We introduce a decomposition of the growth in real median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary earners into parts due to earnings increases of those who remain employed, the intensive margin, and due to changes in those who are employed, the extensive margin. The intensive margin is procyclical and dominates during expansions. The extensive margin is countercyclical and important during downturns, especially during the Great and COVID Recessions. The extensive margin is mainly driven by entries from and exits to part-time employment and nonparticipation, not unemployment.

We exploit historical natural experiments to test whether universities increase economic mobility and equality. We use "runner-up'" counties that were strongly considered to become university sites but were not selected for as-good-as-random reasons as counterfactuals for university counties. University establishment causes greater intergenerational income mobility but also increases cross-sectional income inequality. We highlight four findings to explain this seeming paradox: universities hollow out the local labor market and provide greater opportunities to achieve top incomes, both of which increase cross-sectional inequality, and increase educational attainment and connections to high-SES people, which prevent inequality from perpetuating into intergenerational immobility. Abstract We exploit historical natural experiments to test whether universities increase economic mobility and equality. We use runner-up counties that were strongly considered to become university sites but were not selected for as-good-as-random reasons as counterfactuals for university counties. University establishment causes greater intergenerational income mobility but also increases cross-sectional income inequality. We highlight four ndings to explain this seeming paradox: universities hollow out the local labor market and provide greater opportunities to achieve top incomes, both of which increase cross-sectional inequality, and increase educational attainment and connections to high-SES people, which prevent inequality from perpetuating into intergenerational immobility.

Immigrants comprise nearly 20% of the child care workforce in the U.S. This paper studies the impact of a major immigration enforcement policy, Secure Communities (SC), on the structure and functioning of the child care market. Relying on the staggered introduction of SC across counties between 2008 and 2014, we find that the program reduced children’s participation in center-based child care programs. The estimated reductions are substantially larger among disadvantaged children, raising questions about the possibility of health and developmental spillovers. We also find that SC reduced the supply and wages of immigrant and native child care workers in the center-based sector. We provide descriptive evidence that immigrants and natives may not compete for the same jobs: immigrant child care teachers are more highly skilled, and the children assigned to their classrooms differ on some observable characteristics. Therefore, immigrants and natives are likely to be complements to child care service production.

The approach of the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Developement Goals in general, and particularly the Zero Hunger goal by the year 2030 (SDG2, target 2.1), should be marked by a significant improvement in the indicators that measure the level of change in the situation relative to the reference date ; but the UN agencies ( FAO, IFAD, UNICEF,WFP, WHO ) which joinly carry out studies on the state of food security and nutrition in the world, said the achievement of SDG2 is compromise, even threatened. Endeed, the number of people who suffered from hunger (who are in severe food insecurity) in the world is estimated at 696 million in 2019, an increase of 10 million compared to the year 2018 (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO , 2020). This rise in food insecurity is also observe in the countries of Sub- Saharan Africa and particularly in Cameroon. Thus, given the high level of food insecurity (AI) among men in Cameoon, a study to better define the profile of these men and understand the high prevalence of AI among them has proven to be relevant. The data used come from the Demographic and Health Survey carried out in Cameroon in 2018(IPUMS- DHS,2018). Descriptive multivariate analysis and multilevel logistic regression are the methods that were used to obtain the following results : Moderate food insecurity is much more prevalent among men who generaly live in rural areas that are home to very poor or poor households in the East or Nord West region, they are usually farmers. Further more,men who are seriously food insecure live in communities with a high proportion of poor households in rural areas of the Littoral without Douala or in the city of Douala(it’s being the precarious neighborthoods of this city), they have usually at least two wives/partners.

