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Showing papers in "Journal of Human Resources in 2013"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend the analysis of early emerging gender differences in academic achievement to include both (objective) test scores and (subjective) teacher assessments and show that the grades awarded by teachers are not aligned with test scores, with the disparities in grading exceeding those in testing outcomes and uniformly favoring girls.
Abstract: We extend the analysis of early-emerging gender differences in academic achievement to include both (objective) test scores and (subjective) teacher assessments. Using data from the 1998-99 ECLS-K cohort, we show that the grades awarded by teachers are not aligned with test scores, with the disparities in grading exceeding those in testing outcomes and uniformly favoring girls, and that the misalignment of grades and test scores can be linked to gender differences in non-cognitive development. Girls in every racial category outperform boys on reading tests and the differences are statistically significant in every case except for black fifth-graders. Boys score at least as well on math and science tests as girls, with the strongest evidence of a gender gap appearing among whites. However, boys in all racial categories across all subject areas are not represented in grade distributions where their test scores would predict. Even those boys who perform equally as well as girls on reading, math and science tests are nevertheless graded less favorably by their teachers, but this less favorable treatment essentially vanishes when non-cognitive skills are taken into account. White boys who perform on par with white girls on these subject-area tests and exhibit the same non-cognitive skill level are graded similarly. For some specifications there is evidence of a grade “bonus” for white boys with test scores and behavior like their girl counterparts. While the evidence is a little weaker for blacks and Hispanics, the message is essentially the same.

205 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper studied how college majors are chosen, focusing on the underlying gender gap and found that the gender gap is mainly due to gender differences in preferences and tastes, and not because females are underconfident about their academic ability or fear monetary discrimination.
Abstract: This paper studies how college majors are chosen, focusing on the underlying gender gap. I collect a data set of Northwestern University sophomores that contains their subjective expectations about choice-specific outcomes, and estimate a model where majors are chosen under uncertainty. Enjoying coursework, and gaining parents' approval are the most important determinants in the choice for both genders. However, males and females differ in their preferences in the workplace, with males caring about the pecuniary outcomes in the workplace much more than females. The gender gap is mainly due to gender differences in preferences and tastes, and not because females are underconfident about their academic ability or fear monetary discrimination. The findings in this paper make a case for policies that change attitudes toward gender roles.

189 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Offers of cash transfers strongly reduced psychological distress among baseline schoolgirls, but these large beneficial effects declined with increases in the transfer amount offered to the parents conditional on regular school attendance by the adolescent girls.
Abstract: This brief summarizes the income shocks and adolescent mental health in Malawi. Monthly transfers were made from 2008 to the end of 2009; in total the intervention lasted two years. The author investigates the effects of a positive income shock on mental health among adolescent girls using evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Malawi. Offers of cash transfers strongly reduced psychological distress among baseline schoolgirls. However, these large beneficial effects declined with increases in the transfer amount offered to the parents conditional on regular school attendance by the adolescent girls. Improved physical health, increased school attendance, personal consumption, and leisure contributed to the effects. There was also strong evidence of increased psychological distress among untreated baseline schoolgirls in treatment areas. All of these effects dissipated soon after the program ended.

174 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work uses matching combined with difference-in-differences to identify the causal effects of sudden illness, represented by acute hospitalizations, on employment and income up to six years after the health shock using linked Dutch hospital and tax register data.
Abstract: ____ We use matching combined with difference- in- differences to identify the causal effects of sudden illness, represented by acute hospitalizations, on employment and income up to six years after the health shock using linked Dutch hospital and tax register data. An acute hospital admission lowers the employment probability by seven percentage points and results in a 5 percent loss of personal income two years after the shock. There is no subsequent recovery in either employment or income. There are large spillover effects: Household income falls by 50 percent more than the income of the disabled person.

164 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the intergenerational mobility rates of the historically disadvantaged scheduled castes and tribes in India with the rest of the workforce in terms of their education attainment, occupation choices and wages.
Abstract: We contrast the intergenerational mobility rates of the historically disadvantaged scheduled castes and tribes (SC/ST) in India with the rest of the workforce in terms of their education attainment, occupation choices and wages. Using survey data from successive rounds of the National Sample Survey between 1983 and 2005, we find that intergenerational education and income mobility rates of SC/STs have converged to non-SC/ST levels during this period. Moreover, SC/STs have matched non-SC/STs in occupation mobility rates. We conclude that the last 20 years of structural changes in India have coincided with a breaking down of caste-based barriers to socioeconomic mobility.

