Research Data Center of IZA (IDSC)
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Replication Data for: 'Evidence on Job Search Models from a Survey of Unemployed Workers in Germany'
No full textThe data and programs replicate tables and figures from "Evidence on Job Search Models from a Survey of Unemployed Workers in Germany", by DellaVigna, Heining, Schmieder, and Trenkle. Please see the README file for additional details
The IZA/Fable Data Consumption Indicator
No full textFable Data obtains card payment data directly from various financial institutions across Europe. The ingested data is enriched by proprietary models from Fable Data and is then homogenised and productised to generate a single pan-European dataset that’s updated on a daily basis.
The original dataset includes transaction details such as date and spend amount, as well as customer and merchant information. Cardholders’ demographic details, are also provided. The merchant is identified and classified using a Merchant Category Code, and the location of the merchant is available.
Methodology
Each transaction in the data contains the amount paid, transaction date, and credit card identifier. The construction of the indicator involves collecting and anonymizing credit card transactions from January 2017 to March 2024 to compute a monthly consumption indicator for Germany from January 2018 onwards. The percentage change of monthly aggregate spending from the same month a year ago is computed using a one-year lookback rolling panel methodology.
Availability & Access to Replication Package
Aggregate monthly and quarterly data, along with Python code, are provided to replicate the construction of the IZA / Fable Data Consumption Indicator for Germany. This includes a comparison to official quarterly consumption data for Germany from Eurostat. The microdata used for monthly aggregates originates from Fable Data and is actively researched at the IDSC of IZA
The Effect of Vaccine Mandates on Disease Spread: Evidence from College COVID-19 Mandates
No full textThe study examines the effect of college- and university-imposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates for students on county-level COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, deaths, and other health outcomes leveraging several rich sources of data.
The researchers obtain information on vaccine mandates for the fall 2021 semester, along with institutions’ semester start dates, mask mandates, and required COVID-19 testing policies from the College Crisis Initiative (C2i) at Davidson College. C2i’s staff collected vaccine mandate information through a combination of data-scraping and directly visiting colleges’ websites between July and August, 2021—just prior to the start of colleges’ fall semesters—with follow-up collection between October and November 2021.
The data are subsequently combined with institutional characteristics, including location, enrollment, and the distinction between public and private control, sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Additionally, the information is integrated with county-level COVID-19 case rates, vaccinations, hospitalizations, and mortality figures, which are publicly accessible through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The researchers also acquire data on county test positivity rates from CovidActNow.org, data on doctors’ visits from insurance claims, and data on individual vaccination status from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
In addition, the researchers collect county-week-level data on per capita COVID-19 tests from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ COVID-19 Pandemic Vulnerability Index (PVI) and test positivity rates from CovidActNow.org.
Together, these data sources provide rich weekly information on public health outcomes at the local level throughout the summer and fall of 2021
Replication Data for: Demand for off-grid solar electricity – Experimental evidence from Rwanda
No full textThis is primary, experimental data collected by the authors in Rwanda in 2015. The experiment randomly assigned payment schemes to 323 households and offered three types of solar kits for purchase using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak auction design.The dataset includes information on WTP, purchase information and household-level variables. The DoFile generates all statistics provided in paper using STATA
Replication Data for "Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives"
No full textGelber, Alexander, Timothy Moore, Zhuan Pei, and Alexander Strand. 2023. “Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives.” Journal of Political Economy 131 (11): 3156–3185, https://doi.org/10.1086/725172
G²LM|LIC - Urban Density and Labor Markets
No full textMany of the world‘s poorest people live and work in dense informal settlements in Africa’s growing megacities. These communities have both positives and negatives. On one side, settlements, often located in central areas, provide workers with access to geographically proximate jobs, dense informational and social networks, and a large demand base for entrepreneurial ventures. Density provides scope for agglomeration economies, and thicker labour markets where matching between workers and employment opportunities is facilitated. At the same time, settlements often occupy prime land in the city center, reducing city centrality and increasing commute times for others. These dense environments are also the home to many negative externalities; the downsides of density. Poor infrastructure and difficulty of access lead to poor health, fire risk and crime. In addition, these areas may be locked into low-productivity informal uses, preventing growth and job-creation that could be happening if these areas were formalized. In the face of these costs and benefits, and in the absense of significant evidence on the impact of different approaches, the appropriate policy response is unclear: should slums be cleared, and new communities built, or should they be left as is, or is the best option somewhere inbetween? While concerns over health and housing often motivate urban planning policy, the labour market implications are potentially profound and are largely understudied. This project will provide much-neeeded evidence on these questions.
