521 research outputs found
Essays in Applied Microeconomics
No full textThis dissertation is composed of three chapters that apply econometric techniques to solve questions in the health and labor economics fields. The first chapter assesses the impact of obesity on labor market outcomes over economic downturns. Specifically, I measure labor market differentials between obese and healthy weight workers over business cycle fluctuations using two national surveys. I find that when unemployment increases, obese individuals experience larger declines in income relative to those who are not obese. These findings are robust to the inclusion of occupation fixed effects, suggesting the findings cannot be fully explained by obese workers selecting careers that tend to have greater sensitivity to business cycle fluctuations. The second chapter of this dissertation is joint work with Timothy Halliday, Lester Lusher, and Aureo de Paula. This study pairs variation stemming from volcanic eruptions with panel data on the census of Hawai`i public student test scores to estimate the impact of pollutants on student performance. We first precisely estimate a small drop in average test scores. Then, utilizing Hawai`i's rich diversity across schools in baseline exposure, we estimate sharp nonlinearities - effects for schools with PM 2.5 levels above 9 units are nearly five times the magnitude as for schools below. Lastly, we find that the drop in test scores for economically disadvantaged students is nearly four times the magnitude of their advantaged counterparts. This performance gap across student type arises from within school variation, suggesting the gap cannot be explained by differences in school resources. The final chapter of this dissertation is in collaboration with Maya Ward. In this study, we use the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to analyze the effect of economic downturns on labor market outcomes differentially across the Big Five personality traits. There is still a large amount of unexplained variation in various labor market outcomes after accounting for observable characteristics (age, gender, education, etc) indicating that unobservable characteristics (personality, work ethic, etc) may also play an important role. While the psychology literature has investigated the relationship between personality and labor market outcomes, there are far fewer studies that incorporate personality traits in the economics literature. Furthermore, findings that assess the impacts of the Big Five on economic outcomes are mixed due to differences in the data used. We find that those who report higher levels of emotional instability tend to see larger unemployment insurance take up and fewer weeks of employment during economic downturns relative to those who are more emotionally stable. Additionally, the effects do not seem to be driven by employer discrimination, as it may be that higher levels of emotional instability cause workers to be less productive during recessions.Ph.D
Testing for State Dependence with Time-Variant Transition Probabilities
No full textWe consider the identification of state dependence in a dynamic Logit model with timevariant transition probabilities and an arbitrary distribution of the unobserved heterogeneity. We derive a simple result that allows us to test for the presence of state dependence in this model. Monte Carlo evidence suggests that this test has desirable properties even when there are some violations of the model’s assumptions. We also consider alternative tests for state dependence that will have desirable properties only when the transition probabilities do not depend on time and provide evidence that there is an "acceptable" range in which ignoring time-dependence does not matter too much. We conclude with an application to the Barker Hypothesis.Dynamic Panel Data Models, State Dependence, Health
Supplemental material for Clinical and genetic associations with prostacyclin response in pulmonary arterial hypertension
No full textSupplemental material for Clinical and genetic associations with prostacyclin response in pulmonary arterial hypertension by Stephen J. Halliday, Meng Xu, Timothy E. Thayer, Jonathan D. Mosley, Quanhu Sheng, Fei Ye, Eric H. Farber-Eger, Meredith E. Pugh, Ivan R. Robbins, Tufik R. Assad, James D. West, Evan L. Brittain and Anna R. Hemnes in Pulmonary Circulation</p
Migration, Risk and the Intra-Household Allocation of Labor in El Salvador
No full textWe investigate how the gender composition of migrant flows and the intra-household allocation of labor are employed as risk-coping strategies in El Salvador. We show that agricultural productivity shocks primarily increased male migration to the US and, at the same time, increased the number of hours that the household devoted to agricultural activities. In contrast, damage sustained from the 2001 earthquakes exclusively stunted female migration. We argue that the reasons for this were that the earthquakes increased the demand for home production and that the costs of retaining women at home in the disaster's wake were lower than for men.
