Books or Babies – GLO Discussion Paper of the Month and all GLO papers accessible

Posted on March 5, 2020 by admin

The GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of February finds that raising the school leaving age can be effective in reducing the incidence of teenage pregnancy among socially excluded women, even if it does not affect the general population. An important policy implication is the potentially heterogeneous impact of educational interventions across different ethnic groups.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS, EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs downloadable for free.

GLO Discussion Paper of the Month: February

GLO Discussion Paper No. 474, 2020

Books or babies? The incapacitation effect of schooling on minority women – Download PDF
by Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Scharle, Ágota

GLO Fellow  Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna

Author Abstract:   This paper examines the effects of an increase in the compulsory school leaving age on the teenage fertility of Roma women, a disadvantaged ethnic minority in Hungary. We use a regression discontinuity design identification strategy and show that the reform decreased the probability of teenage motherhood among Roma women by 13.4-26.0% and delayed motherhood by two years. We separate the incapacitation and human capital effects of education on fertility by exploiting a database that covers live births, miscarriages, abortions and still births, and contains information on the time of conception precise to the week. We find that longer schooling decreases the probability of getting pregnant during the school year but not during summer and Christmas breaks, which suggests that the estimated effects are generated mostly through the incapacitation channel.

GLO Discussion Papers of February 2020

479 Incentive Pay and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China – Download PDF
by Jin, Zhangfeng & Pan, Shiyuan

478 Switching from an inclining to a zero-level unemployment benefit profile: Good for work incentives? – Download PDF
by Cockx, Bart & Declercq, Koen & Dejemeppe, Muriel & Inga, Leda & Van der Linden, Bruno

477 Resilience Strategies for Mismatched Workers: Microeconomic Evidence from Egypt – Download PDF
by Syed Zwick, Hélène

476 Sex Ratio and Global Sodomy Law Reform in the Post-WWII Era – Download PDF
by Chang, Simon

475 The Impact of Air Pollution on Attributable Risks and Economic Costs of Hospitalization for Mental Disorders – Download PDF
by Wu, Ziting & Chen, Xi & Li, Guoxing & Tian, Lin & Wang, Zhan & Xiong, Xiuqin & Yang, Chuan & Zhou, Zijun & Pan, Xiaochuan

474 Books or babies? The incapacitation effect of schooling on minority women – Download PDF
by Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Scharle, Ágota

473 Teacher Labor Markets in Developing Countries – Download PDF
by Crawfurd, Lee & Pugatch, Todd

472 Women’s optimism, the gender happiness equaliser: a case of South Africa – Download PDF
by Greyling, Talita & Fisher, Bianca

471 Robots and the origin of their labour-saving impact – Download PDF
by Montobbio, Fabio & Staccioli, Jacopo & Virgillito, Maria Enrica & Vivarelli, Marco

470 Ethnic Attrition, Assimilation, and the Measured Health Outcomes of Mexican Americans – Download PDF
by  Antman, Francisca M. & Duncan, Brian & Trejo, Stephen J.

469 Inflated Expectations and Commodity Prices: Evidence from Kazakhstan – Download PDF
by  Girard, Victoire & Kudebayeva, Alma & Toews, Gerhard

468 Which Model for Poverty Predictions? – Download PDF
by Verme, Paolo

467 Affirmative Action and Intersectionality at the Top: Evidence from South Africa – Download PDF
by Klasen, Stephan & Minasyan, Anna

466 Innovation Strategies and Productivity Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Pakistan – Download PDF
by Wadho, Waqar & Chaudhry, Azam

465 Educational mismatches, technological change and unemployment: evidence from secondary and tertiary educated workers –  Download PDF
by Esposito, Piero & Scicchitano, Sergio

464 Reducing the income tax burden for households with children: An assessment of the child tax credit reform in Austria –  Download PDF
by Christl, Michael & De Poli, Silvia & Varga, Janos

