This paper analyzes the effects of maternal and nonparental time on a child’s cognitive development. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate a model that allows the mother’s time productivity to depend on her education level and that distinguishes between formal and informal care. The results show that childcare time of high-educated mothers is more productive than that of low-educated mothers and that of nonparental care. The simulation of policies subsidizing mothers’ wages or regulating the nonparental care market indicates that children with low-educated mothers benefit more from replacing maternal time with nonparental time.
{"title":"Mother’s Time Allocation, Childcare, and Child Cognitive Development","authors":"Ylenia Brilli","doi":"10.1086/719732","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/719732","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyzes the effects of maternal and nonparental time on a child’s cognitive development. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate a model that allows the mother’s time productivity to depend on her education level and that distinguishes between formal and informal care. The results show that childcare time of high-educated mothers is more productive than that of low-educated mothers and that of nonparental care. The simulation of policies subsidizing mothers’ wages or regulating the nonparental care market indicates that children with low-educated mothers benefit more from replacing maternal time with nonparental time.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"16 1","pages":"233 - 272"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47841191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The role of education and race in explaining disparities in health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) for Americans aged 45–64 is examined. We compute severity-weighted prevalence of diseases with comorbidity adjustments and map the information onto 21 disabling conditions from the Health and Retirement Study over 2000–2016. The approach allows us to evaluate the importance of major disease and risk factors that explain the dynamics of life expectancy and HALE in recent years, finding that Americans have been experiencing a higher prevalence of various diseases and risk factors long before the recent decline in life expectancy in 2014.
{"title":"American Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy at Midlife: An Analysis Based on the Health and Retirement Study","authors":"Jihye Kim, K. Lahiri","doi":"10.1086/717545","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717545","url":null,"abstract":"The role of education and race in explaining disparities in health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) for Americans aged 45–64 is examined. We compute severity-weighted prevalence of diseases with comorbidity adjustments and map the information onto 21 disabling conditions from the Health and Retirement Study over 2000–2016. The approach allows us to evaluate the importance of major disease and risk factors that explain the dynamics of life expectancy and HALE in recent years, finding that Americans have been experiencing a higher prevalence of various diseases and risk factors long before the recent decline in life expectancy in 2014.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"16 1","pages":"1 - 46"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60724758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeffrey C. Yu, B. Tysinger, Andrea Piano Mortari, F. Belotti, Martha Ryan, V. Atella, D. Goldman
Since the 1950s, life expectancy in Europe and the United States has improved at a steady pace, driven mostly by gains at older ages. However, these lives are punctuated by more chronic disease than ever before, contributing to substantial morbidity and disability. Using the Future Elderly Model, we simulate longevity and disability over the remaining lifetime for cohorts of older Europeans and Americans. We see that investment in both treatment and prevention for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease show tremendous promise for breaking Europe and the United States out of the expensive equilibrium we now find ourselves in as a result of demographic gains.
{"title":"The Returns to Preventing Chronic Disease in Europe and the United States","authors":"Jeffrey C. Yu, B. Tysinger, Andrea Piano Mortari, F. Belotti, Martha Ryan, V. Atella, D. Goldman","doi":"10.1086/718513","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718513","url":null,"abstract":"Since the 1950s, life expectancy in Europe and the United States has improved at a steady pace, driven mostly by gains at older ages. However, these lives are punctuated by more chronic disease than ever before, contributing to substantial morbidity and disability. Using the Future Elderly Model, we simulate longevity and disability over the remaining lifetime for cohorts of older Europeans and Americans. We see that investment in both treatment and prevention for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease show tremendous promise for breaking Europe and the United States out of the expensive equilibrium we now find ourselves in as a result of demographic gains.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"16 1","pages":"157 - 182"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44575402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gains in life expectancy have recently slowed, and mortality inequalities have increased. This paper examines whether trends in health observed at ages 55–89 mirror those trends in mortality, which may serve as an early indicator for the future evolution of mortality. We found that many health outcomes have worsened from 1992 to 2016, especially at ages below 70, and that differentials in health between low- and high-educated groups have increased among the more recent cohorts. Overall, the findings cast a pessimistic light on the future evolution of mortality rates and mortality inequalities.