Income Volatility and Health
No full textWe investigate the impact of exogenous income fluctuations on health using twenty years of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. To unravel the impact of income on health from unobserved heterogeneity and reverse causality, we employ techniques from the literature on the estimation of dynamic panel data models. Contrary to much of the previous literature on health and socio-economic status, we find that, on average, adverse income shocks lead to a deterioration of health. These effects are most pronounced for working-aged men and are dominated by transitions into the very bottom of the earnings distribution. We also provide suggestive evidence of an association between negative income shocks and higher mortality for working-aged men.Gradient, Health, Dynamic Panel Data Models, Recessions
Grass and lupin silage in rations for beef steers supplemented with barley or potatoes
No full textTwenty-eight Simmental-cross steers weighing 200 (+/- 20.5) kg were used to evaluate grass and whole plant lupin silages in terms of growth rate, dry matter (DM) intake and carcass characteristics. The chemical composition of the silages was determined and Dacron bag procedures were used to estimate DM and protein degradability. The silages were supplemented with either rolled barley or crushed potato. The lupin silage had a lactic acid fermentation with lower DM, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and protein nitrogen than the grass silage but higher crude protein. There were no statistically significant differences in gain, carcass weight, dressing percentage or backfat levels between steers fed lupin or grass silage. DM intake of the silages was not significantly different but there was a tendency for lower DM intake of lupin silage when supplemented with potatoes. There was no difference in DM degradability between lupin and grass silages. Lupin nitrogen degraded at a significantly faster rate (24.5% h-1) compared with the grass (10.4% h-1). The effective degradation of nitrogen at a ruminal fractional outflow rate of 0.05 h-1 was 63.8% and 79.1% for grass and lupin silage, respectively. Ensiling whole plant lupin can produce a high quality silage for use in beef rations.PT: J; CR: 1984, NUTRIENT REQUIREMENT 1984, REPORT PROTEIN GROUP 1988, SAS STAT USERS GUIDE 1990, OFFICIAL METHODS ANA BUTTERY PJ, 1977, RECENT ADV ANIMAL NU, P8 CASTLE ME, 1984, GRASS FORAGE SCI, V39, P287 CHOU KC, 1964, J AGR SCI, V62, P15 CONE JW, 1991, J SCI FOOD AGR, V54, P23 DEBOEVER JL, 1983, REV AGR-BRUSSELS, V36, P403 DEBRABANDER DL, 1982, REV AGR-BRUSSELS, V35, P3269 DULPHY JP, 1981, INRA PUBL, P81 GLADSTONES JS, 1970, FIELD CROPS ABSTRACT, V23, P123 GOERING HK, 1970, USDA HDB, V379 HVELPLUND T, 1990, STUDY QUANTITATIVE N, P214 MACLEOD JA, 1987, LUPINS POTENTIAL CRO MAKONI NF, 1991, CAN J ANIM SCI, V71, P245 MCQUEEN RE, 1981, LABORATORY EVALUATIO, P87 MERTENS DR, 1989, 1989 P PAC NW NUTR C, P1 ORSKOV ER, 1969, ANIM PROD, V11, P187 ORSKOV ER, 1979, J AGR SCI, V92, P499 PAINE CA, 1982, OCCASIONAL PUBLICATI, V6, P177 PUTNAM DH, 1991, PRODUCTION FACTORS W, P6 ROSS GJS, 1987, MLP MAXIMUM LIKELIHO SARIC O, 1981, 16 P INT GRASSL C, P204 SHELDRICK RD, 1980, GRASS FORAGE SCI, V35, P323 SPICER LA, 1986, J ANIM SCI, V62, P521 THOMAS C, 1988, BRIT GRASSLANDS SOC, V22, P115 THOMAS PC, 1982, FORAGE PROTEIN CONSE, P121 TISSERAND JL, 1982, 2ND P INT LUP C VANSOEST PJ, 1967, J ASSOC OFF ANA CHEM, V50, P50 WILLIAMS W, 1986, 4TH P INT LUP C GER, P1; NR: 31; TC: 3; J9: ANIM FEED SCI TECH; PG: 11; GA: KP899Source type: Electronic(1
Income Risk and Health
No full textWe investigate the impact of exogenous income shocks on health using twenty years of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamic. To unravel the impact of income on health from unobserved heterogeneity and reverse causality, we employ techniques from the literature on the estimation of dynamic panel data models. Contrary to much of the previous literature on the gradient, we find that, on average, adverse income shocks lead to a deterioration of health. These effects are most pronounced for working-aged men and are dominated by transitions into the very bottom of the earnings distribution. We also provide suggestive evidence of an association between negative income shocks and higher mortality for working-aged men.Gradient, Recessions, Health, Dynamic Panel Data Models
Migration, Risk and the Intra-Household Allocation of Labor in El Salvador