The government of Addis Ababa recently announced plans to redevelop large central areas of the city, which will lead to the relocation of 20,000 households out of informal settlements. This presents a unique opportunity to learn. Building on a sample of 30,000 geo-referenced surveys conducted in Addis before the announcement, we will provide estimates of the impact of resettlement on those that are resettled, the impact of clearance on nearby households and land values, as well as the impact on land values of the resettled areas. We will select a carefully selected sub-sample of 6,000 households from our baseline group, and interview them one year after evictions have taken place.
Our work will draw on a variety of empirical techniques from labour and urban economics to estimate impacts across space, and a key part of our research will involve an evaluation of appropriate techniques when labour markets are not defined by geographically distinct clusters. In particular, we will use a combination of structural models, and randomized inference methods to back out estimates for the rates at which labour market effects spillover onto neighbouring areas as a function of distance. We will then use these estimates, in combination with a spatial regression discontinuity design, to estimate the causal effect of being relocated from the centre of the city. These estimates are directly policy relevant for understanding the welfare implications for affected households, and what fair compensation would look like in these settings. Detailed household data will allow us to shed light on the mechanisms driving these effects, including the role of social networks, commuting and search costs, access to markets, and access to customers.
In doing so we hope to demonstrate the value of large geo-referenced household surveys for the analysis of urban labour markets, and the impacts of urban labour market policies. Our evaluation will rely on household data collected, somewhat fortuitously, immediately before the policy was announced, at very low cost. Our ability to evaluate urban-based policies happening in the city in the future could provide an argument for collecting these sorts of short, but large baseline surveys, in cities in many low-income countries.</br
G²LM|LIC - The Impact of Subsidized Access to Nurseries and Employment Services on Mothers’ Labor Market Outcomes and Child Development in Egypt
No full textThere are three main explanations as to why female labor force participation, globally, remains low: (1) women’s high opportunity cost of time (2) weak labor demand and (3) restrictive gender norms. The research team will test aspects of all three constraints on FLFP in a low-income context in Egypt. They will specifically answer the following research questions: (i) does lowering the cost of childcare increase the labor supply of economically vulnerable mothers? (ii) are childcare subsidies more effective when combined with employment services and when gender norms are more favorable to female employment? (iii) are there dynamic effects of childcare subsidies on employers’ demand for female workers and on gender norms? (iv) what is the impact of expanding nursery usage on children’s development?
Ability to afford child care is a major constraint on women’s labor market participation. In Egypt, only 8 percent of children ages 0 to 4 years are enrolled in registered nursery programs (UNICEF Egypt 2019). Private nursery costs are such that, after paying for childcare, women may have negative net earnings. High turnover of women, primarily because of their domestic responsibilities, leads employers to discriminate against women. Traditional breadwinner/homemaker divisions of labor and corresponding gender norms constrain women’s work.
The project targeted to women in low-income, informal areas (slums) in Greater Cairo, will be a randomized control trial to test the effects of providing childcare subsidies and employment services on women’s employment. Subsidizing child care will alleviate opportunity cost of time constraints, while employment services address labor demand. Testing the impact of these interventions together will be particularly important for understanding the interaction and binding nature of different constraints to women’s employment. Using baseline data on household gender norms, they will assess whether these interventions have a differential impact depending on gender role attitudes.
There is a substantial body of literature on early childhood care and education (ECCE) access, including subsidies, and women’s employment in developed countries (Connelly 1992; Meyers, Heintze, and Wolf 2002). However, there are only a few rigorous studies to date on the effect of ECCE on FLFP in developing countries (Angeles et al. 2012; Attanasio, Carneiro, and Olinto 2017; Berlinski, Galiani, and Mc Ewan 2011), where labor demand, as well as local norms, may substantially alter the relationship between ECCE and FLFP.
