This paper studies how the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 changed market access and influenced the economic geography of the United States. We compute shipment distances with and without the canal from each US county to each other US county and to key international ports and compute the resulting change in market access. We relate this change to population changes in 20-year intervals from 1880 to 2000. We find that a 1 percent increase in market access led to a total increase of population by around 6 percent. We compute similar elasticities for wages, land values and immigration from out of state. When we decompose the effect by industry, we find that tradable (manufacturing) industries react faster than nontradable (services), with a fairly similar aggregate effect.

Scholars have established that having descriptive, surrogate representation for minority racial groups in Congress translates to effective substantive representation of those groups through certain legislative behaviors. For Latinxs, though, the relationship between racial identity and political representation is more complex. Latinidad--or Latinx identity--encompasses people of many national origins, genders, and experiences who have a variety of political interests and preferences. How, then, is it possible for Latinx representatives to accurately and adequately represent this multitude of interests when there is seemingly no unfying experience with which to draw Latinxs together? In this dissertation, I argue that the answer comes in the form of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and its efforts to engage in what I call coalitional representation. Unlike theories of descriptive and surrogate representation, which focus on the efficacy of individual legislators and their relationships with racial minority groups, coalitional representation foregrounds the relationship between groups of legislators such as the CHC and their target constituency. Using a mixed methods approach, I explore the relationship between the Latinx community and the CHC as its coalitional representative in the House of Representatives. Using an interpretive approach that draws on the CHC's archival documents and elite interviews with CHC members and staffers, I trace the history of the CHC and how the group has adapted to the shifting political context as it attempts to represent the Latinx community. I also show that the CHC pushes an inclusive notion of Latinidad that takes into account the intersectionality of Latinx identity, resulting in CHC behaviors that are more inclusive and provide representation for a greater number of Latinxs. I then quantitatively assess the CHC's efficacy as a coalitional representative. While the group does not seem effective based on traditional measures of legislative effectiveness such as passing legislation, the CHC is still an effective coalitional representative by engaging in other behaviors that help boost the voices of the Latinx community throughout American political institutions. The effectiveness of the CHC at representing the Latinx community by boosting its voice in Congress as well as other political institutions is of enormous importance at a time that Latinxs are facing increasing discrimination in the U.S. Through its practice of coalitional representation the CHC pushes American political institutions toward being both more representative and democratic, especially as the group continues to grow both in size and political power in the House of Representatives.

Inadequate research has examined the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on health insurance status in the United States after its full implementation as data were released only recently. This study analyzes changes in health insurance status and its determinants before the ACA, after its partial implementation in 2010-2013, and after its full implementation in 2014 and 2015. Data from the 2009-2015 National Health Interview Surveys are used to address the research problem and test the hypotheses for this study. The trend analysis shows that the national health insurance rate increased significantly from 82.2 percent in 2009 to 89.4 percent in 2015. The results of logistic regression analysis reveal that age, gender, race, marital status, nativity, U.S. citizenship status, education, and poverty level influenced health insurance status consistently before and after the Affordable Care Act. While the effects of several predictors were either identical or similar across years, holding other variables constant those aged 26 or younger, the foreign-born, Asians, and other races had greater odds of getting health insurance after the ACA than they did before the ACA; however, the likelihood of gaining health insurance for Hispanics and people living under poverty increased slightly during the partial implementation of the ACA but somewhat decreased after the full implementation of the ACA starting in 2014. The findings help assess the effectiveness of the ACA and have significant implications for the pending healthcare reform.

A wide variety of definitions of the working class are in use across disciplines and even within working-class studies (Cohen 2001; Zweig 2001; Metzgar 2003; Wilson 2016; Wilson and Roscigno 2018). Responding to Zweig’s (2016) call to maintain continuity in thinking about the working class in working-class studies by recognizing that ‘the working class continues to exist in capitalist societies, within capitalist class dynamics, in which the organization of production underlies material, cultural, and political experience’ (14), I delineate several definitions of the working class and take a close look at three operationalizations of the working class by occupational aggregations, one each suggested by Metzgar (2003) and Cohen (2001) and one I define, inspired by Florida (2002). Using 2017 American Community Survey data, I compare the demographics and geography of the working class through each of these definitions. I illustrate that by many definitions, the working class is a broad and diverse group of workers who live and work in rural, urban, and suburban places, while inequalities both within the working class and between it and other social classes remain pressing issues for investigation. This paper provides a guide for understanding definitions of the working class that will be useful for working-class studies scholars from all disciplines, regardless of methodologies.