Prior research agrees that uncertainty in entrepreneurship shapes individuals' decision between hybrid and full-time entry, but largely neglects the role of uncertainty in paid employment. By theorizing that hybrid entrepreneurship is a portfolio of real options in entrepreneurship and paid employment, we argue that both uncertainty in entrepreneurship and paid employment as well as their interplay determine individuals' decisions regarding their mode of entry into entrepreneurship. We validate our theory using data from the Current Population Survey and the Study of Income and Program Participation and contribute to the hybrid entrepreneurship literature and research on uncertainty in entrepreneurship.

Recent academic research and industrial commitments highlight the potential of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in transforming the way we travel. However, there are some anticipated barriers associated with the widespread consumer adoption of CAVs, including but not limited to low user acceptance, cybersecurity, safety, and legislation. The existing literature is non-existent in capturing the impact of information received from multiple sources (peers, car dealers, media advertisements, and personal research) on the consumers’ acceptance of CAVs while considering these barriers associated with CAV. In this direction, we quantify the impact of the multiple information sources on the individuals concerned and indifferent about the anticipated barriers of CAVs to boost their acceptance while utilizing a two-step econometric framework based on an online survey of 4,448 Tennesseans. The two-step modeling framework utilizes latent class analysis followed by a multivariate ordered logit model. Results indicated that the elderly, three or more person households, and residents interested in owning a CAV are more likely to be concerned about CAV barriers. In contrast, males, physically challenged, and residents willing to pay higher for CAV are more likely to be indifferent toward CAV barriers. Among concerned individuals, the elderly, females, and residents willing to pay more than $30 k for a conventional car are more likely to rely on car dealers when purchasing a CAV. The results of this study are expected to assist automakers, technology companies, policymakers, and third-party agencies to advertise, promote and introduce CAVs effectively through appropriate information channel(s) to boost their consumer acceptance.

This paper explains why college attendance increased faster for women than for men in the United States by examining the effect of expected lifetime work hours on college attendance. Using U.S. census data 1950-2000 and the American Community Survey 2010, we show that expected lifetime work hours has a significant effect on college attendance for both men and women, with a larger effect for women than for men. A larger gender difference in expected lifetime work hours leads to a larger gender difference in college attendance.

A growing body of evidence indicates that poor health early in life can leave lasting scars on adult health and economic outcomes. While much of this literature focuses on childhood experiences, mechanisms generating these lasting effects-recurrence of illness and interruption of human capital accumulation-are not limited to childhood. In this study, we examine how an episode of depression experienced in early adulthood affects subsequent labor market outcomes. We find that, at age 50, people who had met diagnostic criteria for depression when surveyed at ages 27-35 earn 10% lower hourly wages (conditional on occupation) and work 120-180 fewer hours annually, together generating 24% lower annual wage incomes. A portion of this income penalty (21-39%) occurs because depression is often a chronic condition, recurring later in life. But a substantial share (25-55%) occurs because depression in early adulthood disrupts human capital accumulation, by reducing work experience and by influencing selection into occupations with skill distributions that offer lower potential for wage growth. These lingering effects of early depression reinforce the importance of early and multifaceted intervention to address depression and its follow-on effects in the workplace.

Low wages, insufficient work hours, limited employment benefits, high workplace injury rates, and other precarious working conditions lead to high rates of turnover and churn in the direct care workforce. However, little is known about the characteristics of the workers who leave direct care occupations, versus those who stay-and the occupations into which they transfer. This research brief analyzes the annual mobility patterns of direct care workers and finds that, while a majority of the workers leaving a direct care job remain in the same occupation in a given year, a substantive proportion leave for different occupations that offer higher median wages without requiring higher levels of education or training. Notably, we also find that men and white workers exit direct care occupations at higher rates than women and workers of color. These findings underscore concerns about the (non-)competitiveness of direct care wages and support the case for raising wages and improving overall job quality to retain and recruit direct care workers. 2