In Egypt, our key implementing partner is Kheir wa Baraka (KwB), an NGO that is located in the largest slum area in Cairo. KwB has been working on nursery programs for more than ten years. KwB has been contracted by Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) to undertake work supporting other NGO nurseries serving children aged 0 to 6 in low-income areas in the Greater Cairo region. The nurseries have specific geographic (nursery catchment) areas which they serve, in which the team will undertake our research. KwB also provides anti-poverty programs including employment services linking the poor and women to job opportunities. MoSS is extremely interested in the impact of nurseries on women’s employment, as well as how to design and target subsidies to best support such employment. Our research design will answer these questions.
The research team will interview a sample of households in each catchment area, contacted through random door-to-door sampling, to identify households with eligible women and children aged 0 to 6. These mothers will be informed during the initial visit: (1) of the level of subsidy they have been randomized into and (2) whether they have been randomized into employment services. They will also interview all the employers that are included in the employment services at baseline, and randomize across employers whether they receive information on whether women applicants will have childcare subsidies or not.
They plan to interview mothers at four points in time: at baseline (right before offering the interventions), four months after baseline (midline 1), one year after baseline (two months before 12-month vouchers end, midline 2) and six months after subsidies end (end line). The research team will evaluate the impact of childcare subsidies, at varying price points, on women’s labor market outcomes, as well as the impact of employment services. They will also investigate whether there are complementarities between childcare subsidies and employment services. They will further estimate the dynamic impact on employers.
This research will study impacts on final outcomes that are of policy interest and on intermediate outcomes that will help us study the mechanisms of the intervention. On the mother’s side, they will measure effects on employment, reservation wages, actual earnings (of the mother and total household earnings), job quality, well-being, time use, and household bargaining power and gender role attitudes. They are particularly interested in how the impacts of subsidies and job placement depend on baseline norms, as well as how employment and subsidies may change these norms at end line. On the children’s side, they will measure a battery of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Together, these results will help inform scale-up plans of MoSS, the work of KwB and other nurseries, and global policy working to support women’s employment
Home advantage in European international soccer: which dimension of distance matters?
No full textThe authors investigate whether the home advantage in soccer differs by various dimensions of distance between the (regions of the) home and away teams: geographical distance, climatic differences, cultural distance, and disparities in economic prosperity. To this end, the authors analyse 2,012 recent matches played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League by means of several regression models. They find that when the home team plays at a higher altitude, they benefit substantially more from their home advantage. Every 100 meters of altitude difference is associated with an increase in expected probability to win the match, as the home team, by 1.1 percentage points. The other dimensions of distance are not significantly associated with a higher or lower home advantage. By contrast, the authors find that the home advantage in soccer is more outspoken when the number of spectators is higher and when the home team is substantially stronger than the away team
Examining Relationships Among Turkey, Israel, and the United States in Terms of Interest Similarity
No full textInterest similarity is defined as the affinity of national interests in global affairs. This research aims to examine the interest similarity among Turkey, Israel, and the US. Interest similarity of countries has been examined by taking into account the factors of (a) alliance portfolio, (b) MID data, and (c) UNGA voting records. Quantitative data regarding these factors have been analyzed with correlation and regression models. The findings show that the interest similarities among these three countries have a statistically significant correlation. This research also examines the relationships between the three states to better understand which factors affect their interest similarity, and how. Thus, this study contributes to the political science and international relations literature by analyzing quantitative data while examining the interest similarity among Turkey, Israel, and the US
G²LM|LIC - A Tough Call: Understanding the Impact of Mobile Technology on Women’s Work, Gender Gaps, and Social Norms
No full textMobile phones can help individuals access information, networks, and resources, allowing them to benefit both socially and economically. Yet in many lower-income countries, women lag men in phone ownership and usage for a variety of economic and normative reasons.