{"title":"Trends in Health in Midlife and Late Life","authors":"Péter Hudomiet, M. Hurd, S. Rohwedder","doi":"10.1086/717542","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717542","url":null,"abstract":"Gains in life expectancy have recently slowed, and mortality inequalities have increased. This paper examines whether trends in health observed at ages 55–89 mirror those trends in mortality, which may serve as an early indicator for the future evolution of mortality. We found that many health outcomes have worsened from 1992 to 2016, especially at ages below 70, and that differentials in health between low- and high-educated groups have increased among the more recent cohorts. Overall, the findings cast a pessimistic light on the future evolution of mortality rates and mortality inequalities.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"16 1","pages":"133 - 156"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47843178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent increases in mortality are at the forefront of the public health debate in the United States. This paper takes a comparative international perspective and documents the poor relative performance of life expectancy in the United States. We characterize its age and cause of death profiles over time and estimate its welfare implications. We show that this poor performance is not recent, not restricted to very particular causes of death, but mostly driven by adults and older ages. We calculate that recent welfare gains could have been 19%–28% higher had the United States been able to reproduce the life expectancy performance of the average member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
{"title":"American Delusion: Life Expectancy and Welfare in the United States from an International Perspective","authors":"Rodrigo R. Soares, Rudi Rocha, Michel Szklo","doi":"10.1086/717543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717543","url":null,"abstract":"Recent increases in mortality are at the forefront of the public health debate in the United States. This paper takes a comparative international perspective and documents the poor relative performance of life expectancy in the United States. We characterize its age and cause of death profiles over time and estimate its welfare implications. We show that this poor performance is not recent, not restricted to very particular causes of death, but mostly driven by adults and older ages. We calculate that recent welfare gains could have been 19%–28% higher had the United States been able to reproduce the life expectancy performance of the average member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"16 1","pages":"73 - 132"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45504272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study investigates the causal effect of human capital on entrepreneurship. We use China’s higher-education expansion in 1999 as an exogenous shock to conduct difference-in-differences estimation and find that human capital enhances entrepreneurship significantly. Our results are robust to different specifications and measures. We provide supportive evidence based on two alternative natural experiments: China’s university relocation (1952) and the restart of the college entrance exam (1977). Plausible mechanisms that drive our results are resource acquisition, opportunity identification, and decrease in labor cost. We also find that institutional quality, trust, and financing conditions significantly strengthen our findings.
{"title":"Human Capital and Entrepreneurship","authors":"N. Qin, Dongmin Kong","doi":"10.1086/716344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716344","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the causal effect of human capital on entrepreneurship. We use China’s higher-education expansion in 1999 as an exogenous shock to conduct difference-in-differences estimation and find that human capital enhances entrepreneurship significantly. Our results are robust to different specifications and measures. We provide supportive evidence based on two alternative natural experiments: China’s university relocation (1952) and the restart of the college entrance exam (1977). Plausible mechanisms that drive our results are resource acquisition, opportunity identification, and decrease in labor cost. We also find that institutional quality, trust, and financing conditions significantly strengthen our findings.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"15 1","pages":"513 - 553"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45457780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We study a unique reform in an Indian state that increased penalties for cheating on public exams required for high school graduation. This led to a massive decline in percentages of students graduating high school. Average wages for those subject to the reform and also the premium for the students graduating have increased over the next decade or so. We interpret the reform as reducing the cost of signaling high ability by obtaining a diploma, thereby potentially leading to a shift from a pooling to a separating equilibrium.