463 The Retirement Migration Puzzle in China –  Download PDF
by Chen, Simiao & Jin, Zhangfeng & Prettner, Klaus

462 Rising longevity, increasing the retirement age, and the consequences for knowledge-based long-run growth –  Download PDF
by Kuhn, Michael & Prettner, Klaus

461 Exports and long-run growth: The case of Spain, 1850-2017 –  Download PDF
by Bajo-Rubio, Oscar

460 Weathering the storm: Weather shocks and international migrants from the Philippines –  Download PDF
by Pajaron, Marjorie C. & Vasquez, Glacer Niño A.

GLO DP Team
Senior Editors: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent) & GLO; Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and Bonn University).
Managing Editor: Magdalena Ulceluse, University of Groningen. DP@glabor.org  

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Risk sharing, siblings, and household equity. Paper published in the April 2020 issue of the Journal of Population Economics.

Posted on March 4, 2020 by admin

Journal of Population Economics (2020) 33: 461–482. In China, social networks play an important role in risk sharing. The paper shows that the main channel through which siblings affect household investment is risk sharing.

Risk sharing, siblings, and household equity investment: Evidence from urban China — by Xiaoyu Wu & Jianmei Zhao

New issue published – Link to all articles

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Leadership delegation in rotten kid families. A contribution to the debate on parenting styles.

Posted on March 3, 2020 by admin

Journal of Population Economics (2020) 33: 441-460. The paper shows that the optimality of authority (leadership) delegation for the sequential-action game played by rotten kids and a parent depends crucially on the degree of heterogeneity in the kids’ preferences. The findings contribute to the debate about the social desirability of the authoritative parenting style.

Leadership delegation in rotten kid families — by João Ricardo Faria, Emilson Caputo & Delfino Silva

New issue published – Link to all articles

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Birth order and unwanted fertility. Paper published in the April 2020 issue of the Journal of Population Economics.

Posted on March 2, 2020 by admin

Journal of Population Economics (2020) 33: 413-440. The paper documents that children higher in the birth order are much more likely to be unwanted, and this is associated with negative life cycle outcomes.

Birth order and unwanted fertility — by Wanchuan Lin, Juan Pantano, Shuqiao Sun

New issue published – Link to all articles

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Patent protection has contrasting effects on economic growth at different stages of development.

Posted on March 1, 2020 by admin

Journal of Population Economics (2020) 33: 395–411. The lead paper in the April 2020 issue of the journal provides a growth-theoretic analysis of the effects of intellectual property rights on the take-off of an economy from an era of stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth. Strengthening patent protection leads to an earlier take-off but also reduces economic growth in the long run.

Effects of patents on the transition from stagnation to growth

by Angus C. Chu, Zonglai Kou & Xilin Wang

LINK to OPEN ACCESS

New issue published – Link to all articles

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Transition to work policy reform for youngsters in Belgium.

Posted on February 29, 2020 by admin

A new GLO Discussion Paper evaluates the impact of a policy reform in Belgium on the transition to work of young labor market entrants with little experiences: Only short-term effects.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 478, 2020

Switching from an inclining to a zero-level unemployment benefit profile: Good for work incentives? – Download PDF
by Cockx, Bart & Declercq, Koen & Dejemeppe, Muriel & Inga, Leda & Van der Linden, Bruno

GLO Fellow Muriel Dejemeppe

Author Abstract: This paper evaluates the impact on the transition to work of a policy reform in Belgium that restricted the access to a specific unemployment insurance scheme for young labor market entrants. This scheme entitles youths with no or little labor market experience to unemployment benefits after a waiting period of one year. As of 2015, the Belgian government unexpectedly scrapped benefit eligibility for youths who start the waiting period at the age of 24 or older. The reform implied a change from an inclining to a flat rate (zero-level) benefit profile. We use a difference-in-differences approach to identify the causal impact of this reform on fresh university graduates. Our main finding is that this reform only increases the transition to very short-lived jobs.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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On-the-job resilience strategies of mismatched workers in Egypt.