To boost women’s phone ownership and usage, the Government of Chhattisgarh implemented the Sanchaar Kranti Yojana (SKY) program in 2018, using the 2011 census population data as an eligibility criterion. Gram panchayats (GPs) in which the largest village fell below the population threshold of 1,000 were ineligible to receive the program benefits. We use this population cutoff to shortlist 279 treatment gram panchayats and 408 control gram panchayats in 13 districts across the state. We collect three datasets for each gram panchayat and they are as follows.
Individual Surveys
In each GP, we aimed to conduct surveys with 15 female (18-45 years of age) and 15 male (18-50 years of age) respondents. Within the 687 GPs, we were able to conduct the full 30 surveys in 682 GPs (99.3 percent) and completed some surveys in a further 2 GPs (0.3 percent). This dataset has all individual-level responses.
Household Surveys
In the male survey, we collect information about the rest of the household. This information is not available for households where only a female respondent was surveyed.
Community Leader Surveys
We conducted key informant interviews (KIIs) with select community leaders from the largest village in each of the sampled gram panchayats. During scoping activities, we targeted multiple community leaders including the Sarpanch (a locally elected leader), the Sachiv or vice-president (a bureaucrat and another elected leader), and the Gram Rojgar Sahayak (GRS), the main local official tasked with implementing India’s public works program, NREGA. The four leaders we ultimately surveyed had the best ability to accurately answer questions outlined in our community leader survey and the most time for our survey questions. These are the ASHA or Mitanins, Anganwadi Workers (AWW), Ward Members who are part of the GP Council, and the village criers, known as Kotwal. Often when they were unavailable, we surveyed the “representative”, someone who is deputized to carry out similar functions. In some instances when the ASHA worker was busy, we conducted these surveys with more Anganwadi workers. The Anganwadi workers were administered the exact same survey as the ASHA worker. Similarly, village criers and ward members responded to the same survey.
Speedtest Surveys
Enumerators conducted speed test using Speedtest.Net when they were in the GPs. We tried to ensure coverage across the two main network providers, Jio and Airtel, using different SIM cards. These were either conducted on their own or with the Community Leader Surveys and we have more than 1 speed test per GP.
Data Collection
Data collection was carried out by IDinsight’s field team. Throughout data collection, the Inclusion Economics India Centre (IEIC) research team conducted ongoing data quality checks, including high-frequency checks, spot checks, in-person back checks, phone back checks, and audio audits. These all fed into a live dashboard created by IDinsight to track productivity and data quality throughout data collection.
Sampling procedure
SKY eligibility was based on a population threshold using the 2011 Indian Census. Mobile coverage was extended to covered communities, and smartphones were distributed to one adult female per household in GPs with a population of at least 1,000 in their largest village. GPs just under this population threshold were ineligible. To maximize power, our data collection strategy focused on GPs closest to the discontinuity. We determined our sample as follows:
First, we shortlisted the 13 districts that had the highest rates of SKY implementation, excluding the capital district of Raipur, where we had run a randomized controlled trial in many SKY-eligible GPs.
Then, using 2011 Indian census data and local randomization approaches described in Cattaneo et al. (2023), we identified a window around the population discontinuity within which one might possibly assume that treatment is as good as randomly assigned. We find that when dropping GPs that have just one village, the local randomization approach admits GPs where the population of the largest village is 99 more and less than 1000. This yields a sample of 687 GPs.
The realized sample is smaller than 687 since some GPs were not surveyable (e.g. due to safety issues due to left-wing extremism or challenges in obtaining permission from local leaders).
Within these selected GPs, we used voter rolls to randomly sample 15 women aged 18-45 from the individuals associated with polling booths within the GP and attempted to survey the woman and a randomly selected male household member.
Results
We investigate two approaches to closing digital gender gaps. The first is a statewide program, which distributed millions of smartphones, along with free data, to women across the state of Chhattisgarh in central India. In the second study, we layered digital literacy training on top of the smartphone distribution program. Despite initially reversing the gender gap in smartphone ownership, the smartphone distribution program had no long-term impact on digital gender gaps. In contrast, low-cost digital literacy training had lasting impacts, reducing digital gender gaps and increasing women’s smartphone use. Digital literacy training also improved women’s connection with others and mental health, highlighting important areas that phones can improve women’s well-being in settings where their mobility and networks are limited