We study intergenerational mobility in India. We propose a new measure of upward mobility: the expected education rank of a child born to parents in the bottom half of the education distribution. This measure works well under data constraints common in developing countries and historical contexts. Intergenerational mobility in India has been constant and low since before liberalization. Among sons, we observe rising mobility for Scheduled Castes and declining mobility among Muslims. Daughters’ intergenerational mobility is lower than sons’, with less cross-group variation over time. A natural experiment suggests that affirmative action for Scheduled Castes has substantially improved their mobility. (JEL I24, J13, J15, J16, J62, O12, Z12)
{"title":"Intergenerational Mobility in India: New Measures and Estimates across Time and Social Groups","authors":"S. Asher, P. Novosad, Charlie Rafkin","doi":"10.1257/app.20210686","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20210686","url":null,"abstract":"We study intergenerational mobility in India. We propose a new measure of upward mobility: the expected education rank of a child born to parents in the bottom half of the education distribution. This measure works well under data constraints common in developing countries and historical contexts. Intergenerational mobility in India has been constant and low since before liberalization. Among sons, we observe rising mobility for Scheduled Castes and declining mobility among Muslims. Daughters’ intergenerational mobility is lower than sons’, with less cross-group variation over time. A natural experiment suggests that affirmative action for Scheduled Castes has substantially improved their mobility. (JEL I24, J13, J15, J16, J62, O12, Z12)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"772 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140757370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert A. Manduca, Maximilian Hell, Adrian Adermon, J. Blanden, E. Bratberg, A. C. Gielen, Hans van Kippersluis, Keunbok Lee, Stephen Machin, Martin D. Munk, Martin Nybom, Yuri Ostrovsky, Sumaiya Rahman, Outi Sirniö
We use linked parent–child administrative data for five countries in North America and Europe, as well as detailed survey data for two more, to investigate methodological challenges in the estimation of absolute income mobility. We show that the commonly used “copula and marginals” approximation methods perform well across countries in our sample, and the greatest challenges to their accuracy stem not from assumptions about relative mobility rates over time but from the use of nonrepresentative marginal income distributions. We also provide a multicountry analysis of sensitivity to specification decisions related to age of income measurement, income concept, family structure, and price index. (JEL D31, G51, I31, J12, J31, J62)
{"title":"Measuring Absolute Income Mobility: Lessons from North America and Europe","authors":"Robert A. Manduca, Maximilian Hell, Adrian Adermon, J. Blanden, E. Bratberg, A. C. Gielen, Hans van Kippersluis, Keunbok Lee, Stephen Machin, Martin D. Munk, Martin Nybom, Yuri Ostrovsky, Sumaiya Rahman, Outi Sirniö","doi":"10.1257/app.20210137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20210137","url":null,"abstract":"We use linked parent–child administrative data for five countries in North America and Europe, as well as detailed survey data for two more, to investigate methodological challenges in the estimation of absolute income mobility. We show that the commonly used “copula and marginals” approximation methods perform well across countries in our sample, and the greatest challenges to their accuracy stem not from assumptions about relative mobility rates over time but from the use of nonrepresentative marginal income distributions. We also provide a multicountry analysis of sensitivity to specification decisions related to age of income measurement, income concept, family structure, and price index. (JEL D31, G51, I31, J12, J31, J62)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"598 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140780006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antoine Bozio, Bertrand Garbinti, Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, M. Guillot, Thomas Piketty
We construct series of posttax income for France over the 1900–2018 period and compare them with US series. We quantify the extent of redistribution—the reduction from pretax to posttax inequality—and estimate the contribution of redistribution in explaining differences in posttax inequality. We find that differences in pretax inequality drive most of the differences in posttax inequality between France and the United States, and that changes over time in both countries are mostly due to changes in pretax inequality. We highlight that the concept of redistribution can be empirically misleading for judging how policies reduce inequalities. (JEL D31, H23, H24, H31, I38)
{"title":"Predistribution versus Redistribution: Evidence from France and the United States","authors":"Antoine Bozio, Bertrand Garbinti, Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, M. Guillot, Thomas Piketty","doi":"10.1257/app.20220023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20220023","url":null,"abstract":"We construct series of posttax income for France over the 1900–2018 period and compare them with US series. We quantify the extent of redistribution—the reduction from pretax to posttax inequality—and estimate the contribution of redistribution in explaining differences in posttax inequality. We find that differences in pretax inequality drive most of the differences in posttax inequality between France and the United States, and that changes over time in both countries are mostly due to changes in pretax inequality. We highlight that the concept of redistribution can be empirically misleading for judging how policies reduce inequalities. (JEL D31, H23, H24, H31, I38)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"614 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140776883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marianna Belloc, Francesco Drago, Mattia Fochesato, R. Galbiati
By using hand-collected data on households’ wealth assessments, we study multigenerational mobility in Florence during the late Middle Ages. We find that Florentine society was more mobile than one would expect but also that multigenerational mobility was lower than implied by two-generation estimates. We reconcile these findings by showing their consistency with a model where wealth transmission is governed by an unobserved latent factor. We also show that, given our estimates, this model is compatible with the long run persistence obtained by previous studies. Finally, we find that participation in marriage networks and politics correlates with persistence of economic status across generations. (JEL D31, G51, J12, J62, N33)
