The dissertation consists of three articles in addition to a comprehensive introduction. Article One is devoted to the complex issue of how ethnic affiliation should be understood in population censuses. The focus is on the Sámi population in Finnmark in the period between 1855 and 1875. The article indicates that, despite quite clear instructions, registration practices demonstrate a variety of perceptions about how to categorize a person as Sámi. Further, it is argued that one way to understand this diversity in registration practices could be to analyse how ethnicity is displayed at the household level. The discussion is approached from three different perspectives, namely, ancestral, cultural and linguistic criteria. First, the article suggests that the household level gives a more accurate picture of how the ancestry criterion is used per se, because censuses also provide information on family interrelationships. Second, and perhaps more interestingly, the household level indicates why the census-takers in some cases used a criterion other than pure genealogy—we find a mixed marriage as a main reason for someone being registered as, for example, “Norwegian, but lives like a Sámi”. The study also demonstrates that the cultural criterion does not necessarily follow the typical patriarchal rule, whereby women were given the husband’s ethnicity in cases of mixed marriages. Article One constitutes an important basis for the construction of an ethnic variable in Article Two. Article Two discusses what effects ethnic affiliation and economic activity had upon intergenerational co-residence in the NTF area during the last part of the nineteenth century. By the close of the century, less than half of all elderly people resided with an own adult child compared with approximately 60 to 65 per cent 35 years earlier. It is argued that ethnicity played a role; however, its effect disappeared after controlling for economic activity. Intergenerational co-residence was positively associated with being a married Sámi male with an occupation in farming or combined fishing and farming. As he grew older, he was increasingly more likely to live separately from an own adult child. This pattern changed towards the end of the nineteenth century. By the close of the century ethnic differences regarding intergenerational co-residence had disappeared, and headship position, irrespective of marital status, was strongly related to co-residence across generations. Article Three starts where Article Two ends. By focusing on the group that showed the most significant changes in co-residence behaviour, that is, the widowed and dependent elderly, Article Three discusses from an ethnic perspective what effects demographic variables such as age, sex and marital status had upon the living arrangements of the elderly; more specifically, we examine how the position as head of the household can be a valuable expression of people’s dependency or independency when two adult generations co-reside. As a way to understand the changes, the article discusses the peasant’s pension system and how different inheritance practices may have affected property transfer and living arrangements. A different inheritance practice among the Sámi, ultimogeniture, (that is, preference given to the youngest child), is argued to have had a pronounced effect on the higher rate of intergenerational co-residence found in 1865 and 1875. By the close of the century, we find a decrease in intergenerational co-residence among the elderly residing with married sons, and this change occurred irrespective of ethnic affiliation. Thus, just as the inheritance practice may have expressed an ethnic practice in 1865 and 1875, its articulation was less visible in 1900. The introduction presents a meta-reflection and discussion of the three related articles. The historiography section discusses how the study of family living arrangements over the past 50 years may be viewed from two distinct theoretical and methodological perspectives and indicates how this dissertation is located within these perspectives. The model and theoretical discussion presented in Chapter Two constitute the framework for the analysis of all three articles. A more detailed discussion of the variables and methods used in the articles is presented in Chapter Three. The last section presents a thorough description of the family and household composition in the NTF area during the study period. The main purpose here is to demonstrate that intergenerational co-residence, defined as the elderly (aged +60 years) residing with an own adult child (aged +18 years), should be understood within the context of how the whole society constituted its living arrangements. Thereafter follows a discussion of key concepts such as ageing, family, household, kinship and the representation of these concepts in primarily local history books from the region. The Conclusion aims to summarize the research objectives, the theoretical and methodological choices and how this dissertation puts forward new knowledge in family history.

Project Goals. Over 469 thousand households in the U.S. experienced very low food security among children, a severe condition characterized by reductions in food intake due to an inability to afford enough food. But food insecurity is not simply about economic resources. There exists a paradox in which some poor households with children are food secure while some non-poor households with children are food insecure. This study moves beyond a singular focus on income and considers how the family context may protect or generate risk of food insecurity for children. The goals of the proposed project were to: 1) to provide a detailed profile of an understudied group, households with children experiencing very low food security; 2) to consider the food security paradox—households that are poor but food secure, and households that are food insecure but non-poor, and 3) to examine how family context (structure and parental time allocations) is related to food security among households with children. Data. The study uses multiple rounds of the CPS Food Security Supplement, taking advantage of new cohabitation and parent pointers to explore more refined measures of family structure from the perspective of the child. For the main analysis, data from 2007 through 2010 are pooled, excluding any households surveyed twice due to the 4-8-4 sampling structure of the CPS. The analytic sample (N= 64,860) is composed of children ages 0 to 17 with household-level child food security information and household composition from the child perspective attached. The final research question is addressed by linking multiple years of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to the FSS. The American Time Use Survey (ATUS), . . .

This paper seeks to better understand the historical origins of current differences in norms and beliefs about the appropriate role of women in society. We test the hypothesis that traditional agricultural practices influenced the historical gender division of labor and the evolution and persistence of gender norms. We find that, consistent with existing hypotheses, the descendants of societies that traditionally practiced plough agriculture, today have lower rates of female participation in the workplace, in politics, and in entrepreneurial activities, as well as a greater prevalence of attitudes favoring gender inequality. We identify the causal impact of traditional plough use by exploiting variation in the historical geo-climatic suitability of the environment for growing crops that differentially benefited from the adoption of the plough. Our IV estimates, based on this variation, support the findings from OLS. To isolate the importance of cultural transmission as a mechanism, we examine female labor force participation of second-generation immigrants living within the US.

It is well known that poor countries are much less productive in agriculture than in the rest of the economy, and that it is hard to account for these productivity gaps. In this paper, we study US states during 1980{2009. We find that there are large productivity gaps between agriculture and non-agriculture. These productivity gaps are not at all accounted for by gaps in real wages per efficiency unit, which are similar in the two sectors. Instead, they are accounted for by two key factors: human capital is much higher in non-agriculture; and value added is seriously mis-measured in agriculture.

We analyze how the pass-through from exchange rate to domestic wages depends on the degree of integration between domestic and foreign labor markets. Using data from 66 countries over the period 1981-2005, we find that the elasticity of domestic wages to real exchange rate is 0.15 after a year for countries with high barriers to external labor mobility, but about 0.40 in countries with low barriers to mobility. The result is robust to the inclusion of various controls, different measures of exchange rates, and definitions of labor market integration. These findings call for including labor mobility in macro models of external adjustment.

Maps are models that selectively feature abstract spatial patterns or literal geographic features. They can take the form of a simple drawing on a paper napkin or a sophisticated three-dimensional computer animation, but the principle is the same: they use symbols to help people find their way and make sense of the world. They can also be instrumental in the process of placemaking and understanding places. Printed maps can convey greater authority than their narrative counterparts, more effectively masking their subjectivity amid a precise scale bar, north arrow, labels, and colorful patterns. But maps can also be interpreted as propositions, putting forward the mapmaker’s view of the world—or a specific place—rather than an objective representation.1 As social constructions, they may reveal as much about the values of the mapmaker as the topic being mapped. Deciding what to map—elevation along a journey, competing coffee shops within a market, or disparities in health insurance coverage—is the most important decision, but choices about the title, variable definitions and classifications, and use of symbols can also greatly influence how people interpret a map.

Children in immigrant families account for nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of all children as of 2010, and the vast majority (88 percent) are U.S. citizens. In fact, children of immigrants account for nearly the entire growth in the U.S. child population between 1990 and 2008.1 This policy brief draws on key indicators from the Foundation for Child Development Child Well-Being Index (CWI), as well as additional data, to highlight both similarities and differences in the circumstances of children in immigrant and native-born families. Additional statistics that pertain particularly to the situation of children in immigrant families, namely citizenship and language skills, are also provided. Finally, this brief discusses recently passed federal legislation as it relates to children in immigrant families and points to policies that will ensure that we as a country are securing our future by providing opportunity for every child.

A big question in development economics is why developing countries are so unproductive in agriculture. This question is hard to answer because of limited data. In this project, we explore what we can learn from agriculture in US states where we have rich data. Focusing on US states has the advantage that there are no major barriers or institutional differences. We provide evidence that there are large labor productivity gaps between nonagriculture and nonagriculture; in some US states the difference between the two is larger than a factor of five. We show that these gaps are not likely to be the result of imperfect measurement. We also show that sectoral differences in human capital and capital shares account for most of these labor productivity gaps.

We test whether the effect of English proficiency differs between Hispanic and non-Hispanic immigrants. Using 2000 US Census microdata on immigrants who arrived before age 15, we relate labor market, education, marriage, fertility, and location of residence variables to their age at arrival in the US, and in particular whether that age fell within the “critical period” of language acquisition. We interpret the observed difference in outcomes between childhood immigrants who arrive during the critical period and those who arrive later (adjusted for non-language-related age-at-arrival effects using childhood immigrants from English-speaking countries) as an effect of English-language skills and construct an instrumental variable for English-language skills. We find that both Hispanics and non-Hispanics exhibit lower English proficiency if they arrive after the critical period, but this drop in English proficiency is larger for Hispanics. The effect of English proficiency on earnings and education is nevertheless quite similar across groups, while some differences are seen for marriage, fertility, and location of residence outcomes. In particular, although higher English proficiency reduces (for both groups) the number of children and the propensity to be married, marry someone with the same birthplace or origin, and live in an “ethnic enclave,” these effects are smaller for Hispanics.