No full textWe use panel data from El Salvador to investigate the intra-household allocation of labor as a risk-coping strategy. We show that adverse agricultural productivity shocks primarily increased male migration to the US with much smaller effects on female migration. This is consistent with the observation that the bulk of households allocated no women to the agricultural sector. These shocks also increased the number of hours that the household devoted to agricultural activities. These results do not contradict each other if one considers the possibility that the shocks had non-monotonic effects on shadow wages during the survey period. In contrast, damage sustained from the 2001 earthquakes exclusively stunted female migration. We argue that the reasons for this were that the earthquakes increased the demand for home production and that most men in our data are not engaged in domestic production at all.Migration, Labor Supply, Insurance, Intra-Household Allocation
Intra-Household Labor Supply, Migration, and Subsistence Constraints in a Risky Environment: Evidence from Rural El Salvador
No full textWe use panel data from El Salvador to investigate migration and the intra-household allocation of labor as a strategy for coping with uninsured risk. Consistent with a model of a farm household with a binding subsistence constraint, we show that adverse agricultural productivity shocks increased both male migration to the US and the supply of male agricultural labor within the household in El Salvador. In contrast, after damage sustained from the 2001 earthquakes, female migration from El Salvador declined. This is consistent with the earthquakes increasing the demand for home production. Overall, household responses to uninsured risk appear to be consistent with a simple framework in which household members are allocated to sectors according to their comparative advantage. Finally, we show no evidence that the labor market in El Salvador is capable of helping rural Salvadoran households to buffer the effects of adverse shocks.Migration, Labor Supply, Insurance, Intra-Household Allocation, Subsistence Constraints
Essays On Health Coverage Expansions And Its Impacts On Low Income Populations
No full textThis dissertation is composed of two chapters that apply econometric techniques to evaluate the impacts of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion on health coverage for low-income populations. The first chapter evaluates who enrolled in Medicaid as a consequence of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Using the 2010–2017 American Community Survey, I estimate how characteristics relating to work status and race/ethnicity affect the probability that an individual will be a complier, defined as those induced by the ACA Medicaid expansion to obtain Medicaid coverage. Across all states, I find that part-time workers, not non-workers, are the most likely to be compliers. This finding is not consistent with certain notions that Medicaid participants are the ”undeserving poor” - a sentiment that may have hindered efforts to expand Medicaid in certain states. Additionally, I find that in non-expansion states, many of which have high Black populations, the probability of being a complier is higher for Blacks than for other racial/ethnic groups, suggesting that Black people in non-expansion states would be the largest beneficiaries of any new expansions. This paper not only identifies the types of individuals who were already impacted by the expansion but also identifies which populations would benefit the most from subsequent expansions. The second chapter analyzes how effective was the ACA in enrolling children already eligible for Medicaid and Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Utilizing the American Community Survey (ACS) from 2012 to 2017, I adopt a difference-in-differences approach that measures the changes in public and private coverage for Medicaid and CHIP eligible children before and after the enactment of the ACA Medicaid expansion. I find that there are modest yet significant increases in public coverage for children who were previously eligible for Medicaid and CHIP prior to the expansion, providing evidence of a “welcome mat” effect. However, I observe significant crowding out in employer-sponsored insurance for both previously eligible children and children who became newly eligible as a result of the new adjusted gross income (MAGI) thresholds established after 2014. My findings not only establish, under the ACA Medicaid expansion, clear evidence of a “welcome mat” effect for children across various age and income groups, but they may also suggest that parents favor fully subsidized public coverage over partially subsidized private insurance for their children.Ph.D
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