Journal of Population Economics最新文献

This study aims to analyze the effect of prenatal exposure to certain nutritional disruptions in utero on human capital formation. In order to resolve the endogeneity driven by maternal dietary deficiencies, we use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which observers abstain from eating and drinking entirely from sunrise to sunset, as a natural experiment to assess the effects of fetal malnourishment on educational and labor market outcomes. We compare schooling and employment measures of individuals who are prenatally exposed to Ramadan with those who are not using the 2016 round of the Turkish Family Structure Survey dataset. Our results indicate that men who are exposed to Ramadan in utero in the first or third trimester complete 0.53 fewer years of schooling and are less likely to obtain middle school, high school, and college degrees. These effects are stronger when Ramadan coincides with summer.

We examine the labour market impacts of the largest livelihoods programs in the world, India’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). A key aspect of this program is to mobilize rural women into self-help groups (SHGs). We combine administrative data on SHG membership across districts in India with survey micro-data on labour force and employment outcomes of rural women between 2011 and 2019. Using a generalized difference-in-differences approach, we find that SHG membership is positively associated with labour force participation and employment of rural women. We also find evidence that SHG membership is associated with a shift towards self-employment and a crowd-out of casual work among the employed. Our supplementary analysis based on large primary survey data from Maharashtra allows us to examine the relationship between SHG membership and economic activity at the individual level. The results confirm our main result of a positive association between SHG membership and economic activity. Further, we show that longer duration of SHG membership is associated with higher participation rates.

Existing literature shows that a ban on child labour may be self-enforcing under the extreme assumption that, above the subsistence level, no amount of consumption can compensate parents for the disutility of child labour. The present paper shows that a partial ban may be self-enforcing also in a more general model where education is an alternative to work, and the disutility of child labour can be compensated by higher present consumption or future income, but a total ban may not. It also shows that, in the absence of informational asymmetries, child labour can be eliminated and a first best achieved if the ban is combined with a credit-backed policy including a subsidy to parents, and a tax on skilled adults. A first best is out of reach if the use children make of their time when they are neither at school, nor working in the labour market is private information, because the policy maker then faces an incentive-compatibility constraint. The second-best policy reduces child labour, but not to zero.

I propose a model of cultural assimilation with endogenous social networks and idiosyncratic assimilation patterns that is consistent with the empirical evidence for Europe. The model implies that assimilation is weaker in pluralistic or more culturally heterogeneous societies, and stronger in socially denser societies, but it is not influenced by the minority share. Social segregation for the minority increases with social density, with the minority share, and with the initial average cultural distance between the majority and the minority.

I demonstrate that the profound change in working from home (WFH) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is concentrated among individuals with college degrees. Relative to 2015–2019, the number of minutes worked from home on “post-pandemic” (August 2021–December 2022) weekdays increased by 78 min for college graduates; for non-graduates, the increase was 22 min. The share of work done at home (for those who worked at all) increased by 22% for graduates and 7% for non-graduates. I examine how time-use patterns change for college graduates relative to non-graduates over the same period. Average minutes worked changed little for either group. Daily time spent traveling (e.g., commuting) fell by 21 min for college graduates and 6 min for non-graduates. College graduates experience a relative shift from eating out to eating at home, an increase in free time, and an increase in time spent with children, with the latter effect concentrated among fathers. Thus, while the gender gap in childcare among college graduates may be diminished by the WFH revolution, gaps in children’s outcomes by parents’ college attainment may be exacerbated by it.

This study identifies obesity as an important channel through which global warming affects human capital. By analyzing plausibly exogenous year-to-year temperature fluctuations in 152 countries from 1975 to 2016, we find that global warming has significantly increased obesity rates in countries located in temperate zones, while only causing a reduction in a small number of tropical countries. The estimates suggest that a 1 (^{circ })C increase in the annual mean temperature would result in a worldwide increase in obese adults of 79.7 million, or 12.3%. Similar patterns emerge when examining the effects of temperature bins, seasonal mean temperature, temperature variations, and temperature shocks. Furthermore, we identify substantial heterogeneity in the impact across countries with varying income levels, age structures, and education levels. Finally, by comparing the baseline model with a long-difference model, we demonstrate that long-term adaptation may not significantly mitigate the impact of global warming on obesity in temperate zones.

In this paper, we examine how religious mandates of the holy month of Ramadan affect the gendered distribution of time use within Muslim households in India. Using rich data on time use from a nationally representative time use survey and employing a difference-in-differences methodology, we test if Ramadan accentuates gender differences in time use. We find that, contrary to popular belief, Ramadan moderates the gender disparities in intra-household time use for Muslim households. The moderating influence is stronger in districts with a higher Muslim proportion. We find that the reduction in gender differences is due to declines in gender-specific time use in employment, learning activities, domestic work and self-care. Reduction in domestic work time for women, especially food preparation time, is more pronounced in districts with a high Muslim proportion, suggesting ‘communalisation of domestic work’ due to Ramadan.

This paper investigates the impact of social media interest and sentiment surrounding the 2020 National Basketball Association’s involvement with the Black Lives Matter movement on the television audience in the United States. Twitter (now known as X) serves as the chosen social media platform, and we determine the sentiment expressed in tweets (messages posted on Twitter) using the XLM-RoBERTa deep language model. Our primary findings indicate that the quantity of users’ posts does not significantly influence TV viewership; instead, the tone of the messages plays a crucial role. Positive messages supporting the NBA’s engagement correlate with an increase in the number of viewers, while those expressing opposition do not. We argue that this asymmetry may stem from a positive elasticity among casual (non-habitual) NBA viewers concerning positive sentiments toward NBA involvement. These viewers are likely to align with the NBA’s stances on civil rights and BLM. In contrast, the core NBA fan base exhibits inelastic demand and is unlikely to cease watching NBA games. A comprehensive set of robustness checks reinforces the validity of our key conclusions.