Gasoline prices are often a heated topic during presidential election campaigns in the United States. Yet, presidents have limited control over gasoline prices. Do voters reward or punish the president for changes in gasoline prices? Why might voters blame the president for an outcome beyond direct presidential control? This study addresses these questions by testing the effects of gasoline prices on pocketbook retrospection by voters. To capture the personal economic burden of gasoline prices, we rely on average driving times to work, given the inelastic nature of gasoline consumption for commuting. The results provide evidence for pocketbook voting: constituencies with longer average driving times to work are more likely to hold the president accountable for gasoline price increases. These findings have broader implications regarding electoral accountability and rationality in voting.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between socioeconomic status and child undernutrition in West Africa (WA), and further examined the mediating role of dietary practices (measured as minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF) and minimum acceptable diet (MAD)) and household environmental quality (HEQ) in the observed relationship. Design: Thirteen countries were included in the study. We leveraged the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys datasets ranging from 2010 to 2019. Poisson regression model with robust standard errors was used to estimate prevalence ratios and their corresponding 95 % CI. Structural equation modelling was used to conduct the mediation analysis. Setting: West Africa. Participants: 132 448 under-five children born within 5 years preceding the survey were included. Results: Overall, 32·5 %, 8·2 %, 20·1 % and 71·7 % of WA children were stunted, wasted, underweight and anaemic, respectively. Prevalence of undernutrition decreased with increasing maternal education and household wealth (Trend P-values < 0·001). Secondary or higher maternal education and residence in rich households were associated with statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of stunting, wasting, underweight and anaemia among children in WA. MAD was found to mediate the association of low maternal education and poor household wealth with childhood stunting and underweight by 35·9 % to 44·5 %. MDD, MMF and HEQ did not mediate the observed relationship. Conclusions: The study findings enables an evaluation and improvement of existing intervention strategies through a socioeconomic lens to help address the high burden of child undernutrition in WA and other developing regions.

We study how the intra-family relationship affects female entrepreneurship. By utilizing a major change in marriage law in the U.S., we find that female entrepreneurship increases significantly when the divorce regime changes from mutual consent to unilateral, especially when property rights are more favorable to women. This effect is mainly from an increase in the survival of existing female entrepreneurs rather than the entry of previous housewives. We consider a variety of potential mechanisms and conclude that the increase in female entrepreneurship after the law change is most likely driven by an increase in women's intra-family bargaining power against spouses.

Historians of American slavery are well-aware that there were slaves in New Netherland before the Dutch colony’s surrender to the English in 1664. It is seldom recognized, however, that the Dutch-speaking slave population in New York grew during the next century. This article establishes for the first time a reasonable estimate of the total number of Dutch-speaking slaves who lived in New York during the eighteenth century. To estimate the cumulative size of a dynamic population over time, the author constructs a population growth model with data drawn from New York’s colonial censuses, slave import and export data, and birth and death rates based on comparable historical circumstances, along with assumptions of exogenous shocks to the population due to factors such as war and slave runaways. The model suggests the total number of slaves who lived in New York at any point in the eighteenth century probably reached around 76,000. The article argues further that from 22,800 to 30,000 (30 to 40%) of these slaves likely spoke some Dutch.

We use a regression discontinuity design to study the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on traffic accidents. Based on administrative data from Louisiana, we find that the lockdown order led to a significant decrease in traffic accidents (−47%), including accidents involving injury (−46%) and ambulance (−41%). We also find evidence of heterogeneous changes in the decline of drivers involved in accidents, with a smaller decline among individuals aged 25 to 64, male, and nonwhite drivers.

As concepts of mental health have advanced and social change has evolved, social psychiatry has adapted and influenced the contemporary delivery of mental health care to the sexual and gender minority (SGM) community. A neoteric understanding of sexual orientation was crucial in delineating a contemporary redefinition of that which constitutes a mental disorder when homosexuality was declassified in 1973. Subsequently, affirmative therapies emerged. Gender identity disorder was replaced by gender dysphoric disorder. Same-sex marriage, previously a fanciful notion, became legally recognized on a national basis. New and existing journals began to convey a corpus of novel research in sexual and gender minority studies that would be incorporated into educational curricula. And, SGM psychiatrists were, at last, free from the implications of pathology, to become active and open participants in the profession. Few classes of people within our society have undergone such dramatic change, even within the last decade. These gains have affected the well-being of SGM individuals in complex ways. This chapter explores these issues from a community psychiatry perspective, giving the community psychiatrist an essential perspective and understanding as providers of care to the SGM community.

