|
on Demographic Economics |
|
Issue of 2012‒03‒08
thirty-one papers chosen by Clarence Nkengne Tsimpo University of Montreal and World Bank Group |
| By: | Huttunen, Kristiina; Kellokumpu, Jenni |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of job displacement on fertility using Finnish longitudinal employer-employee data (FLEED) matched to birth records. We distinguish between male and female job losses. We focus on couples where one spouse lost his/her job due to a plant closure or mass lay off event and follow them several years before and after the job loss. As a comparison group we use similar couples that were not affected by job displacement. In order to examine the possible channels through which job loss affects fertility we examine also the effect on earnings, employment and divorce. The results show that woman’s own job loss decreases fertility mainly for highly educated women. For every 100 displaced females there are approximately 4 less children born. Male job loss has no significant impact on completed fertility. |
| Keywords: | Plant closure; employment; earnings; divorce; fertility |
| JEL: | J13 J65 J12 |
| Date: | 2012–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36964&r=dem |
| By: | Soest, A.H.O. van; Saha, U.R. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: We jointly analyze infant mortality, birth spacing, and total fertility of children in a rural area in Bangladesh, using longitudinal data from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Matlab. To distinguish causal mechanisms from unobserved heterogeneity and reverse causality, we use dynamic panel data techniques. We compare the results in a treatment area with extensive health services and a comparison area with standard health services. Simulations using the estimated models show how fertility and mortality can be reduced by, for example, breaking the causal link that leads to a short interval after a child has died. Eliminating this effect would reduce fertility and increase birth intervals, resulting in a fall in mortality by 0.14 and 2.45 per 1000 live births in treatment and comparison area, respectively. The effects of the numbers of (surviving) boys and girls on birth spacing provide evidence of son preference: having more boys has a stronger effect on the birth interval than having more girls, though both effects are significantly positive. A simulation suggests that if families would behave as if their all children were sons, fertility levels would be reduced by 3.5% and 5.7% in the ICDDR,B and comparison areas, respectively. |
| Keywords: | child mortality;birth spacing;fertility;dynamic panel data models;Bangladesh. |
| JEL: | I15 J13 C33 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2012018&r=dem |
| By: | Bruze, Gustaf (University of Aarhus); Svarer, Michael (University of Aarhus); Weiss, Yoram (Tel Aviv University) |
| Abstract: | We formulate and estimate a dynamic model of marriage, divorce, and remarriage using 27 years of panel data for the entire Danish cohort born in 1960. The marital surplus is identified from the probability of divorce, and the surplus shares of husbands and wives from their willingness to enter marriage. Education and marriage order are complements in generating gains from marriage. Educated men and women receive a larger share of the marital gains but this effect is mitigated when their proportion rises. Education stabilizes marriage and second marriages are less stable. As the cohort ages, uneducated men are the most likely to be single. |
| Keywords: | marriage, divorce, sorting |
| JEL: | J12 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6379&r=dem |
| By: | Gustaf Bruze (Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University, Denmark); Michael Svarer (Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University, Denmark); Michael Yoram Weiss (Eitan Bergalas School of Economics, Tel Aviv University and Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | We formulate and estimate a dynamic model of marriage, divorce, and remarriage using 27 years of panel data for the entire Danish cohort born in 1960. The marital surplus is identified from the probability of divorce, and the surplus shares of husbands and wives from their willingness to enter marriage. Education and marriage order are complements in generating gains from marriage. Educated men and women receive a larger share of the marital gains but this effect is mitigated when their proportion rises. Education stabilizes marriage and second marriages are less stable. As the cohort ages, uneducated men are the most likely to be single. |
| Keywords: | Marriage, divorce, sorting |
| JEL: | J12 |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2012-06&r=dem |
| By: | García-Morán, Eva; Kuehn, Zoe |
