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on Network Economics |
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Issue of 2019‒01‒21
four papers chosen by Pedro CL Souza Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro |
| By: | Checchi, Daniele (University of Milan); Kulic, Nevena (European University Institute); Cicognani, Simona (Free University of Bozen/Bolzano) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the role of the gender composition of selection committees and the role of connections in promoting women in research activities. Exploiting a newly collected data set on recruitment processes to entry-level research positions in a leading Italian research centre operating mainly in the hard sciences, the study finds that bias against women manifests itself at non-tenured entry level and is attenuated by the presence of a woman on the selection committee. However, the most important predictor for recruitment in the study is previous connections with the research centre, a mechanism which, due the lower density of network links with the institute among female candidates, operates as a selection device discriminating against women. The results suggest that gender of the committee members, network structure and type of recruitment must all be taken into account in approaching recruitment policy and that very early stages of scientific careers are crucial for addressing gender bias in research. |
| Keywords: | connections, gender bias, gender quotas, Italy, research recruitment |
| JEL: | J70 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12021&r=all |
| By: | Le, Kien; Nguyen, My |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the existence of negative spillover effects from children exposed to corporal punishment in the home. We find that interactions with peers who suffer from physical punishment significantly depress achievement in both math and language among Vietnamese fifth graders. These adverse impacts are transmitted through the reduction of academic expectation and the increased incidence of physical bullies at school in the presence of more corporal-punishment-inflicted peers. Our results offer meaningful implications for both education and social policies. |
| Keywords: | Corporal Punishment, Violent Disciplinary Practices, Student Achievement, Peer Effects, Family |
| JEL: | I20 I21 J18 |
| Date: | 2018–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:90909&r=all |
| By: | Cedric Duprez (National Bank of Belgium, Economics and Research Department); Glenn Magerman (National Bank of Belgium, Economics and Research Department) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates how firms change their prices in response to cost shocks and other price changes in their environment. We first document three new facts on the heterogeneity of firm-level producer prices and their relationship to buyers and suppliers in a production network. We then develop a non-parametric framework of how producers update their prices, taking into account this production network. The framework is very general, and accounts for the heterogeneity in price changes and the production network from the stylized facts. Moreover, the framework is consistent with various price setting mechanisms, and does not impose a particular market structure or demand functional form. Exploiting rich data on producer prices and the network structure of production in Belgium, we estimate the model to evaluate the importance of both channels in the data. We find that, on average, input price pass-through is incomplete and very much below one, while firms also strongly react to other prices in their environment. This implies that firms can adjust their markups in response to both cost shocks and prices of other firms. Furthermore, firms react differently to common shocks than to idiosyncratic shocks, on average completely passing through common shocks, but much less idiosyncratic shocks |
| Keywords: | Pricing, production networks, pass-through, variable markups |
| JEL: | D21 L14 L16 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201810-352&r=all |
| By: | Andrew B. Bernard; Emmanuel Dhyne; Glenn Magerman; Kalina Manova; Andreas Moxnes |
| Abstract: | This paper quantifies the origins of firm size heterogeneity when firms are interconnected in a production network. Using the universe of buyer-supplier relationships in Belgium, the paper develops a set of stylized facts that motivate a model in which firms buy inputs from upstream suppliers and sell to downstream buyers and final demand. Larger firm size can come from high production capability, more or better buyers and suppliers, and/or better matches between buyers and suppliers. Downstream factors explain the vast majority of firm size heterogeneity. Firms with higher production capability have greater market shares among their customers, but also higher input costs and fewer customers. As a result, high production capability firms have lower sales unconditionally and higher sales conditional on their input prices. Counterfactual analysis suggests that the production network accounts for more than half of firm size dispersion. Taken together, our results suggest that multiple firm attributes underpin their success or failure, and that models with only one source of firm heterogeneity fail to capture the majority of firm size dispersion. |
| Keywords: | Production networks, productivity, firm size heterogeneity. |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/280869&r=all |