154 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that the improved local access to ultrasound technology has resulted in a substantial increase in sex ratio at birth in China since the early 1980s, and estimates indicate that roughly 40 to 50 percent of the increase insex imbalance at birth can be explained by localAccess to ultrasound examinations.
Abstract: How much of the increase in sex ratio (male to female) at birth since the early 1980s in China is attributed to increased prenatal sex selection? This question is addressed by exploiting the differential introduction of diagnostic ultrasound in the country during the 1980s, which significantly reduced the cost of prenatal sex selection. We find that the improved local access to ultrasound technology has resulted in a substantial increase in sex ratio at birth. Our estimates indicate that roughly 40 to 50 percent of the increase in sex imbalance at birth can be explained by local access to ultrasound examinations.

139 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used inheritance patterns over three generations of individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu succession act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth rights in joint family property.
Abstract: This brief summarizes the women's inheritance rights and intergenerational transmission of resources in India for the period 1986-1994. The author use inheritance patterns over three generations of individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu succession act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth rights in joint family property that were denied to daughters in the past. The author show that the amendment significantly increased daughter's likelihood to inherit land, but that even after the amendment, substantial bias persists. Our results also indicate a robust increase in educational attainment of daughters, suggesting an alternative channel of wealth transfer.

135 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that incentives increase the fraction of children eating a serving of fruits or vegetables during lunch by 80 percent and reduce the amount of waste by 33 percent at schools with a larger fraction of low-income children.
Abstract: There is growing interest in the situations in which incentives have a significant effect on positive behaviors, particularly in children. Using a randomized field experiment, we find that incentives increase the fraction of children eating a serving of fruits or vegetables during lunch by 80 percent and reduce the amount of waste by 33 percent. At schools with a larger fraction of low-income children, the increase in the fraction of children who eat a serving of fruits or vegetables is even larger, indicating that incentives successfully target the children who are likely to benefit the most from the increased consumption.

131 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Projecting IHDP impacts to the U.S. population’s IQ and achievement trajectories suggests that such a program offered to low-income children would essentially eliminate the income-based gap at age three and between a third and three-quarters of the age five and age eight gaps.
Abstract: How much of the income-based gaps in cognitive ability and academic achievement could be closed by a two-year, center-based early childhood education intervention? Data from the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP), which randomly assigned treatment to low-birth-weight children from both higher- and low-income families between ages one and three, shows much larger impacts among low-than higher-income children. Projecting IHDP impacts to the U.S. population's IQ and achievement trajectories suggests that such a program offered to low-income children would essentially eliminate the income-based gap at age three and between a third and three-quarters of the age five and age eight gaps.

113 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that mothers visit antenatal clinics and receive tetanus shots more frequently when pregnant with a boy, and sex-selective prenatal care in maternal tetanus vaccination explains between 2.6–7.2 percent of excess female neonatal mortality in India.
Abstract: This paper investigates whether boys receive preferential prenatal treatment in a setting where son preference is present. Using micro health data from India, we highlight sex-selective prenatal investments as a new channel via which parents practice discriminatory behavior. We find that mothers visit antenatal clinics and receive tetanus shots more frequently when pregnant with a boy. Preferential prenatal treatment of males is greater in regions known to have strong son preference and among women whose previous children are female. We address other mechanisms such as selective recall, medical complications that might cause male fetuses to receive greater prenatal care in general, son preference-based fertility stopping rules and biases due to sex-selective abortions. Our calculations suggest that sex-selective prenatal care in maternal tetanus vaccination explains between 2.6–7.2 percent of excess female neonatal mortality in India.

109 citations


ReportDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors exploit variation in the timing and size of the UI benefit extensions across states to estimate their overall impact on unemployment exits, comparing the most recent and prior extension episodes.
Abstract: In response to the recession of 2007–2009, the maximum duration of U.S. unemployment insurance (UI) benefits was extended to an unprecedented 99 weeks. We exploit variation in the timing and size of the UI benefit extensions across states to estimate their overall impact on unemployment exits, comparing the most recent and prior extension episodes. We find a small but statistically significant increase in labor force attachment due to extended UI in both periods with little or no impact on job finding. Despite these small estimates, extended benefits can account for a substantial share of the increase in long-term unemployment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the effect of "stand-your-ground" laws on the number of reported murders and nonnegligent manslaughters and found that they did not deter burglary, robbery, or aggravated assault.
Abstract: From 2000 to 2010, more than 20 states passed so-called "Castle Doctrine" or "stand your ground" laws. These laws expand the legal justification for the use of lethal force in self-defense, thereby lowering the expected cost of using lethal force and increasing the expected cost of committing violent crime. This paper exploits the within-state variation in self-defense law to examine their effect on homicides and violent crime. Results indicate the laws do not deter burglary, robbery, or aggravated assault. In contrast, they lead to a statistically significant 8 percent net increase in the number of reported murders and nonnegligent manslaughters.

ReportDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined how home price variation affects the quality of postsecondary schools students attend and found that a $10,000 increase in housing wealth increases the likelihood of public flagship university enrollment relative to non-flagship enrollment by 2.0 percent and decreases the relative probability of attending a community college by 1.6 percent.
Abstract: We use NLSY97 data to examine how home price variation affects the quality of postsecondary schools students attend. We find a $10,000 increase in housing wealth increases the likelihood of public flagship university enrollment relative to nonflagship enrollment by 2.0 percent and decreases the relative probability of attending a community college by 1.6 percent. These effects are driven by lower-income families, predominantly by altering student application decisions. We also find home price changes affect direct quality measures of institutions students attend. Furthermore, for lower-income students, each $10,000 increase in home prices leads to a 1.8 percent increase in the likelihood of completing college.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between U.S. migration experience and earnings in the Mexican labor market, and they use their model to analyze the effects of self-selection and endogeneity on OLS estimates of the return to migration experience in the Mexico labor market.
Abstract: We present a theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between U.S. migration experience and earnings in the Mexican labor market. We use our model to analyze the effects of self-selection and endogeneity on OLS estimates of the return to migration experience in the Mexican labor market. Under plausible assumptions, OLS estimates provide a lower bound on the true average return to migration experience among return migrants. Using Mexican Migration Project (MMP) data, we find a return to migration experience of about 2.2 percent per year. Our estimates are robust to the inclusion of proxies for unobserved skill. A comparison with patterns in the 1995 Mexican Population and Dwelling Count suggests that our results are robust across data sets and are driven by a relationship between migration experience and wages, not hours worked. We also explore the plausibility of multiple mechanisms that could explain this relationship. We find the most evidence for the theory that individuals are acquiring occupation-specific work experience in the United States. The return to a year of occupation-specific migration experience is estimated to be as high as 8.7 percent for some occupations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors used a regression discontinuity design to examine the effects of geographically targeted business incentives on local labor markets and found that EZ designation has a positive effect on resident employment, increasing opportunities mainly in lower-paying industries.
Abstract: This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to examine the effects of geographically targeted business incentives on local labor markets. Unlike elsewhere in the United States, enterprise zone (EZ) designations in Texas are determined in part by a cutoff rule based on census block group poverty rates. Exploiting this discontinuity as a source of quasi-experimental variation in investment and hiring incentives across areas, I find that EZ designation has a positive effect on resident employment, increasing opportunities mainly in lower-paying industries. While business sitings spurred by the program are more geographically diffuse, EZ designation is associated with increases in home values.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using Spanish Social Security records, this paper document the channels through which mothers fall onto a lower earnings track, such as shifting into part-time work, accumulating lower experience, or transitioning to lower paying jobs, and are able to explain 71 percent of the unconditional individual fixed-effects motherhood wage gap.
Abstract: Using Spanish Social Security records, we document the channels through which mothers fall onto a lower earnings track, such as shifting into part-time work, accumulating lower experience, or transitioning to lower-paying jobs, and are able to explain 71 percent of the unconditional individual fixed-effects motherhood wage gap. The earnings trajectories’ analysis reveals that “mothers to be” experience important relative earnings increases several years before giving birth but this earnings’ advantage falls right after birth, taking in average nine years to recover. Heterogeneity matters as most of the motherhood dip is driven by workers with permanent contracts.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, nonparametric partial identification results for average and quantile treatment effects in the presence of sample selection are applied to assess the wage effects of Job Corps, United States' largest job-training program targeting disadvantaged youth.
Abstract: We review and extend nonparametric partial identification results for average and quantile treatment effects in the presence of sample selection. These methods are applied to assessing the wage effects of Job Corps, United States' largest job-training program targeting disadvantaged youth. Excluding Hispanics, our estimates suggest positive program effects on wages both at the mean and throughout the wage distribution. Across the demographic groups analyzed, the statistically significant estimated average and quantile treatment effects are bounded between 4.6 and 12 percent, and 2.7 and 14 percent, respectively. We also document that the program's wage effects vary across quantiles and demographic groups.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using transaction-level data and biological STI markers from sex workers in Ecuador and within-worker variation across local disease environments, it is found that locations with low disease prevalence exhibit a very low, insignificant premium for unprotected sex.
Abstract: Sex workers draw a premium for engaging in unprotected sex. We theoretically motivate a test of whether this premium represents a compensating differential for disease, thereby mitigating sex workers' propensity to use condoms. Using transaction-level data and biological STI markers from sex workers in Ecuador, we exploit within-worker variation across local disease environments. We find that locations with low disease prevalence exhibit a very low, insignificant premium for unprotected sex. A one percentage point increase in the local disease rate increases the premium for noncondom sex by 33 percent. Market forces may curb the self-limiting nature of STI epidemics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that both women and men value physical attributes, such as age and weight, and reveal that their dating choices are assortative along several traits, and that meeting opportunities have a substantial role in determining dating proposals.
Abstract: Much empirical evidence shows that female and male partners look alike along a variety of attributes. It is, however, unclear how this positive sorting comes about because marriage is an equilibrium outcome arising from a process that entails searching, meeting, and choosing one another. This study takes advantage of unique data to shed light on the forces driving choices at the earliest stage of a relationship. Both women and men value physical attributes, such as age and weight, and reveal that their dating choices are assortative along several traits. Importantly, meeting opportunities have a substantial role in determining dating proposals.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which wage differentials between men and women can be explained by differences in productivity, disparities in friction patterns, segregation, and wage discrimination was studied.
Abstract: In this paper, we study the extent to which wage differentials between men and women can be explained by differences in productivity, disparities in friction patterns, segregation, and wage discrimination. For this purpose, we propose an equilibrium search model that features rent-splitting, on-the-job search, and two-sided heterogeneity in productivity. The model is estimated using German matched employer-employee data. Overall, the results reveal that female workers are less productive and more mobile than males. In addition, female workers have on average slightly lower bargaining power than their male counterparts.