| Abstract: | Grandparents are regular providers of free child care. Similar to any other form of child care, availability of grandparent-provided child care affects fertility and labor market decisions of women positively. We find that women in Germany, residing close to parents or in-laws are more likely to have children and that as mothers they are more likely to hold a regular part-or fulltime job. However, different from any other type of child care, for individuals to enjoy grandparent-provided child care on a regular basis, residence choices must coincide with those of parents or in-laws. Thus while living close provides access to free child care, it imposes costly spatial restrictions. We find that hourly wages of mothers residing close to parents or in-laws are lower compared to those residing further away, and having relatives taking care of ones' children increases the probability of having to commute. We build a general equilibrium model of residence choice, fertility decisions, and female labor force participation that can account for the relationships between grandparent-provided child care, fertility and labor market outcomes. We simulate our model to analyze how women's decisions regarding residence, fertility, and labor force participation change under different family policies. |
| Keywords: | informal child care; fertility; labor force participation; spatial restrictions; regional labor markets |
| JEL: | H42 J13 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:37001&r=dem |
| By: | Soest, A.H.O. van; Saha, U.R. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: Analyzing the effect of family planning on child survival remains an important issue but is not straightforward because of several mechanisms linking family planning, birth intervals, total fertility, and child survival. This study uses a dynamic model jointly explaining infant mortality, whether contraceptives are used after each birth, and birth intervals. Infant mortality is determined by the preceding birth interval and other covariates (such as socio-economic status). The decisions about using contraceptives after each birth are driven by similar covariates, survival status of the previous child, and the family’s gender composition. Birth spacing is driven by contraceptive use and other factors. We find favourable effects of contraceptive use, reducing infant deaths in second and higher order births. Because the mortality risks for first-borns is higher than for later births and contraceptive use reduces the number of higher order births, the net effect on the total infant mortality rate is small. |
| Keywords: | child mortality;family planning;contraceptive use;demography;dynamic panel data models;Bangladesh. |
| JEL: | I1 J13 C33 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2012019&r=dem |
| By: | Yamamura, Eiji |
| Abstract: | Using individual-level data for China, Korea, and Japan for 2006, this research examines how life satisfaction for married males and females in East Asian countries is influenced by the age of their children. Our results show that the life satisfaction of males is barely affected by a child of the relationship, whereas the life satisfaction of females with a young child is lower than that of females who do not have a child. This result holds for countries at different development stages. There is also a gender differential regarding the effect of young children on life satisfaction. Furthermore, the more developed the country, the greater this difference becomes. |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction; child; East Asian countries; Ordered probit |
| JEL: | J13 J19 D19 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36988&r=dem |
| By: | Kyriakos C. Neanidis; Vea Papadopoulou |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the link between crime and fertility and the way by which they jointly impact on economic growth. In a three-period overlapping generations model, where health status in adulthood depends on health in childhood, adult agents allocate their time to work, leisure, child rearing and criminal activities. An autonomous increase in the probability o¤enders face in escaping apprehension, increases both crime and fertility non-monotonically, giving rise to an ambiguous e¤ect on growth. A cross-country empirical examination, based on data that span four decades, supports the non-linear e¤ects on both crime and fertility. At the same time, it reveals a negative effect on output growth. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:cgbcrp:163&r=dem |
| By: | KOISSY KPEIN Sandrine; KUEPIE Mathias; TENIKUE Michel |
| Abstract: | This paper uses Demographic and Health Surveys data from about 30 sub-Saharan African countries to investigate the link between the birth of an “unintended child” and schooling decisions of children (dropout and entry). After controlling for local unobserved heterogeneity, we show that, the birth of an “unintended child” hinders child schooling. It reduces the probability of current school enrolment. As for school dynamics, it increases the probability that a child aged 6 to 18 years drops out of school and it decreases the probability that a child aged 6 to 9 years starts schooling. This result suggests that, the unexpected birth of a child strengthens household’s resources constraints and reduces human capital investments. The results also highlight the importance of the timing of the unexpected birth and the heterogeneity of the effect according to child characteristics. |
| Keywords: | unwanted fertility; education school dropout; school enrollment |
| JEL: | I20 J13 O12 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2012-12&r=dem |