Despite growing evidence on occupational and educational barriers in developing coun- tries, there are few estimates of their effect on the aggregate productivity. This paper measures the magnitude of these barriers and their impact on aggregate productivity using the data on expected occupational choice of students. First, I document striking differences in the impact of students’ academic skills on occupational choice across coun- tries. In most developing countries academic skills of students have relatively little effect on skill intensity or earning potential of expected occupations. The observed lower sort- ing on skills suggests a higher incidence of occupational barriers in developing countries. Next, I evaluate the productivity costs of these sorting patterns by attributing them to latent occupational barriers and calibrate a model of occupational choice based on the Roy (1951) framework. I calibrate the model by combining the data skills and expected occupations from the PISA database with the data from nationally-representative samples of working adults. I find that occupational barriers are particularly high in developing countries in my sample and that their elimination can increase the aggregate output by up to twenty five percent.

Background : Unmet need remains high in developing regions. New contraceptive technologies may improve uptake and use. This study examines desirable product characteristics. Methods : We added a module to the female questionnaire of the PMA2020 surveys in Burkina Faso and Uganda and conducted 50 focus group discussions (FGDs) with women, 10 FGDs with men, and 37 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with providers across the two countries. FGDs with women and IDIs with providers included a semi-structured ranking exercise on pre-selected product characteristics. Results : Effectiveness, duration, few side effects, cost, and access were the characteristics most commonly reported as important in choosing a method by survey respondents across both countries. Half or more of women surveyed in each country would like a method that lasts at least one year, while 65% in Burkina Faso and 40% in Uganda said they would use a method causing amenorrhea. Qualitative findings show that women want methods with minimal and predictable side effects. Reactions to increased bleeding were negative, especially in Burkina Faso, but perspectives on reduced bleeding were more mixed. Women and providers preferred methods that are discreet and not user-dependent, and associate duration with convenience of use. Some women in Uganda expressed concerns about the invasive nature of long-acting methods, and cost was an important consideration in both countries. In the ranking exercise, discreet use and few side effects often ranked high, while causing amenorrhea and not requiring a pelvic exam often ranked low. Conclusion : Product development should consider user preferences for success in these settings.

This study contributes to a growing literature that documents the importance of arrival cohort and country of birth for differentiating the health of U.S. immigrants. We use nationally-representative data from nine years of the American Community Survey (2008–2016) to examine if an immigrant health advantage exists among Arab Americans ages 40+ (n = 49,867) and test if differences among the foreign-born vary by arrival cohort (pre-1991, 1991–2000, and 2001+). Results from multivariate logistic regression models find that foreign-born Arab Americans have higher odds of physical and self-care disability, and this varies by immigrant arrival cohort. The post-2001 cohort had the highest odds of both disabilities, while the earlier two cohorts did not differ from the native-born after adjustments for covariates. Compositional differences in birthplace, particularly the large influx of immigrants from Iraq in the most recent cohort, explained these differences. Political instabilities globally have contributed to a growing number of U.S. immigrants with vulnerabilities that might be overlooked when arrival cohorts are not considered.

Survey refusal in the Current Population Survey (CPS) has tripled over the last decade. This rise coincides with the emergence of rhetoric, largely from the political right, questioning the accuracy and integrity of government statistics. We examine how support for the Tea Party and the Republican party have affected CPS refusal rates and whether households are more likely to participate in the survey when their preferred political party holds the White House. Using state and metro vote shares or an individual-level model based on the longitudinal structure of the CPS, we find no evidence that Republican or Tea Party supporters drive the long-term upward trend in refusals. We do find evidence of a political cycle in response rates. Refusal rates since 2015 exhibit polarization, with the fastest growth in refusals among those least likely to support Trump and the Tea Party. Evidence from an analysis which generates exogenous variation in Tea Party support using rain on the day of the first Tea Party rally indicates that exposure to anti-survey rhetoric decreases refusal rates, consistent with the findings from our other analyses.

Between the 1930s and the 1950s the United States Federal Housing Administration (FHA) developed a set of programs to spur the private development of hundreds of thousands of multifamily rental and cooperative units. To do so, the government crafted real estate technologies, working through iterative processes that weigh the social need for housing with what makes developers and investors engage. This technology generated units as well as a public-private approach to housing production. We use archival, government and journalistic sources to investigate these technologies in practice in early FHA multifamily programs, locate the housing stock it generated in New York City, and explore how real estate technologies changed over time. The discourse of state market relations transforms what is legally a mortgage insurance program into proto-neoliberalism. The FHA multifamily programs provide a lens to view one way in which the negotiation of effective real estate technologies shape state market relations.

The United States has seen a continuing growth in family income inequality over the last four decades. This has attracted scholarly interest in inequality-inducing mechanisms behind the temporal changes in income inequality. As compared to the burgeoning interest in women’s contribution to changes in household income inequality, much less attention was paid to the trend in earnings inequality among female workers. Overall earnings inequality among women in general and female workers in particular in the United States shows a slight decline between the late 1970s and the late 2000s. This raises an interesting question of, firstly, what caused earnings inequality among female workers to decrease. It also, secondly, asks how changes in earnings inequality among women are related to changes in household income inequality. Using CPS IPUMS datasets and a counterfactual decomposition method developed by Richard Breen, we investigate whether changes in the distributions of some socio-demographic features among female workers between the two points in time were responsible for the changes in inequality, and the consequences of changes in female earnings inequality for household income inequality

Over the last two decades labor market dynamism, measured by flows of workers between employers , declined substantially in the US. During the same period employment polarized into low and high skill jobs. This paper shows that the two trends are linked. First, I provide a framework to study employment and worker flows, where skill intensity of jobs and workers' skills are complements. I analyze within this framework the effects of routine-biased technological change and the increasing supply of college graduates on labor market flows. When routine-biased technological change displaces mid-skill jobs, it lowers the opportunity to move up to better jobs for low-skilled workers. Similarly, high skilled workers have less opportunity to take stepping stone jobs and are more likely to start employment further up the job ladder, reducing the frequency of transitions between employers. The rising share of college graduates puts further pressure on labor markets by increasing competition for jobs from top to bottom. In equilibrium workers trade down to jobs with lower skill intensity to gain employment, but find it harder to move up as they are competing with more highly educated workers. I quantitatively assess whether such mechanisms contribute to the fall in labor market dynamism, by estimating the model using data on labor market flows. I find that routine-biased technological change and the increase in supply of college graduates together account for over 50% of the decline in mobility, both in the aggregate and conditional on workers' education levels.

Marriage patterns of immigrants can serve as an indicator of the degree of immigrant integration into their host countries. Literature on the economics of the household has focused on the role of the sex-ratio as an important determining factor in marriage market outcomes. Therefore, it is important to understand if and how the sex-ratio has changed over time and the mechanisms that may drive that change. In this paper, we explore recent changes in the sex-ratio among immigrants to the USA, focusing on the 24 highest sending countries of immigrants. First, building upon previous research, we document the non-gender-neutral nature of declining immigration to the USA. We approach this study from two different dimensions to document some of the forces driving this change in the sex-ratio. The first approach, focusing on changes between birth cohorts, demonstrates that immigration is declining more quickly for men than it is for women, leading to a decrease in the sex-ratio from above 100 and thus bringing about more gender-balanced migration. Second, we present results from an analysis of data on recently granted green cards, which suggests that the sex-ratio among this population is increasing from below 100, also bringing about more gender balance among immigrants. The period of study allows us to capture changes taking place pre- and post-Great Recession. We find declines in migration for both men and women during the Great Recession, but sharper recovery for women. Additionally, while migration has declined for both men and women in traditional receiving states, the stock of women has increased in non-traditional immigrant-receiving states.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States (1). Heart attacks (also known as myocardial infarctions) occur when a portion of the heart muscle does not receive adequate blood flow, and they are major contributors to heart disease, with an estimated 750,000 occurring annually (2). Early intervention is critical for preventing mortality in the event of a heart attack (3). Identification of heart attack signs and symptoms by victims or bystanders, and taking immediate action by calling emergency services (9-1-1), are crucial to ensure timely receipt of emergency care and thereby improve the chance for survival (4). A recent report using National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2014 found that 47.2% of U.S. adults could state all five common heart attack symptoms (jaw, neck, or back discomfort; weakness or lightheadedness; chest discomfort; arm or shoulder discomfort; and shortness of breath) and knew to call 9-1-1 if someone had a heart attack (5). To assess changes in awareness and response to an apparent heart attack, CDC analyzed data from NHIS to report awareness of heart attack symptoms and calling 9-1-1 among U.S. adults in 2008, 2014, and 2017. The adjusted percentage of persons who knew all five common heart attack symptoms increased from 39.6% in 2008 to 50.0% in 2014 and to 50.2% in 2017. The adjusted percentage of adults who knew to call 9-1-1 if someone was having a heart attack increased from 91.8% in 2008 to 93.4% in 2014 and to 94.9% in 2017. Persistent disparities in awareness of heart attack symptoms were observed by demographic characteristics and cardiovascular risk group. Public health awareness initiatives and systematic integration of appropriate awareness and action in response to a perceived heart attack should be expanded across the health system continuum of care.

The Center for Economic Development (the Center) produced this economic impact report for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) to illustrate how their operations, infrastructure, and services contribute to Cuyahoga County’s economy. Cleveland is fortunate among the Midwestern metropolitan areas to have a rich transit history and infrastructure which is actively updated and shapes regional life. Among similar metro transit authorities in the region (Detroit, Cincinnati, and others), GCRTA was second only to Pittsburgh’s Port Authority of Allegheny County in terms of ridership and vehicle-revenue miles in 2017. 1 With 2,300 full-time employees in 2017, GCRTA is the 13th largest Northeast Ohio employer based in Cleveland and the 38th largest in the region. 2 GCRTA’s service area is Cuyahoga County; its 2017 operating budget totaled $247 million, and its capital budget varied from $60 million to $87 million over . . .

This analysis aimed to better understand the relationship between intimate partner violence against women and fertility indicators, including family planning, in Uganda. It sought to determine how different types of violence by a husband or partner is related to fertility and family planning outcomes.

This paper addresses economic issues related to the unemployment insurance (UI) system, focusing on the worker- and employer-facing aspects of UI policy—i.e., the ways that benefits are provided to workers and that employers are taxed to fund those benefits. We outline principles for optimal design, grounding these principles in the relevant research literature. These principles guide the empirical analysis of the paper, which focuses on establishing the quantitative importance of the considerations that motivate those principles. This leads to several specific areas of investigation and policy recommendations: benefit structure, rules for eligibility, experience-rated UI tax schedules, and interactions of UI with part-time work, among others.

There is debate in the literature as to whether military service is rewarded in the economy and the extent to which veterans receive either a wage premium or penalty. In this paper, we take a new approach to this question by conducting a wage decomposition of the veteran wage differential and decomposing the wage distribution of veterans and civilians instead of focusing only on the standard wage gap analysis at the averages. We find the veteran wage differential is driven by observable factors such as education, occupation, and industry, but also by location choice, a factor that has been previously overlooked in the literature. At the average, we find white men experience a veteran penalty whereas black men and women experience a veteran premium consistent with the bridging hypothesis. Additionally, we find that as we move along the wage distribution for all demographic groups, the veteran premium tends to become a veteran penalty, even after accounting for selection into military service. However, once we account for selection, we find that the premium for veteran black men disappears.

Fundamentals of Programming in SAS: A Case Studies Approach gives a complete introduction to SAS programming. Perfect for students, novice SAS users, and programmers studying for their Base SAS certification, this book covers all the basics, including: working with data creating visualizations data validation good programming practices Experienced programmers know that real-world scenarios require practical solutions. Designed for use in the classroom and for self-guided learners, this book takes a novel approach to learning SAS programming by following a single case study throughout the text and circling back to previous concepts to reinforce material. Readers will benefit from the variety of exercises, including both multiple choice questions and in-depth case studies. Additional case studies are also provided online for extra practice. This approach mirrors the way good SAS programmers develop their skills—through hands-on work with an eye toward developing the knowledge necessary to tackle more difficult tasks. After reading this book, you will gain the skills and confidence to take on larger challenges with the power of SAS.

Health insurance depends on labor market activity more in the U.S. than in any other high-income country. A majority of the population are insured through an employer (known as employer-sponsored insurance or ESI), benefiting from the risk pooling and economies of scale available to group insurance plans. Some workers may therefore be reluctant to leave a job for fear of losing such low-cost insurance, a tendency known as “job lock,” or may switch jobs or work more hours merely to obtain it, known as “job push.” Others obtain insurance through government programs for which eligibility depends on income. They too may adapt their work effort to remain eligible for insurance. Those without access to ESI or who are too young or earn too much to qualify for public coverage (Medicare and Medicaid) can buy insurance only in the individual or non-group market, where prices are high and variable. Most studies using data from before the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 support the prediction that ESI reduced job mobility, labor-force participation, retirement, and self-employment prior to the ACA, but find little effect on the labor supply of public insurance. The ACA profoundly changed the health insurance market in the U.S., removing restrictions on obtaining insurance from new employers or on the individual market and expanding Medicaid eligibility to previously ineligible adults. Research on the ACA, however, has not found substantial labor supply effects. These results may reflect that the reforms to the individual market mainly affected those who were previously uninsured rather than workers with ESI, that the theoretical labor market effects of expansions in public coverage are ambiguous, and that the effect would be found only among the relatively small number on the fringes of eligibility.

One goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to enable entrepreneurship by increasing access to non-employer-based health insurance. We evaluate the extent to which the ACA was successful at this, providing some of the first estimates of the effect of the main provisions of the ACA on entrepreneurship. We are the first to focus specifically on older adults, whose higher average health costs and health insurance premiums make health insurance more salient to their labor market decisions. We do so using data from the American Community Survey and a difference-in-difference strategy, taking advantage of Medicare-eligibles as a control group less affected by the ACA. We find that the ACA led to a 3–4% increase in self-employment. We find similar increases in the likelihood of being self-employed in an incorporated business and of generating at least $5000 in business income, as well as a 9% increase in the likelihood of being self-employed full time. By lowering the cost of non-employer health insurance policies to older adults, the ACA appears to have eased their transition from employment to self-employment.