1,721,012 research outputs found
The long-term determinants of female HIV infection in Africa: The slave trade, polygyny, and sexual behavior
Full text linkWe study the long-term determinants of the high rates of female HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on the transatlantic slave trade. Our hypothesis is that the latter contributed to the contemporaneous diffusion of polygyny and associated forms of social and sexual behavior that are conducive to HIV infection. We uncover that an increase in the rate of historical slave density causes a sizeable and robust increase in the rate of HIV prevalence, with a more marked effect among married women, and particularly those that do not live with their husbands. A higher slave density also induces more widespread female infidelity. These patterns are consistent with the hypothesis that higher-rank, non-cohabiting, younger co-wives are driven to infidelity by marital dissatisfaction. The resulting risky sexual behavior increases their likelihood to contract and transmit the virus, through the husbands, to their faithful co-wives, with a multiplicative effect among women
De Jure and de Facto Determinants of Power: Evidence from Mississippi
Full text linkWe evaluate the empirical effectiveness of de facto versus de jure determinants of political power in the U.S. South between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. Using previously-unexploited racially-disaggregated data on voter registration in Mississippi for the years 1896 and 1899, we show that the observed pattern of black political participation is driven by de facto disfranchisement as captured by the presence of a black political majority, which negatively affects black registration. The de jure provisions introduced with the 1890 state constitution and involving literacy tests and poll taxes exert a non-robust impact. Furthermore, a difference-in-differences approach shows that the decline in aggregate turnout pre-dates the introduction of de jure restrictions and confirms a causal effect of the presence of a black political majority. De jure restrictions intensify the influence of the latter after 1890, which suggests that the main effect of the constitutional reforms may have been an institutionalization of de facto disfranchisement
COVID-19, Race, and Gender
Full text linkThe mounting evidence on the demographics of COVID-19 fatalities points to an overrepresentation of minorities and an underrepresentation of women. Using individual-level, race-disaggregated, and georeferenced death data collected by the Cook County Medical Examiner, we jointly investigate the racial and gendered
impact of COVID-19, its timing, and its determinants. Through an event study approach we establish that Blacks individuals are affected earlier and more harshly and that the effect is driven by Black women. Rather than comorbidity or aging, the Black female bias is associated with poverty and channeled by occupational seg-
regation in the health care and transportation sectors and by commuting on public transport. Living arrangements and lack of health insurance are instead found uninfuential. The Black female bias is spatially concentrated in neighborhoods that were subject to historical redlining
Replication Data for: Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the U.S. In Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher]. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]
No full textThis is the replication package for "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 12, no. 3 (August 2020): 76–106. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.2018020
Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the U.S.
Full text linkWe examine the link between the political participation of the young and fiscal policies in the U.S. We generate exogenous variation in participation using the passage of preregistration laws, which allow the young to register before being eligible to vote. After documenting that preregistration promotes youth enfranchisement, we show that preregistration shifts state government spending toward higher education, the type of spending for which the young have the strongest preference. A 1% increase in youth voter turnout generates a 0:77% increase in higher education spending. The results collectively suggest political responsiveness to the needs of the newly enfranchised constituency
The Evolution of Conflict and Effectiveness of Aid
Full text linkThe effect of aid on civil war has been widely debated. In this paper we introduce a new framework to evaluate the effectiveness of aid on conflict. Using proxies for the evolution of conflict we show that over the course of the conflict aid significantly affects the escalation and de-escalation of conflicts and that both measures are also highly sensitive to the rate of change in the share of aid. These results provide useful indications from a policy point of view in terms of the timing of aid to countries experiencing a conflict. We also show that the evolution of conflict significantly affects economic growth providing evidence of a sort of indirect effect of aid on economic growth
Poverty Trap and Educational Shock: Evidence from Missionary Fields
Full text linkLow growth equilibria with low investment in human capital generally tend topersist till an external shock affects the economy. In this paper we use data onChristian missions to proxy a long-lasting educational shock in Africa. We estimatethe effect of this shock on the quality of children which we proxy using the rate ofunderweight children. Consistent with the economic theory we find that the qualityof children significantly rises with the exposure to this shock and this indirect effectaccounts to almost 4 percent in terms of GDP for districts with the maximal exposure<br/
Size Matters: The Effect of the Scramble for Africa on Informal Institutions and Development
Full text linkWe argue that the partition of ethnic groups following the Scramble for Africa does not itself matter for development in Africa. It matters only when the partitioned groups are relatively small because small groups lack political representation which may promote ethnic mobilization and foster support for informal (rather than formal) institutions which then may affect development. Furthermore, the analysis of data from the Afrobarometer shows that the persistence of informal/tribal institutions
related to property rights and the rule of law is one of the possible channels through which the size of the partitioned group affects development
State history, historical legitimacy and modern ethnic diversity
Full text linkHow much does the antiquity of states, and the sometimes arbitrary nature of colonial boundaries, explain the modern degree of theory of ethnic diversity and income disthnic diversity? It is shown that states with greater historical legitimacy (more continuity between the pre-colonial and post-colonial state) have less ethnic diversity. Historical legitimacy is more strongly correlated with ethnic diversity than the antiquity of states, genetic diversity or the duration of human settlement. Although historical legitimacy is particularly pertinent to Africa, the correlation also holds outside Africa
Ethnic diversity and conflict
Full text linkWe argue that the reason why it has proved hard to determine whether negative effects on economic performance and conflict are more strongly associated with polarized rather than fractionalized societies is because the distinction between polarization and fractionalization is only relevant for societies with ethnic diversity above a certain threshold. In addition, high levels of ethnic fractionalization at a country level are generally associated with regional concentration of minorities, and as a result, many regions may have a very different ethnic composition from the national average, and in particular, they may have much higher levels of ethnic polarization than the national level. Because of the very different ethnic composition of different regions in this situation, conflict is more likely to be confined to a limited geographical area
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