tracking of pupils by ability into elite and nonelite schools represents a controversial policy in many countries. There is no consensus on how large the elite track should be and little agreement on the effects of any further increase in its size. This paper presents a natural experiment where the increase in the size of the elite track was followed by a significant improvement in average educational outcomes. This experiment provides a rare opportunity to isolate the overall effect of allowing entry to the elite track for a group that was previously only at the margin of being admitted.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use agricultural shocks to local economic activity in Brazil (coffee production) to distinguish between increases in household income and increases in the opportunity cost of time, and show that higher household wealth is associated with lower child labor and higher schooling.
Abstract: This paper argues that conflicting results from previous literature—related to the effect of economic conditions on child labor—derive from different income and substitution effects implicit in different types of income variation. We use agricultural shocks to local economic activity in Brazil (coffee production) to distinguish between increases in household income and increases in the opportunity cost of time. Results show that higher household wealth is associated with lower child labor and higher schooling. Nevertheless, temporary increases in local economic activity are associated with higher child labor and lower schooling, particularly for children with poor economic backgrounds.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used microdata from rural Tanzania and a regression strategy that attempts to control for nonrandom location of households around schools as well as classical and nonclassical measurement error in self-reported distance to school.
Abstract: Is improved school accessibility an effective policy tool for reducing child labor in developing countries? We address this question using microdata from rural Tanzania and a regression strategy that attempts to control for nonrandom location of households around schools as well as classical and nonclassical measurement error in self-reported distance to school. Our analysis shows that school proximity leads to a rise in school attendance but no significant fall in child labor.
TL;DR: Moretti et al. as mentioned in this paper showed that five day work weeks can cause misleading group differences in absence hazards at multiples of seven, including 28 days, and illustrate this problem by comparing absence patterns of younger males to older males.
Abstract: Ichino and Moretti (2009) find that menstruation may contribute to gender gaps in absenteeism and earnings, based on evidence that absences of young female Italian bank employees follow a 28-day cycle. We find this evidence is not robust to the correction of coding errors or small changes in specification, and we find no evidence of increased female absenteeism on 28-day cycles in data on school teachers. We show that five day work weeks can cause misleading group differences in absence hazards at multiples of seven, including 28 days, and illustrate this problem by comparing absence patterns of younger males to older males.
TL;DR: The authors analyzed discrimination against less attractive people on a TV game show with high stakes and found that less attractive players are substantially more likely to be eliminated by their peers, even though this is costly.
Abstract: We analyze discrimination against less attractive people on a TV game show with high stakes. The game has a rich structure that allows us to disentangle the relationship between attractiveness and the determinants of a player's earnings. Unattractive players perform no worse than attractive ones, and are equally cooperative in the prisoner's dilemma stage of the game. Nevertheless, they are substantially more likely to be eliminated by their peers, even though this is costly. We investigate third party perceptions of discrimination by asking subjects to predict elimination decisions. Subjects implicitly assign a role for attractiveness but underestimate its magnitude.
TL;DR: A dynamic empirical model of health insurance coverage, long-term care arrangement, asset and gift behavior, and health transitions over time is estimated, revealing that most Medicaid eligibility and generosity policy variables associated with nursing home services have no effect on Medicaid enrollment and asset behavior.
Abstract: Medicaid policies that may affect long-term care decisions vary across states and time. Using data from the 1993, 1995, 1998, and 2000 waves of the Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old Survey, we estimate a dynamic empirical model of health insurance coverage, long-term care arrangement, asset and gift behavior, and health transitions over time. Long-run simulations from the estimated model reveal that most Medicaid eligibility and generosity policy variables associated with nursing home services have no effect on Medicaid enrollment and asset behavior. Those policies related to home- and community-based services, however, have a significant but small influence.