{"title":"Multigenerational Transmission of Wealth: Florence, 1403–1480","authors":"Marianna Belloc, Francesco Drago, Mattia Fochesato, R. Galbiati","doi":"10.1257/app.20220137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20220137","url":null,"abstract":"By using hand-collected data on households’ wealth assessments, we study multigenerational mobility in Florence during the late Middle Ages. We find that Florentine society was more mobile than one would expect but also that multigenerational mobility was lower than implied by two-generation estimates. We reconcile these findings by showing their consistency with a model where wealth transmission is governed by an unobserved latent factor. We also show that, given our estimates, this model is compatible with the long run persistence obtained by previous studies. Finally, we find that participation in marriage networks and politics correlates with persistence of economic status across generations. (JEL D31, G51, J12, J62, N33)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"249 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140782937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael Vlassopoulos, A. Siddique, Tabassum Rahman, Debayan Pakrashi, Asad Islam, F. Ahmed
This paper evaluates a randomized, over-the-phone counseling intervention aimed at mitigating the mental health impact of COVID-19 on a sample of 2,402 women across 357 villages in Bangladesh. We find that the provision of two hours of mental support plus information on COVID-19 improves mental health ten months postintervention, leading to reductions of 20 percent in the prevalence of moderate and severe stress and 33 percent in depression. Our results suggest that this type of low-cost intervention ($14 per person) can be effective in providing rapid psychological support to vulnerable groups in times of crises. (JEL I12, I18, I31, J16, O12, O15)
{"title":"Improving Women’s Mental Health during a Pandemic","authors":"Michael Vlassopoulos, A. Siddique, Tabassum Rahman, Debayan Pakrashi, Asad Islam, F. Ahmed","doi":"10.1257/app.20210655","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20210655","url":null,"abstract":"This paper evaluates a randomized, over-the-phone counseling intervention aimed at mitigating the mental health impact of COVID-19 on a sample of 2,402 women across 357 villages in Bangladesh. We find that the provision of two hours of mental support plus information on COVID-19 improves mental health ten months postintervention, leading to reductions of 20 percent in the prevalence of moderate and severe stress and 33 percent in depression. Our results suggest that this type of low-cost intervention ($14 per person) can be effective in providing rapid psychological support to vulnerable groups in times of crises. (JEL I12, I18, I31, J16, O12, O15)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"96 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140764070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A large body of literature studies how infrastructure facilitates trade. We ask whether infrastructure also facilitates migration. Using a general equilibrium trade model and rich spatial data, we study the impact of a large, plausibly exogenous shock to highways in Brazil on both goods and labor markets. We find the highway system increased welfare by 2.8 percent, of which 76 percent was due to reduced trade costs and 24 percent to reduced migration costs. An implication of costly migration is spatial heterogeneity in benefits: the range of welfare improvement is 1 to 15 percent, as opposed to uniform gains with perfect mobility. (JEL H54, H76, O18, R23, R42, R53)
{"title":"The Effects of Roads on Trade and Migration: Evidence from a Planned Capital City","authors":"Melanie Morten, Jaqueline Oliveira","doi":"10.1257/app.20180487","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20180487","url":null,"abstract":"A large body of literature studies how infrastructure facilitates trade. We ask whether infrastructure also facilitates migration. Using a general equilibrium trade model and rich spatial data, we study the impact of a large, plausibly exogenous shock to highways in Brazil on both goods and labor markets. We find the highway system increased welfare by 2.8 percent, of which 76 percent was due to reduced trade costs and 24 percent to reduced migration costs. An implication of costly migration is spatial heterogeneity in benefits: the range of welfare improvement is 1 to 15 percent, as opposed to uniform gains with perfect mobility. (JEL H54, H76, O18, R23, R42, R53)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"273 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140773348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper analyzes a large-scale and long-running distance education program in Mexico. We estimate marginal treatment effects (MTEs) for learning in math and Spanish in telesecundarias relative to traditional Mexican secondary schools using an empirical framework that allows for unobserved sorting on gains. The estimated MTEs reveal that school choice is not random and that the average student experiences significant improvements in both math and Spanish after just one year of attendance in telesecundarias. We find that the existing policy reduces educational inequality, and our policy-relevant treatment effects show that expanding telesecundarias would yield significant improvements in academic performance. (JEL I21, I24, I26, I28, O15)
{"title":"The Marginal Returns to Distance Education: Evidence from Mexico’s Telesecundarias","authors":"Emilio Borghesan, G. Vasey","doi":"10.1257/app.20220065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20220065","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyzes a large-scale and long-running distance education program in Mexico. We estimate marginal treatment effects (MTEs) for learning in math and Spanish in telesecundarias relative to traditional Mexican secondary schools using an empirical framework that allows for unobserved sorting on gains. The estimated MTEs reveal that school choice is not random and that the average student experiences significant improvements in both math and Spanish after just one year of attendance in telesecundarias. We find that the existing policy reduces educational inequality, and our policy-relevant treatment effects show that expanding telesecundarias would yield significant improvements in academic performance. (JEL I21, I24, I26, I28, O15)","PeriodicalId":518829,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal: Applied Economics","volume":"49 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140532660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}