Posted on February 28, 2020 by admin

A new GLO Discussion Paper attempts to identify and discuss the on-the-job resilience strategies of mismatched workers in Egypt.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 477, 2020

Resilience Strategies for Mismatched Workers: Microeconomic Evidence from Egypt – Download PDF
by Syed Zwick, Hélène

GLO Fellow Hélène Syed Zwick

Author Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the on-the-job resilience strategies of mismatched workers. We empirically focus on Egyptian workers. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study relies on a primary micro-data collection based on design and implementation of a self-administered questionnaire survey and on the conduction of a series of semi-structured interviews. Findings – The results are fourfold: first, the combination of over-qualification and under-skilling is the most frequent in our sample; second, resilience strategies adopted by over-skilled workers mainly depend on mobility and entry to entrepreneurship; third, under-skilled workers do not enter entrepreneurship, but tend to rely on informal on-the-job learning and training opportunities. Fourth, religion and spirituality play a transversal role to cope with adversity for all of our interviewed workers. Originality/value – This study is unique as it draws our attention on factors of resilience for mismatched workers in a developing country, Egypt.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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Names and behavior in a war: Research on intergenerational transmission of nationalism.

Posted on February 27, 2020 by admin

In GLO Discussion Paper No. 450, GLO Fellows Stepan Jurajda and Dejan Kovač have recently provided research evidence revealing that given first names of leaders from World War II can predict behavior in the 1991-1995 Croatian war of independence and beyond in society including voting. It provides hard evidence for intergenerational transmission of nationalism. This research work has found already much interest in the scientific community and beyond. It was reviewed by anonymous referees of the Journal of Population Economics and finally accepted for a forthcoming publication in a 2020 journal issue. Below, the authors are interviewed about the background and context of this research.

Stepan Jurajda & Dejan Kovač: Names and Behavior in a War, GLO Discussion Paper 450, 2020. Forthcoming Journal of Population Economics.

Interview

GLO: Scientists across various disciplines have found in recent studies that names of individuals reflect important information about norms, preferences and behavior. What is your innovative approach?

Stepan Jurajda: Our analysis implies that having a ‘nationalist’ first name, one that is synonymous with previous war leader(s), predicts costly patriotic behavior in a current war, presumably due to values transmitted from parents. In our analysis, name choices thus act as an indirect proxy for a strong form of nationalism — the willingness to fight and die in a war for national independence.

Dejan Kovač: Such values are in principle difficult to elicit in surveys, which, together with the war context, sets our analysis apart from other research based on names.

GLO: Other researchers show that history, culture and personal experiences long time ago have a strong impact on current behavior. How does this contribute to our understanding of challenging issues of our time?

Dejan Kovač: Our study of the active engagement in the delivery of an extremely costly public good suggests that the living memory of a previous war allows nations to deal with the collective action problem of participation in a current war.

Stepan Jurajda: We also provide evidence on the nature of inter-generational transmission of political values, an issue that is receiving more and more attention in recent research.

GLO: How did you come to this topic of research, names and behavior in a war?

Dejan Kovač: We were aware of previous research on how names affect individual outcomes on the labor market and in many other settings, and we were wondering whether this strategy can help us understand the massive volunteering for the 1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence. After realizing that indeed it can, we also studied how the values we approximate using name choices relate to current political values in the country.

GLO: What can the world learn from your study?

Stepan Jurajda: Our measurement approach for values that are difficult to elicit in surveys and for values that affected historical events is applicable in other countries that feature a sharply divided ethnic mix and in settings where leaders’ names are notoriously associated with their political beliefs. Given the widespread availability of birth certificate records, the approach is available in many historical settings and it naturally lends itself to the study of inter-generational transmission of values within families, which can help us understand why the effects that wars have on political values and on in-group cooperative behavior are so long-lived.

GLO: Dejan, the paper raised a lot of controversy during your recent campaign for President, why?

Dejan Kovač: Unfortunately, in Croatia we have not yet dealt with many important historical debates and there is still a great division today in the society related to the WWII Croatian history. In fact, one of the reasons of my candidacy was to promote not only civic freedoms, but also scientific freedoms to explore “untested” hypotheses. I would say the paper was used to misinform the general public in order to discredit my political candidacy. The paper does not claim that the values related to the names we study are the same as the values of the WWII leadership of Croatia; we simply have a proxy for nationalistic/patriotic values as of 1991-1995 that allows us to study several important questions. The attacks did not relate to the methodology and made little scientific sense; they were purely political and came from individuals who are politically active, either on the far right or the far left part of the political spectrum. Since some of my other research is on political networks and corruption, I guess I should not be surprised to be attacked through misrepresentation of my work. My agenda is purely scientific and I am a firm believer in a well functioning democracy, where we have institutions, which battle corruption. That being said – the research as well as my political activism mission goes on!
(Note: See also the recent GLO interview with Dejan Kovač about his Presidential Race in Croatia.)

***
With Stepan Jurajda & Dejan Kovač spoke Klaus F. Zimmermann, GLO President.

About the authors

Stepan Jurajda: CERGE-EI; Professor at Charles University Prague and Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
Dejan Kovač: Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs and Economics Department at Princeton University.

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Population sex ratio and global sodomy law reform

Posted on February 27, 2020 by admin

A new GLO Discussion Paper studies the role of the population sex ratio, the ratio of men to women, in global sodomy law reform in the post-WWII era. A high sex ratio makes sodomy law less likely to be repealed.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 476, 2020

Sex Ratio and Global Sodomy Law Reform in the Post-WWII Era – Download PDF
by Chang, Simon

GLO Fellow Simon Chang

Author Abstract: This paper studies the role of population sex ratio, i.e. ratio of men to women, in the global wave of sodomy law reform in the post-WWII era. Using a global survey, this paper first finds that men are more homophobic than women and such pattern has persisted across countries and time. With a newly constructed panel data of 183 countries, this paper then finds that high sex ratio causally makes sodomy law less likely to be repealed. The result is robust to numerous checks, including using temperature as an instrumental variable for sex ratio.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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Air Pollution, Morbidity and Mental Disorders in China

Posted on February 26, 2020 by admin

A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that air pollution accounts for substantial morbidity and economic burden of mental disorders in China.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 475, 2020

The Impact of Air Pollution on Attributable Risks and Economic Costs of Hospitalization for Mental Disorders – Download PDF
by Wu, Ziting & Chen, Xi & Li, Guoxing & Tian, Lin & Wang, Zhan & Xiong, Xiuqin & Yang, Chuan & Zhou, Zijun & Pan, Xiaochuan

GLO Fellow Xi Chen

Author Abstract: This study aims to fill the gap in our understanding about exposure to particulate matters with diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and attributable risks and economic costs of mental disorders (MDs). We identify the relationship between PM2.5 and risk of hospital admissions (HAs) for MDs in Beijing and measure the attributable risk and economic cost. We apply a generalized additive model (GAM) with controls for time trend, meteorological conditions, holidays and day of the week. Stratified analyses are performed by age, gender and season. We further estimate health and economic burden of HAs for MDs attributable to PM2.5. A total of 17,252 HAs for MDs are collected. We show that PM2.5 accounts for substantial morbidity and economic burden of MDs. Specifically, a 10 μg/m3 daily increase in PM2.5 is associated with a 3.55% increase in the risk of HAs for MDs, and the effect is more pronounced for older males in colder weather. According to the WHO’s air quality guidelines, 15.12 percent of HAs and 16.19 percent of related medical expenses for MDs are respectively attributable to PM2.5.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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