| By: | Heizler (Cohen), Odelia (Hebrew University, Jerusalem); Kimhi, Ayal (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of family composition, and in particular the number of children, the age gap between the oldest and youngest child and the age of the youngest child, on parents' involvement in social networks. The predictions of a simple theoretical model are confirmed by an empirical analysis of Israeli Social Survey data for 2002-2006. The number of children has a U -shaped effect on parents' involvement in social networks, with substantial differences between fathers and mothers. The negative effect is dominant on the mothers' involvement in social networks, while the positive effect is dominant on the father's involvement in social networks. The age gap between children has a positive effect on both parents' involvement in social networks, while the age of the youngest child has a positive effect on the father's involvement in social networks. These results imply that social network considerations might be important for fertility decisions. |
| Keywords: | social networks, family composition, children |
| JEL: | J12 J13 D85 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6380&r=dem |
| By: | Bruna Signorini (Cedeplar/UFMG); Bernardo Queiroz (Cedeplar/UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The Bolsa Família programme1 provides a benefit up to maximum of three benefits2 to every pregnant woman and child up to 15 years of age and another benefit to teenagers between 16 and 17 years old, up to a maximum of two benefits, in families with less than R$140.00 per capita monthly income. This feature of the programme has led some commentators to fear that it could trigger an increase in fertility of the poor. The possible impact on fertility behaviour has drawn very little attention from researchers, despite being one of the most popular criticisms against to Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) programmes. To our knowledge, only two papers investigate this possible relationship in Brazil: Rocha (2010) and Signorini & Queiroz (2011). The empirical evidence from other countries suggests that CCTs have no significant impact on fertility. The evidence holds for other types of programmes, including those that provide only child care, traditional cash transfer programmes, and income tax exemption policies (Stecklov et al., 2007). (?) |
| Keywords: | The Impact of the Bolsa Família Programme on Beneficiaries? Fertility |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:138&r=dem |
| By: | Stephen M. Miller; Kyriakos C. Neanidis |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the effects of humanitarian aid on economic welfare through a demographic transition channel. We develop a two-period overlapping generations model where reproductive agents face a non-zero probability of death in childhood. As adults, agents allocate their time to work, leisure, and child rearing activities. Health status in adulthood exhibits "state dependence", as it depends on health in childhood. In this framework, we examine the effects of changes in inkind and monetary humanitarian aid on economic welfare. We conclude that if parents strongly value children, giving monetary aid produces more children and yields higher welfare. This positive welfare effect dominates an indirect negative welfare effect due to a lower growth rate. But, if parents value the quality of their children (health status), they achieve greater utility by inkind aid, which also lowers fertility and augments economic growth. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:cgbcrp:164&r=dem |
| By: | Michael Burda; Daniel S. Hamermesh; Philippe Weil |
| Abstract: | Time-diary data from 27 countries show a negative relationship between real GDP per capita and female-male differences in total work time—work for pay and work at home. In rich non-Catholic countries on four continents men and women do about the same average amount of total work. Survey results demonstrate, however, that labor economists, macroeconomists, sociologists and the general public believe that women work more. The widespread average equality does not arise from gender differences in the price of time, from intra-family bargaining or from spousal complementarity. Several theories, including ones based on social norms, might explain these findings and are consistent with cross-national evidence from the World Values Surveys and sets of microeconomic data from Australia and Germany. |
| Keywords: | time use, gender differences, household production, paid work |
| JEL: | J22 J16 D13 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2012-007&r=dem |
| By: | Saha, U.R.; Soest, A.H.O. van; Bijwaard, G.E. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: Reducing neonatal mortality is a particularly important issue in Bangladesh. We employ a competing risks model incorporating both observed and unobserved heterogeneity and allowing the heterogeneity terms for various causes to be correlated. Data come from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), Matlab. The results confirm the general conclusion on levels, trends and patterns of causes of neonatal deaths in the existing literature, but also reveal some remarkable socioeconomic differences in the risks of causespecific deaths. Deaths due to low birth weight and other causes (sudden infant death, unspecified or specified) are better explained from the socio- economic covariates than deaths due to neonatal infections or obstetric complications. The analysis highlights the role of maternal and child health interventions (particularly tetanus toxoid immunization for pregnant women, nutrition programs, and high coverage health services: distance to nearest health centre). Policies that increase quality and equity in child births may help to further reduce neonatal mortality. |
| Keywords: | millennium development goals;neonatal deaths;competing risks models;unobserved heterogeneity;Bangladesh. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2012016&r=dem |
| By: | Joshua Congdon-Hohman (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross) |
| Abstract: | Health insurance has previously been shown to be an important determinant of retirement timing among older Americans. While previous literature has largely ignored the inter-spousal dependence of health insurance benefits, this study examines the relationship of both spouses’ health insurance options to the household’s timing of the husband’s retirement. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I find that a wife’s health insurance options have an independent impact on the timing of her husband’s exit from the labor force. This impact is not distinguishable in magnitude to that of a husband’s own health insurance options. Differences for each spouse do arise when each spouse’s health is interacted with his or her health insurance options following a husband’s retirement. The impact of a wife’s health insurance needs on the timing of a husband’s retirement is dependent on her health while the impact of the husband’s insurance options is seemingly unrelated to his health. The omission of inter-spousal health insurance dependency may lead to an underestimation of the cost and the employment response to changes in the health insurance system from newly legislated health care reform. |
| Keywords: | Retirement, health insurance, household decision-making |
| JEL: | H55 J26 J32 J44 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hcx:wpaper:1115&r=dem |
| By: | Mather, David |
| Abstract: | During the last decade, the Zambian government has dramatically increased expenditures on primary and secondary schooling, and enrollment rates have risen dramatically. At the same time, Zambia has faced the challenge of rising HIV prevalence and the possibility that recent gains in long-term human capital development could be eroded if households which suffer the death of a working-age (WA) adult pull their children out of school due to family labor shortages or financial constraints. This paper uses panel survey data from rural Zambia to measure the impact of WA adult mortality and morbidity on primary school attendance and school advancement, and separately tests the extent to which orphan status affects these schooling outcomes. There are five principal findings from our analysis. |
| Keywords: | Zambia, Adult Mortality, Orphan, Schooling, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:120740&r=dem |
| By: | Delia Furtado (University of Conneticut); Stephen Trejo (University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants who marry outside of their ethnicity tend to have better economic outcomes than those who marry within ethnicity. It is difficult, however, to interpret this relationship because individuals with stronger preferences for ethnic endogamy are likely to differ in unobserved ways from those with weaker preferences. To clarify some of the complex issues surrounding interethnic marriage and assimilation, this chapter starts by considering the determinants of intermarriage, proceeds with an examination of the economic consequences of intermarriage, and ends with a discussion of the links between intermarriage, ethnic identification, and measurement of long-term socioeconomic integration. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1205&r=dem |
| By: | Antman, Francisca M (University of Colorado, Boulder) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the effects of migration on families left behind and offers new evidence on the impact of migration on elderly parents. After discussing the identification issues involved in estimation, I review the literature on the effects of migration on the education and health of non-migrant children as well as the labor supply of non-migrant spouses. Finally, I address the impact of adult child migration on contributions toward non-migrant parents as well as the effects on parental health. Results show that elderly parents receive lower time contributions from all of their children when one child migrates. |
| Keywords: | migration, left behind, elderly, children |
| JEL: | O15 D13 J13 J14 F22 I15 I25 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6374&r=dem |
| By: | Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti; Santos, Marcelo Rodrigues dos |
| Abstract: | This article studies the determinants of the labor force participation of the elderlyand investigates the factors that may account for the increase in retirement in thesecond half of the last century. We develop a life-cycle general equilibrium modelwith endogenous retirement that embeds Social Security legislation and Medicare. In-dividuals are ex ante heterogeneous with respect to their preferences for leisure andface uncertainty about labor productivity, health status and out-of-pocket medical ex-penses. The model is calibrated to the U.S. economy in 2000 and is able to reproducevery closely the retirement behavior of the American population. It reproduces thepeaks in the distribution of Social Security applications at ages 62 and 65 and the ob-served facts that low earners and unhealthy individuals retire earlier. It also matchesvery closely the increase in retirement from 1950 to 2000. Changes in Social Securitypolicy - which became much more generous - and the introduction of Medicare accountfor most of the expansion of retirement. In contrast, the isolated impact of the increasein longevity was a delaying of retirement. |