This paper explains why college attendance increased faster for women than for men in the United States by examining the effect of expected lifetime work hours on college attendance. Using U.S. census data 1950–2000 and the American Community Survey 2010, we show that expected lifetime work hours has a significant effect on college attendance for both men and women, with a larger effect for women than for men. A larger gender difference in expected lifetime work hours leads to a larger gender difference in college attendance.

Objectives: This study examines educational differences in living alone and in self-rated health trends among middle-aged and older adults. Methods: We used logistic regression to analyze data from the 1972–2018 National Health Interview Survey (n = 795,239 aged 40–64; n = 357,974 aged 65–84). Results: Between 1972–1974 and 2015–2018, living alone became more prevalent, particularly among men and at lower levels of education. Self-rated health trends varied by living arrangement and education. We found self-rated health declines among middle-aged adults having no college degree and living alone, but trends in self-rated health were mostly stable or even improved among middle-aged adults living with others. Among older adults, self-rated health improved over time, but for the least-educated older Americans living alone, the probability of reporting fair or poor health increased between 1972–1974 and 2015–2018. Discussion: The findings suggest growing disparities by social class, in living arrangements and in self-rated health.

[None in English.]

This dissertation includes three essays in applied microeconomics. The first two chapters focus on gender and female labor force participation. The third chapter examines the strategic behavior in politics. The first chapter examines the impact of male casualties due to World War II on fertility and female employment in the United States. We rely on the number of casualties at the county-level and use a differences-in-differences strategy. While most counties in the U.S. experienced a Baby Boom following the war, we find that the increase in fertility was lower in high casualty rate counties than in low casualty rate counties. Analyzing the channels through which male casualties could have decreased fertility, we provide evidence that county male casualties are positively related to 1950s female employment and household income. The second chapter examines the impact of gender focused labor legislation on women’s labor force participation and economic empowerment. We rely on historical acts passed by state legislatures and exploit whether or not states passed regulatory laws regulating overall and industry specific employment and work conditions for women, night work laws and labor laws requiring provision of seats for working women. We exploit the fact that not all states enacted these laws as well as the variation in the timing of enactment of such laws. Our results show that women in comparison to men in treated states are more likely to be in the labor force after the introduction of seating and night work laws relative to control states. We also document the effect of industry-specific labor policies on women’s likelihood to be employed in the affected industry and in higher-wage occupations within the industry of interest. Policy implications of our findings endorse the adoption of labor laws in favor of women to further their empowerment through a higher involvement in the labor market and financial independence. The third chapter examines strategic timing in the appearance of scandals about elected officials in the United States. In order to minimize negative publicity, politicians may strategically manipulate the timing of uncovering their own unpopular actions to coincide with other important events that are crowding the media and distracting the public. I start by developing a simple voting model to better understand the different mechanisms behind the timing of scandals’ appearance. A forward-looking strategy implies that predictable news events may be used by politicians to distort public opinion. Using a novel data set of misconduct episodes from 1970 to 2020 and an instrumental variable strategy, I show that scandals are more likely to appear simultaneously with other foreseeable newsworthy events. I also examine the heterogeneity of different types of scandals and potentially different behavior across political parties. My findings suggest that Republican politicians are behaving especially strategically in timing the revelation of sexual and political misconducts.

Analysis of Current Population Survey data suggests a tightening labor market for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nursing assistants, marked by falling employment and rising wages through June 2021. Unemployment rates remain higher in non-hospital settings and among registered nurses and nursing assistants who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups.