1,720,990 research outputs found
Preventing the spread of antibiotic resistance
No full textThis paper studies the spread of antibiotic resistance and its determinants, relying on unique data at state, year, bacteria and drug level, covering all US states. I relate antibiotic resistance to the use of antibiotics in human prescription and in animal production in a triple difference in difference design to control for confounders. Despite that animal production absorbs most of the antibiotic production, the results show that the main determinant of resistance is in fact human prescriptions, emphasising the role of policies targeting hospitals and ambulatory care. Resistance is particularly sensitive to antibiotic use for newer drugs
Sources of wage growth
Full text linkThis paper investigates the sources of wage growth over the life cycle, where individuals have the possibility to acquire vocational training at the start of their career. Wage growth is determined by sectoral and firm mobility, unobserved abil- ity and the accumulation of human capital. Workers may move between two oc- cupational sectors that require cognitive-abstract (CA) and routine-manual (RM) skills, and job mobility is induced by non-pecuniary job attributes and persistent firm-worker productivity matches. Estimating this model using longitudinal ad- ministrative data over three decades, we show that RM skills are a key driver of early wage growth while CA skills become important later on. Moreover, job amenities are an important determinant of mobility decisions. Vocational training has long term effects on career outcomes, affecting the type and quality of matches, with substantial internal rates of return both to the individual as well as society
Economic Activity and the Spread of Viral Diseases: Evidence from High Frequency Data
Full text linkViruses are a major threat to human health, and - given that they spread through social interactions - represent a costly externality. This paper addresses three main issues: i) what are the unintended consequences of economic activity on the spread of infections? ii) how efficient are measures that limit interpersonal contacts? iii) how do we allocate our scarce resources to limit their spread? To answer these questions, we use novel high frequency data from France on the incidence of a number of viral diseases across space, for different age groups, over a period of a quarter of a century. We use quasi-experimental variation to evaluate the importance of policies reducing inter-personal contacts such as school closures or the closure of public transportation networks. While these policies significantly reduce disease prevalence, we find that they are not cost-effective. We find that expansions of transportation networks have significant health costs in increasing the spread of viruses and that propagation rates are pro-cyclically sensitive to economic conditions and increase with inter-regional trade
The transition to digital television
No full textThis paper studies the role of economic policy for the transition from analogue to digital television, with particular attention to the switch off of the analogue terrestrial signal. The analogue signal cannot be credibly switched off until almost all viewers have migrated to digital, due to the policy objective of universal access to television. But before switch off, only part of the population can be reached with the digital signal. In addition, those who are reached need to spend more to upgrade their reception equipment than after switch off, because the capacity to increase the power of the digital signal will be made available only then. After reviewing the competitive structure and the role of government intervention in television markets, we present the early experience of a number of industrialized countries in the transition to digital television. We then formulate a microeconometric model of digital television adoption by individual viewers. The model is calibrated to UK data and simulated to predict the impact of government policies on the take-up of digital television. Policy makers can affect the speed of take up of digital television by: (1) controlling the quality of the signals and the content of public service broadcasters; (2) intervening in the market for digital equipment with subsidies; and (3) publicizing the conditions and date of switch off of the analogue signal. We find that if the analogue terrestrial signal is switched off only when certain aggregate adoption targets are reached, strategic delays may arise and expectations may affect the success of the switch off policy
Grantmaking, Grading on a Curve, and the Paradox of Relative Evaluation in Nonmarkets
Full text linkThe article develops a model of nonmarket allocation of resources such as the awarding of grants to meritorious projects, honors to outstanding students, or journal slots to quality publications. On the supply side, the available budget of grants is awarded to applicants who are evaluated most favorably according to the noisy information available to reviewers. On the demand side, stronger candidates are more likely to obtain grants and thus self-select into applying, given that applications are costly. We establish that if evaluation is perfect, grading on a curve inefficiently discourages even the very best candidates from applying. More generally, when the budget is insufficient to award grants to all applicants, the equilibrium unravels if information is symmetric enough-the paradox of relative evaluation. Leveraging a technique based on the quantile function pioneered by Lehmann, we characterize a broad set of nonmarket allocation rules under which an increase in evaluation noise in a field (or course) raises equilibrium applications in that field, and reduces applications in all other fields. We empirically confirm these comparative statics by exploiting a change in the rule for apportioning the total budget to applications in different fields at the European Research Council, showing that a 1 standard deviation increase in own evaluation noise leads to a 0.4 standard deviation increase in the number of applications and budget share. Moreover, we derive insights for the design of evaluation institutions, particularly regarding the endogenous choice of noise by fields or courses and the optimal aggregation of fields into panels
There's more to marriage than love: the effect of legal status and cultural distance on intermarriages and separations
Full text linkWe analyse the contribution of legal status incentives on the marriage choices of natives and migrants. Access to legal status reduces by 40 percent the probability of immigrants intermarrying with natives, and increases by 20 percent the hazard rate of separation for intermarriages. We develop and estimate a multidimensional equilibrium model of marriage, fertility, and separation, where individuals match on observed and unobserved characteristics. Allowing for trade-offs between cultural distance, legal status, and other socio-economic spousal characteristics, we quantify the role of legal status and the strength of cultural preferences and evaluate the welfare consequences of granting legal status to immigrants
Health selection and the effect of smoking on mortality
Full text linkWe show that individuals who are in poorer health, independently from smoking, are more likely to start smoking and to smoke more cigarettes than those with better non-smoking health. We present evidence of selection, relying on extensive data on morbidity and mortality. We show that health based selection into smoking has increased over the last fifty years with knowledge of its health effects. We show that the effect of smoking on mortality is higher for high educated individuals and for individuals in good non-smoking health
Taxes, cigarette consumption, and smoking intensity: Reply
Full text linkThis paper shows that smoking intensity, i.e. the amount of nicotine extracted per cigarette smoked, responds to changes in excise taxes and tobacco prices. We exploit data covering the period 1988 to 2006 across many US states. Moreover, we provide new evidence on the importance of cotinine measures in explaining long-run smoking behavior and we investigate the sensitivity of smoking cessation to changes in excise taxes and their interaction with smoking intensity
Market regulation and firm performance : the case of smoking bans in the United Kingdom
No full textThis paper analyzes the effects on firms of a ban on smoking in public places. Our empirical strategy relies on comparing outcomes in Scotland before and after the Scottish smoking ban (introduced in March 2006) with those in northern England, where such a ban was not in place. Our analysis of survey data collected from public houses finds that the Scottish smoking ban reduced pub sales with no concomitant effect on prices. An event study analysis of the stock market performance of pub-holding companies corroborates the negative effect of the smoking ban on firm performance
The Career Costs of Children
Full text linkWe estimate a dynamic life-cycle model of labor supply, fertility and savings, incorporating occupational choices, with specific wage paths and skill atrophy that vary over the career. This allows us to understand the trade-off between occupational choice and desired fertility, as well as the sorting both into the labor market and across occupations. We quantify the life-cycle career costs associated with children, how they decompose into loss of skills during interruptions, lost earnings opportunities and selection into more child-friendly occupations. We analyze the long-run effects of policies that encourage fertility and show that they are considerably smaller than short-run effects
- …