| Date: | 2012–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:epgewp:727&r=dem |
| By: | Rodriguez-Planas, Nuria (IZA); Vegas, Raquel (FEDEA, Madrid) |
| Abstract: | An important immigration policy question is to identify the best criteria to select among potential migrants. At least two methodological problems arise: the host country's immigration policy regime endogeneity, and immigrants' unobserved heterogeneity. To address the first problem, we focus in a country with an unprecedented immigration boom that lets immigrants freely into a country: Spain. To address the second problem, we focus on a large and homogenous group of immigrants: Moroccans. Using the 2007 Encuesta Nacional de Immigración (ENI), we find that, even when focusing on a very homogenous group of migrants (Moroccans) who tend to be low-skilled, and after controlling for migrants' self-selection with employment history prior to and at arrival, family-based immigrants are less likely to work than their labor-based counterparts both at arrival and ten years later. Our Heckman-corrected estimates highlight that there are no monthly earnings differences by reason of arrival, and that failure to correct for labor force participation strongly biases these results. |
| Keywords: | Southern and Eastern Mediterranean men and women, legal and employment assimilation |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6368&r=dem |
| By: | Nicolas Gérard Vaillant (LEM - Lille - Economie et Management - CNRS : UMR8179 - Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille - Lille I - Fédération Universitaire et Polytechnique de Lille, Université Catholique de Lille - Université Catholique de Lille, ISTC - Institut des Stratégies et Techniques de Communication - Université Catholique de Lille); François-Charles Wolff (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Université de Nantes : EA4272, INED - Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques Paris - INED) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of self-assessed health on retirement plans of older migrants. As immigration is primarily associated with labor considerations, the role of economic incentives in the migration decision suggests that health could play a minor effect in immigrants' decision to retire. Using detailed data on immigrants living in France collected in 2003, we examine the role of health on early retirement intentions using simultaneous, recursive models that account for the fact that subjective health is potentially endogenous. Being in poor health increases the intention of migrant workers to retire early, but the subjective health outcomes have little influence on retirement plans. |
| Keywords: | Retirement intention ; self-assessed health ; immigrants ; France |
| Date: | 2012–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00671527&r=dem |
| By: | Sproten, Alec N.; Schwieren, Christiane |
| Abstract: | The “aging employee” has recently become a hot topic in many fields of behavioural research. With the aim to determine the effects of different incentive schemes (competition, social or increased monetary incentives) on performance of young and older subjects, we look at behaviour of a group of younger and older adults on a well-established real effort task. We show that older adults differ from younger adults in their performance in all conditions, but not in the improvement between conditions. The age difference in performance is however driven by women. While we replicate the gender difference in competitiveness found in the literature, we do not find a significant age difference in competitiveness. Social incentives have an at least as strong or even stronger effect on performance than increased monetary incentives. This effect is driven by men; women do not show an increase in performance with social incentives. |
| Keywords: | aging; competition; social production functions; experiment; incentives |
| JEL: | C72 C91 J10 J33 |
| Date: | 2012–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0522&r=dem |
| By: | Carlsson, Magnus (School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University); Eriksson, Stefan (Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Reported attitudes towards immigrants are sometimes used as a proxy for ethnic discrimination. However, there is little empirical evidence of a link between attitudes and discrimination. In this paper, we use survey data on people’s attitudes towards immigrants combined with data on ethnic discrimination from a field experiment in the Swedish housing market to re-examine this issue. We find clear evidence of a link between reported attitudes towards immigrants and the extent of ethnic discrimination at the municipality level. Thus, in contrast to most prior studies, our results suggest that reported attitudes may be a useful proxy for ethnic discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Attitudes; Ethnic discrimination; Field experiments; Housing market |