ReportDOI
TL;DR: This article used an auxiliary data set to estimate the relationship between current and permanent income and found that current income explains only about half of the black-white test score gap as does permanent income, and the remaining gap in math achievement among families with the same permanent income is only 0.2 to 0.3 standard deviations.
Abstract: Analysts often examine the black-white test score gap conditional on family income. Typically only a current income measure is available. We argue that the gap conditional on permanent income is of greater interest, and we describe a method for identifying this gap using an auxiliary data set to estimate the relationship between current and permanent income. Current income explains only about half as much of the black-white test score gap as does permanent income, and the remaining gap in math achievement among families with the same permanent income is only 0.2 to 0.3 standard deviations in the CNLSY and ECLS samples. When we add permanent income to the controls used by Fryer and Levitt (2006), the unexplained gap in 3 rd grade shrinks below 0.15 SDs, less

BookDOI
Gil Shapira1
TL;DR: A dynamic discrete-choice life-cycle fertility model is developed in which expectations about life horizon and child survival depend on perceived HIV infection, and it is shown that the presence of HIV reduces average lifetime fertility in rural Malawi by 0.15 births.
Abstract: This paper studies the effect of subjective beliefs about HIV infection on fertility decisions in a context of high HIV prevalence and simulates the impact of different policy interventions, such as HIV testing programs and prevention of mother-to-child transmission, on fertility and child mortality. It develops a model of women's life-cycle, in which women make sequential fertility decisions. Expectations about the life horizon and child survival depend on women's perceived exposure to HIV infection, which is allowed to differ from the actual exposure. In the model, women form beliefs about their HIV status and about their own and their children's survival in future periods. Women update their beliefs with survival to each additional period as well as when their HIV status is revealed by an HIV test. Model parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood with longitudinal data from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, which contain family rosters, information on HIV testing, and measures of subjective beliefs about own HIV status. The model successfully fits the fertility patterns in the data, as well as the distribution of reported beliefs about own HIV status. The analysis uses the model to assess the effect of HIV on fertility by simulating behavior in an environment without HIV. The results show that the presence of HIV reduces the average number of births a woman has during her life-cycle by 0.15. The paper also finds that HIV testing can reduce the fertility of infected women, leading to a reduction of child mortality and orphan-hood.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the causal impact of an increase in the risk of marital dissolution on the saving behavior of married couples was analyzed. And they found that the legalization of divorce in Ireland in 1996 led to a significant increase in a propensity to save by married individuals.
Abstract: We analyze the causal impact of an increase in the risk of marital dissolution on the saving behavior of married couples. We use the legalization of divorce in Ireland in 1996 as an exogenous shock to the risk of divorce. We propose several comparison groups (unaffected by the law change) that allow us to use a difference-in-differences approach. Our findings suggest that the legalization of divorce led to a significant increase in the propensity to save by married individuals, which is consistent with individuals saving more as a response to the increase in the probability of marital breakup.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Whether immigrant mothers in Norway can influence their mode of delivery is analyzed to show that a substantial share of Caesarean sections is due to preferences as well.
Abstract: In this study we analyze whether immigrant mothers in Norway can influence their mode of delivery. Patient preferences were measured as the rate of Caesarean section from their home country, and by a survey question measuring the extent to which people believe they have freedom of choice and control over their lives in their home country. Preferences have a causal effect on the likelihood of Caesarean section. Medical risk factors are still the most important reasons for having a Caesarean section, but our regression estimates show that a substantial share of Caesarean sections is due to preferences as well.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that the number of adoptions increases when children become subsidy-eligible, and that most of the increase is from adoptions by foster parents, while subsidy eligibility decreases time spent in foster care.
Abstract: More than 400,000 children in the United States are currently in foster care, many of whom are at risk for long-lasting emotional and health problems. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 provided federal funds for monthly adoption subsidies designed to promote adoptions of special-needs children and children in foster care. Using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Systems, I find that the number of adoptions increases when children become subsidy-eligible, and that most of the increase is from adoptions by foster parents. Conditional on adoption, subsidy eligibility decreases time spent in foster care.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article studied the effect of incorporating heterogeneity into default rules by examining the choice between retirement plans at a firm that transitioned from a defined benefit (DB) to a defined contribution (DC) plan.
Abstract: We study the effect of incorporating heterogeneity into default rules by examining the choice between retirement plans at a firm that transitioned from a defined benefit (DB) to a defined contribution (DC) plan. The default plan for existing employees varied discontinuously depending on their age. Employing regression discontinuity techniques, we find that the default increased the probability of enrollment in the default plan by 60 percentage points. We develop a framework to solve for the optimal default rule analytically and numerically and find that considerable welfare gains are possible if defaults vary by observable characteristics.

ReportDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the extent to which the large sibling correlations in substance use are causal, based on a joint dynamic model of the behavior of older and younger siblings that allows for family specific effects, individual specific heterogeneity, and state dependence.
Abstract: We assess the extent to which the large sibling correlations in substance use are causal. Our primary approach is based on a joint dynamic model of the behavior of older and younger siblings that allows for family specific effects, individual specific heterogeneity, and state dependence. We use the model to simulate the dynamic response of substance use to the behavior of the older sibling. Overall, we find that substance use is affected by the example of older siblings but only a small fraction of the sibling correlation is causal.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that unobserved heterogeneity plays a role in the persistence of bulimia nervosa, but up to two-thirds of it is due to state dependence, and that the timing of policy is crucial: preventive educational programs should be coupled with more intense treatment at early stages of the BN behaviors.
Abstract: Bulimia nervosa (BN) is a growing health concern and its consequences are especially serious given the compulsive nature of the disorder. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the persistent nature of BN. Using data from the NHLBI Growth and Health Study and instrumental variable techniques, we document that unobserved heterogeneity plays a role in the persistence of BN, but up to two-thirds of it is due to state dependence. Our findings suggest that the timing of policy is crucial: Preventive educational programs should be coupled with more intense (rehabilitation) treatment at the early stages of the BN behaviors.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of parental death on children's well-being using six administrative data sets from Taiwan were identified, and it was shown that parental death has significant long-term implications for human capital accumulation: the quality of education of high income children is significantly reduced; the impact of a father's death on his son's probability of acquiring higher education increases with income; children are more likely to substitute an income earning occupation in place of higher education; low-income girls are also more often to marry during their teenage years.
Abstract: This paper identifies the effects of parental death on children’s well-being using six administrative data sets from Taiwan. Information collected at different points in children’s lives and detailed parental mortality records are used to show that parental death has significant long-term implications for human capital accumulation: the quality of education of high income children is significantly reduced; the impact of a father’s death on his son’s probability of acquiring higher education increases with income; children are more likely to substitute an income earning occupation in place of higher education; low-income girls are also more likely to marry during their teenage years.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the impact of a distinct and plausibly exogenous rise in the quantity of competing diversions available to youth on their educational attainment and found that the repeals led to a significant decline in both years of education and the probability of high school completion.
Abstract: Adolescents face daily tradeoffs between human capital investment, labor, and leisure. This paper exploits state variation in the repeal of Sunday closing laws to examine the impact of a distinct and plausibly exogenous rise in the quantity of competing diversions available to youth on their educational attainment. The results suggest that the repeals led to a significant decline in both years of education and the probability of high school completion. I explore increased employment and risky behaviors as potential mechanisms. Further, I find a corresponding decline of the repeals on adult wages.