{"title":"Long-Term Labor Market Consequences of Costly Signaling: Evidence from a Natural Experiment","authors":"Somdeep Chatterjee, Jai Kamal","doi":"10.1086/716345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716345","url":null,"abstract":"We study a unique reform in an Indian state that increased penalties for cheating on public exams required for high school graduation. This led to a massive decline in percentages of students graduating high school. Average wages for those subject to the reform and also the premium for the students graduating have increased over the next decade or so. We interpret the reform as reducing the cost of signaling high ability by obtaining a diploma, thereby potentially leading to a shift from a pooling to a separating equilibrium.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"15 1","pages":"596 - 628"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48269220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We estimate the returns to college by school type using data from the Italian Participation Labor and Unemployment Survey. We find that returns are lower for vocational than for academic high school graduates in terms of employment probability (−4%), hourly wages (−3.1%), and the probability of finding the first job less than 1 year after graduation (−9.2%). The wage penalty associated with high school vocational education is lower when we consider college majors such as engineering and economics and business, for which the complementarity with the vocational skills developed in high school is presumably higher.
{"title":"The Pathways to College","authors":"Lisha Agarwal, G. Brunello, L. Rocco","doi":"10.1086/716343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716343","url":null,"abstract":"We estimate the returns to college by school type using data from the Italian Participation Labor and Unemployment Survey. We find that returns are lower for vocational than for academic high school graduates in terms of employment probability (−4%), hourly wages (−3.1%), and the probability of finding the first job less than 1 year after graduation (−9.2%). The wage penalty associated with high school vocational education is lower when we consider college majors such as engineering and economics and business, for which the complementarity with the vocational skills developed in high school is presumably higher.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"15 1","pages":"554 - 595"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42056590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We investigate the marked gender imbalance across subfields in economics and connect it with the relative scarcity of female students enrolling in economics. First, tracking authorship in the American Economic Association annual meetings, we find sharp gender imbalances across areas of research. When does this imbalance start? Using administrative data, we find gender differences in academic performance across subfields emerging as early as the undergraduate level. Finally, survey data reveal students’ gendered preferences that help explain our findings. These gender biases in terms of visibility, performance, and preferences across subfields provide a potentially relevant explanation for the overall gender imbalance in economics.
{"title":"Gender Imbalance across Subfields in Economics: When Does It Start?","authors":"P. Beneito, J. E. Boscá, J. Ferri, Manu García","doi":"10.1086/715581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715581","url":null,"abstract":"We investigate the marked gender imbalance across subfields in economics and connect it with the relative scarcity of female students enrolling in economics. First, tracking authorship in the American Economic Association annual meetings, we find sharp gender imbalances across areas of research. When does this imbalance start? Using administrative data, we find gender differences in academic performance across subfields emerging as early as the undergraduate level. Finally, survey data reveal students’ gendered preferences that help explain our findings. These gender biases in terms of visibility, performance, and preferences across subfields provide a potentially relevant explanation for the overall gender imbalance in economics.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"15 1","pages":"469 - 511"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44561663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This work evaluates to what extent the time required by students to graduate depends on labor market opportunities. Identification is achieved using a quasi-experimental setup grounded on a policy reform in Italy that eased labor market access for pharmacy graduates. The impact of the reform on the speed to graduation is investigated with a regression kink design on panel data covering the academic careers of several cohorts of graduates from a large public university. The deregulation reduced graduation time by about 8.65%. If students' entire academic careers had gone at the speed they had after the deregulation, their average duration of studies would have been about 7 months shorter.
{"title":"It’s Time to Degree! The Impact of Reducing Barriers to Entry into Professions on Late Graduation: The Case of Pharmacists","authors":"Patrizia Ordine, Giuseppe Rose, Mattia Fasano","doi":"10.1086/713406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/713406","url":null,"abstract":"This work evaluates to what extent the time required by students to graduate depends on labor market opportunities. Identification is achieved using a quasi-experimental setup grounded on a policy reform in Italy that eased labor market access for pharmacy graduates. The impact of the reform on the speed to graduation is investigated with a regression kink design on panel data covering the academic careers of several cohorts of graduates from a large public university. The deregulation reduced graduation time by about 8.65%. If students' entire academic careers had gone at the speed they had after the deregulation, their average duration of studies would have been about 7 months shorter.","PeriodicalId":46011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Capital","volume":"15 1","pages":"237 - 268"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1086/713406","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41504487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}