| JEL: | C93 J15 R39 |
| Date: | 2012–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2012_006&r=dem |
| By: | Jennifer Hunt; Jean-Philippe Garant; Hannah Herman; David J. Munroe |
| Abstract: | We investigate women's underrepresentation among holders of commercialized patents: only 5.5% of holders of such patents are female. Using the National Survey of College Graduates 2003, we find only 7% of the gap is accounted for by women's lower probability of holding any science or engineering degree, because women with such a degree are scarcely more likely to patent than women without. Differences among those without a science or engineering degree account for 15%, while 78% is accounted for by differences among those with a science or engineering degree. For the latter group, we find that women's underrepresentation in engineering and in jobs involving development and design explain much of the gap; closing it would increase U.S. GDP per capita by 2.7%. |
| JEL: | J7 O31 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17888&r=dem |
| By: | Annamaria Lusardi; Olivia S. Mitchell; Vilsa Curto |
| Abstract: | This paper examines data on financial sophistication among the U.S. older population, using a special-purpose module implemented in the Health and Retirement Study. We show that financial sophistication is deficient for older respondents (aged 55+). Specifically, many in this group lack a basic grasp of asset pricing, risk diversification, portfolio choice, and investment fees. Subpopulations with particular deficits include women, the least educated, persons over the age of 75, and non-Whites. In view of the fact that people are increasingly being asked to take on responsibility for their own retirement security, such lack of knowledge can have serious implications. |
| JEL: | D91 G11 J14 J18 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17863&r=dem |
| By: | Andrew Leicester (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University College London) |
| Abstract: | <p><p>This paper considers what role in-home barcode scanner data could play in collecting household expenditure information as part of national budget surveys. One role is as a source of validation. We make detailed micro-level comparisons of food and drink expenditures in two British datasets: the Living Costs and Food Survey (the main budget survey) and Kantar Worldpanel scanner data. We find that levels of spending are significantly lower in scanner data. A large part (but not all) of the gap is explained by weeks in which no spending at all is recorded in scanner data. Demographic differences between the surveys accentuate rather than close the gap. We also demonstrate that patterns of expenditure across the surveys are much more similar, as are Engel curves relating food commodity budget shares to total food expenditures. A key finding is that the period over which we observe households in the scanner data significantly alters the distribution, but not the average, of weekly food expenditures and budget shares, which has important implications for whether two-week spending diaries common to budget surveys are giving a truly accurate reflection of a household's typical spending patterns. A second, more involved use of scanner data would be to impute detailed commodity-level expenditure patterns given only information on total expenditures, as a way of reducing respondent burden in budget surveys. We find that observable demographics in the scanner data explain little of the variation in store-specific expenditure patterns, and so caution against relying too heavily on imputation. </p></p> |
| Keywords: | Scanner data; expenditure; inflation; food; measurement. |
| JEL: | C81 C83 D12 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:12/01&r=dem |
| By: | Lena Hulden (Department of Agricultural Science,Helsinki University); Ross McKitrick (Department of Economics,University of Guelph); Larry Hulden (Finnish Museum of Natural History) |
| Abstract: | Efforts to eradicate malaria during the 20th century succeeded in some parts of the world but failed in others. Malaria also disappeared spontaneously in several countries for reasons that remain an enigma. The connection between malaria and poverty has long been noted. Here we focus on a specific aspect: household size, which has hitherto received little attention. We find strong evidence that when average household size drops below four persons, the probability of malaria eradication jumps dramatically and its incidence in the population drops significantly. This effect is independent of all commonly-studied explanatory variables and was globally valid across all climate zones irrespective of counter measures, vector species, or Plasmodium species. We propose an explanation based on the dispersal mechanism of the parasite. Malaria is transmitted at night by mosquito bite. The mosquito typically spreads the Plasmodium only locally over short distances to new human victims. To survive, the Plasmodium depends on infected humans making social contacts over longer distances. When household size decreases sufficiently, these contacts cross a threshold value that changes the balance between extinctions and replacements and the Plasmodium disappears on its own. We test this interpretation by contrasting our malaria model with dengue fever, which is also poverty-related and mosquito-borne but transmitted differently, namely through daytime exposure. Household size is uncorrelated with dengue incidence, whereas an indicator of outdoor work that is insignificant in the malaria model is highly significant for dengue. We conclude that poverty-induced malaria infection risks are likely to persist, but a focus on reducing effective household size can be a feasible and promising means of its eradication. |
