1,721,512 research outputs found
The Long-Term Consequences of Family Class Origins in Urban China
No full textThe Chinese government redistributed houses, land and wealth across families and assigned an inheritable class identity (chengfen) to each family in early 1950s. The government then implemented class-based discriminatory policies against the rich and middle class until 1978. This paper shows that individuals born after 1951 with rich class origins have significantly higher income and family assets per capita than those from the poor class in 2002. Moreover, those who were born after 1960 from rich class gained more years of education than others except for the descendants of the revolutionary class, after the abolition of the discrimination policy. Overall, the study provides evidence that intergenerational transmission of wealth status and education are not necessary flowing through the inheritance of physical capital. The paper further demonstrates that individuals with revolutionary background do not have lower economic outcome or educational attainment than those from the rich, suggesting that a new elite group emerges in contemporary China.1
Parenting Training’s Effect on Parenting Behaviors and Subjective Well-being: A Randomized Control Trail in Rural China
Full text linkThis paper presents the preliminary findings from the randomized experiment on early childhood education in Yunnan province, China. In the treatment group, caregivers were gathered together regularly to be trained by kindergarten teachers on parenting skills, and extracurricular books are made available for borrowing in the kindergartens. The empirical analysis reveals no significant improvement in caregivers’ parenting behaviors. In addition, parent’s subjective well-being is also not affected. The results alarm the difficulties in changing caregivers’ parenting behaviors in less developed regions, which might suggest that we shall count more on formal institutions such as kindergartens to improve early childhood development
Wellness for Happiness in Developing Asia
No full textThe wellness sector of Asian economies can potentially contribute to national happiness, either through its contribution to economic performance or through noneconomic channels. This chapter exploits recent data on six wellness sectors from the Global Wellness Institute and self-reported happiness from the Gallup World Poll to assess the wellness–happiness nexus empirically. Simple ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions show that workplace wellness spending by employers is statistically and economically significant for national happiness, both globally and within developing Asia. Wellness real estate development and spending on recreational physical activities are also correlated with a population’s happiness, but only in the global sample.TRU
Impact of Long Working Hours on Family Life in Korea
No full textKorea is well known for its long working hours amongst employees, being always no. 1 or 2 in OECD ranking for average annual hours. Researchers find that the long working hours have detrimental effects on productivity and employees' material well-being such as work-related injuries and illness. However, it's less explored how the long working hours affect the subjective well-being of employees and their children. In this regard, Professor Wang of KDI School of Public Policy and Management studies the impacts of employees' working hours on their quality of life, measured by subjective well-being indicators. Professor Wang exploits a nationally representative longitudinal data, the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) 1998-2012, to conduct the empirical analysis. The study can increase the understanding of workers' subjective well-being and then shed some light on the labor regulations in Korea
Social Capital and Rotating Labor Associations: Evidence from China
Full text linkIn this paper I study whether social capital has an effect on household decisions to participate in Rotating Labor Associations (ROLAs) in rural China. I find that households in communities with higher levels of social capital are more likely to participate in ROLAs using household data collected from the Gansu province in China. The presence of village temple prior to 1949 is employed as an instrument for social capital. Numerous falsification exercises are performed to evaluate the efficacy of the instrumental variables approach
Social Capital and Rotating Labor Associations in Rural China
No full textThis paper studies social capital and households' participation in Rotating Labor Associations (ROLAs) in rural China. I employ both self-reported trust and the presence of village temple prior to 1949 as proxies for social capital. I find that households in communities with higher levels of social capital are more likely to participate in ROLAs, using household data collected from the Gansu province in China.1
The effect of family planning exposure on fertility choices and reproductive health care in rural Pakistan
No full textThis paper investigates whether family planning exposure mainly through the Lady Health Worker Program has had any effect on women’s fertility choices and use of reproductive health care service in rural Pakistan, using the 2013 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS). Exploiting variations in the program intensity across regions, we conduct instrumental variables (IV) estimation on the impact of family planning exposure on women’s fertility preferences and reproductive behaviors. Our analysis shows that even in the presence of strong son preferences in Pakistan, increasing family planning exposure reduces women’s incentive to have additional children. Moreover, family planning exposure is associated with more antenatal care visits, more deliveries performed by skilled professionals, and a greater chance of delivery at the health center. Finally, we examine the heterogeneity in the effect on fertility preference by age group and education level, and find that the effect is mainly significant for the educated and young women.1
Youth Activities and Children’s Subjective Well-Being in Korea
No full textThis paper studies whether children’s participation in youth activities affects subjective well-being (SWB). We exploit a nationally representative longitudinal survey, the Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey waves 2010 and 2012, to conduct our analysis. Three measures of SWB, happiness, joy, and worry, are in use in this study. The respondents were in grade 1 of middle school (age 13) in 2010 and grade 3 in 2012. The fixed effects regressions show that longer participation hours associate with higher overall happiness and more joy, but do not significantly correlate with worry. Moreover, some activities such as adventure and environment programs associate with a higher level of SWB than other programs or activities do. We also find that various environmental factors affect children’s SWB.1
Do Siblings Make Us Happy?
No full textThis paper examines the sibling effect on individuals’ happiness. To identify the effect, we explore random gender assignment of siblings, conditional on the number of siblings, among urban residents born before the One Child Policy (1979) in China. We find that having more brothers significantly increases individuals’ happiness. Specifically, having one more brother rather than one sister increases one’s self-reported happiness by 0.038 on a 1- to 5-point scale. The brothers effect is particularly significant among low-income and unstable-income individuals. These results are consistent with findings in early literature, suggesting that brothers provide each other with financial support in case of need.1
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