1,721,217 research outputs found
Measuring the gains from labor specialization
No full textAvailable online August 2019We estimate the productivity effects of labor specialization using a judicial environment that offers a quasi-experimental setting well suited to this purpose. Judges in this environment are randomly assigned many different types of cases. This assignment generates random streaks of same-type cases, which creates minispecialization events unrelated to the characteristics of judges or cases. We estimate that when judges receive more cases of a certain type, they become faster, that is, more likely to close cases of that type in any one of the corresponding hearings. Quality, as measured by probability of an appeal, is not negatively affected.Canada Research Chairs progra
The Tower of Babel in the Classroom: Immigrants and Natives in Italian Schools
Full text linkWe exploit rules of class formation to identify the causal effect of increasing the number of immigrants in a classroom on natives test scores, keeping class size constant (Pure Composition Effect). We explain why this is a relevant policy parameter although it has been neglected so far. We show that the PCE is sizeable and negative at age 7 (-1.6% for language and math) and does not vanish when children grow up to age 10. Conventional estimates are instead smaller because they are confounded by endogenous class size adjustments implemented by principals when confronted with immigrant and native inflows
Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Costs of Daycare 0–2 for girls
No full textExploiting admission thresholds in a Regression Discontinuity Design, we study the causal effects of daycare at age 0–2 on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes at age 8–14.
One additional month in daycare reduces IQ by 0.5% (4.5% of a standard deviation). Effects for conscientiousness are small and imprecisely estimated. Psychologists suggest that children in daycare experience fewer one-to-one interactions with adults, which should be particularly relevant for girls who are more capable than boys of exploiting cognitive stimuli at an early age. In line with this interpretation, losses for girls are larger and more significant, especially in affluent families
Atypical Work: Who Gets It, and Where Does It Lead? Some U.S. Evidence Using the NLSY79
Full text linkAtypical work arrangements have long been criticized as offering more precarious and lower paid work than regular open-ended employment. In an important paper, Booth et al. (2002) were among the first to recognize that notwithstanding their potential deficiencies, such jobs also functioned as a stepping stone to permanent work. This conclusion proved prescient and has received increasing support in Europe. In the present note, we provide a parallel analysis to Booth et al. for the United States – somewhat of a missing link in the evolving empirical literature – and obtain not dissimilar similar findings for the category of temporary workers as do they for fixed-term contract workers.atypical work, temporary jobs, contracting/consulting work, regular open-ended employment, earnings development
Rule Breaking, Honesty, and Migration
Full text linkUsing Census data we study false birth date registrations in Italy, a phenomenon well known to demographers, in a setting that allows us to separate honesty from cheating bene ts and deterrence. By comparing migrants and remainers within locality-biennium cells we then illustrate the tendency of Italians to sort themselves across geographic areas according to their honesty. Overtime, this tendency has modi ed the average honesty in each locality, with relevant consequences for the distribution across geographic areas of outcomes like human capital, productivity, earnings growth and the quality of local politicians and government
Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Costs of Daycare 0-2 for Children in Advantaged Families
Full text linkExploiting admission thresholds to the Bologna daycare system, we show using RDD that one additional daycare month at age 0-2 reduces IQ by 0.5% (4.7% of a s.d.) at age
8-14 in a relatively affluent population. The magnitude of this negative effect increases with family income. Similar negative impacts are found for personality traits. These
findings are consistent with the hypothesis from psychology that children in daycare experience fewer one-to-one interactions with adults, with negative effects in families
where such interactions are of higher quality. We embed this hypothesis in a model that lends structure to our RDD
How Often Should You Open the Door? Optimal Monitoring to Screen Heterogeneous Agents
Full text linkThis paper shows that monitoring too much a partner in the initial phase of a relationship may
not be optimal if the goal is to determine his loyalty to the match and if the cost of ending the
relationship increases over time. The intuition is simple: by monitoring too much we learn less
on how the partner will behave when he is not monitored. Only by giving to the partner the
possibility to misbehave he might be tempted to do it, and only in this case there is a chance
to learn his type at a time where separation would be possible at a relatively low cost
Tower of Babel in the classroom : immigrants and natives in Italian schools
Full text linkOnline: 31 July 2018We exploit rules of class formation to identify the causal effect of increasing the number of immigrants in a classroom on natives' test scores, keeping class size and quality of the two types of students constant (pure ethnic composition [PEC] effect). We explain why this is a relevant policy parameter although it has been neglected so far. The PEC effect is sizable and negative (16% of a standard deviation) on language and math scores. For first-generation immigrants, it is more negative (30% of a standard deviation). Estimates that cannot control for endogenous adjustments implemented by principals are instead considerably smaller.MIUR-Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) 2009 project [2009MAATFS_001
Effect of Business Uncertainty on Turnover
Full text linkWedocumentacausalrelationshipbetweenbusinessuncertaintyandworkforcemanagementatthefirmlevel,byleveraginglitigation-generatedquasi-experimentalvariationinbusinessuncertainty.Thecausaleffectsofbusinessuncertaintyonturnover, hiringandseparationsareof theexpectednegativedirection, andof sizablemagnitude. These consequences are stronger amongfirms that operate insectors in whichbusinessuncertaintyisintrinsicallyhigher,andcanbeattributedtotheeffect of regulationinducedbusiness riskonnormal operations. Inparticular, employee turnover,hiringandseparationsareratcheteddowntoreducetheriskofadditional wrongful terminationlawsuits. Valueaddedisalsoshowntodecrease inbusiness risk
Do Austrian Men and Women Become more Equal? At Least in Terms of Labor Supply!
Full text linkWe study the development of wage elasticity of labor supply for Austrian men and women over time using comparable and representative survey data for the 1980s and 1990s. The elasticity of men is relatively low and constant over time, similar to the behavior of single women. Most remarkable is the almost continuous reduction in the labor supply reactions of married women: while their elasticity was still several times larger at the beginning of the 1980s, they approached rapidly the much less elastic behaviour of men. These developments are important for the analysis of deadweight losses of taxation as well as the effects of tax reforms and wage subsidy programs.Labor supply, gender, wage elasticity
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