| Keywords: | Malaria;dengue fever, household size, DDT |
| JEL: | I15 O18 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gue:guelph:2012-03.&r=dem |
| By: | Drange, Nina (UiS) |
| Abstract: | This paper expands our understanding of possible specialization effects of extended parental leave policies. Identification is based on the introduction of the Cash-for-Care program in Norway in 1998, which increased mothers’ incentives to withdraw from the labor market when their child was one and two years old. I estimate difference-in-differences models exploiting differences in individuals' exposures to the program among families with similar structures. Consistent with Schøne (2004) I find that the cash-for-care program decreased mothers’ labor force participation by about four percentage points. Notably, however, I find no evidence that the fathers work more to compensate for the mothers declined labor supply. |
| Keywords: | . |
| JEL: | J13 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:stavef:2012_003&r=dem |
| By: | Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. (University of Melbourne); Gorgens, Tue (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses how the economic support provided by parents to young adults as they complete their education and enter the labor market is related to the family's socioeconomic circumstances. We address this issue using detailed survey data on intergenerational co-residence and financial transfers merged with nearly a decade of administrative data on the family's welfare receipt while the young person was growing up. We find that young people who experience socioeconomic disadvantage are more likely to be residentially and financially independent of their parents than are their peers growing up in more advantaged circumstances. This disparity is larger for financial transfers than for co-residence and increases as young people age. Moreover, there is a clear link between parental support and a young person's engagement in study and work which is generally stronger at age 20 than at age 18 and is often stronger for advantaged than for disadvantaged youths. We find no evidence, however, that a lack of parental support explains the socioeconomic gradient in either studying or employment. |
| Keywords: | co-residence, financial transfers, socioeconomic disadvantage, youth outcomes |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6376&r=dem |
| By: | Anna Matysiak (Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Posiadanie w³asnego mieszkania to wed³ug Hobcraft i Kiernan (1995) jeden z warunków realizacji decyzji o zostaniu rodzicem w krajach rozwiniêtych. Znaczenie tego czynnika dla decyzji o rodzicielstwie nie by³o jak dotychczas przedmiotem badañ w Polsce. Niniejsze opracowanie ma na celu czêœciowe wype³nienie tej luki poprzez przeprowadzenie badania zwi¹zku pomiêdzy posiadaniem w³asnego mieszkania a przejœciem do rodzicielstwa przez Polki urodzone w latach 1971-1981. Zagadnienie to jest wa¿ne ze wzglêdu na d³ugotrwa³y spadek liczby mieszkañ oddawanych do u¿ytku i znacz¹cy wzrost cen mieszkañ, jaki zaobserwowano w Polsce po 1989 r. Wyniki przeprowadzonych analiz wskazuj¹ na istnienie silnej dodatniej zale¿noœci pomiêdzy zamieszkiwaniem we w³asnym mieszkaniu a rodzicielstwem. Analizy pog³êbione pokazuj¹, ¿e jest to w du¿ym stopniu efekt warunkowania realizacji wczeœniej podjêtej decyzji o dziecku przeprowadzk¹ do w³asnego mieszkania. Co wa¿ne, wynajmowanie mieszkania jest znacznie mniej atrakcyjn¹ opcj¹ dla osób planuj¹cych dziecko, porównywaln¹ ze zamieszkiwaniem u rodziców. Otrzymane wyniki te s¹ zgodne z wynikami badañ empirycznych prowadzonych w innych krajach rozwiniêtych i sugeruj¹, ¿e trudnoœci z pozyskaniem w³asnego mieszkania prowadz¹ do opóŸniania realizacji decyzji o zostaniu rodzicem. |
| Keywords: | p³odnoœæ, rodzicielstwo, mieszkania, rynek mieszkaniowy |
| JEL: | J13 O18 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isd:wpaper:46&r=dem |
| By: | Filippin, A.; Ours, J.C. van (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: We use data from the 24-hours Belluno run which has the unique characteristic that participants are affiliated with teams and run for an hour. This allows us not only to study the individual relationship between age and performance but also to study group dynamics in terms of accessions to and separations from teams in a manner that closely resembles workers and firms when individual productivity would have been perfectly observable. From our analysis we conclude that individual performance goes down with age, although the speed-age gradient is rather at. Group performance goes down with age as well, but interestingly a counterbalancing force emerges, namely team dynamics that are driven by performance of runners who enter and leave. |
| Keywords: | Age;performance;attrition. |
| JEL: | J14 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2012020&r=dem |