More than half of the incidents and mortality rates from cervical cancer occur among minority groups, including immigrant women from continental Africa living in the United States. Although researchers have examined cervical cancer screening practices among minority populations, including Black women in Africa and in the United States, there are few studies on cervical cancer screening and associated risk factors, specifically among African women living in the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between selected factors and cervical cancer screening practices among African immigrant women living in the United States. Using the behavioral model for vulnerable populations as a theoretical basis, this cross-sectional quantitative study was focused on determining the association between family income, level of education, language of interview, insurance status, age, and perceived health status and cancer screening practices. Data on 572 African immigrant women from the National Health Interview Survey in 2005, 2008, and 2010 were used for the study. Chi- square tests and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Key findings indicate that family income, education level, and age were significantly associated with cervical cancer screening practices among African immigrant women in the United States. Findings from the study support positive social change by targeting at-risk groups for cervical cancer screening programs. The long-term goal of early cervical cancer screening is to lower cervical cancer rates among African immigrant women in the United States. The findings from the study can be used by community health professionals to provide education that can lead to utilization of cervical cancer screening services based on guidelines and recommendations.

This paper studies demand substitution in the context of US cities. Demand substitution occurs when individuals on the margin between certain city pairs affect demand patterns in the aggregate, causing certain cities to be better substitutes than others. Using a discrete model of city choice, I derive two predictions for migration flows and test them empirically using city-to-city migration data from the US Census. I show that cities which are similar on a variety of observable measures have higher levels of gross migration flows in the steady state and higher net migration flows in response to labor demand shocks. Finally, I propose pairwise correlation in metropolitan home prices as a price-based measure of substitutability and show that it contains substantial predictive power for migration flows relative to observable similarity.

This paper examines the effect of metropolitan area immigrant concentration on the metropolitan area homicide rate over a three decade period. A fixed effect panel model is used to correct for unobserved heterogeneity between areas and the spatial clustering of homicide deaths is explicitly incorporated into the model structure. Results from the analysis suggest that the effect of immigration on homicide is time-invariant, and that increased immigration has had a protective effect against homicide in recent decades. The observed spatial clustering of homicide deaths appears to be the consequence of the geographic clustering of unobserved variables, and the spatially-adjusted model is similar to the non-spatial model in both coefficient magnitude and statistical inference.

This article addresses several issues related to historical GIS data using a project studying the social culture of Republican Beijing as an illustration. For large-scale historical GIS projects, certain data layers or themes are fundamental to and provide the context for various types of investigation. We suggested that these data may be regarded as framework data, similar to the concept of the core dataset identified in the US National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) framework, but in a GIS project context. Due to various reasons, most historical GIS data always invite concerns about their quality. We discussed how typical spatial data quality concepts are partially applicable to historical GIS data. We also highlighted the data quality aspects that are more significant to historical than contemporary GIS data. Compiling high-quality historical GIS data is challenging. We used the data layer of temple locations as an example to illustrate the process of using a set of principles to resolve the inconsistencies of data from multiple sources to deal with location accuracy and data completeness problems. Two common but related quality concerns of historical GIS data are their relatively low spatial resolution and imprecise locations. The original population dataset of Republican Beijing suffers from these two issues. Using ancillary data, more precise population locations and population distribution at a higher resolution were estimated. Compilation of historical GIS data requires fusing data of different sources in order to enhance the quality of the data.

This paper focuses on the role of technology and globalization in explaining the polarization of the labor market, utilizing the NLSY-79 data. Results from panel regressions show evidence of polarization and are consistent with results obtained in the literature using alternative data sources. A statistically significant shift in the wage equation occurred after 1988, and in the period following 1988, technology was highly complementary in raising the level of wages of skilled workers. Globalization negatively affects the wages of production workers and of workers in low-skilled occupations. Wages of high-skilled and sales jobs are unaffected by global trade and outsourcing.

In the United States there exists a clear and disconcerting racial disparity in the distribution of good health, which can be seen in differential levels of morbidity and mortality affecting blacks and whites. Previous research has examined the role of SES in shaping racial health disparities and recent studies have looked specifically at the effect of education on health to explain the racial disparity in health. Higher levels of education are robustly associated with good overall health for both blacks and whites and this association has been examined over the life-course. This research explores racial differences in the effect of education on health in general as well as over the life-course. Specifically, this paper examines race differences in the effects of education on health over the life-course. Pooled data from the National Health Interview Survey were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to estimate the effects of race, education and age on health. The results of these analyses indicate that blacks receive lower education returns on their health than whites. The effect of education on health was shown to grow in the beginning of the life-course and diminish at the end of the life course in accordance with the mortality-as-leveler hypothesis. The black white health disparity was shown to grow over the life-course among the highly educated, whereas the disparity was consistent over the life-course for the poorly educated.

Over the last decade many districts have implemented performance pay incentives to reward teachers for improving student test scores. Economic theory suggests that these programs could alter teacher work effort, cooperation, and retention. Because teachers can choose to work in a performance pay district that has characteristics correlated with teacher behavior, I use the distance between a teachers undergraduate institution and the nearest performance pay district as an instrumental variable. Using data from the 2003 and 2007 waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), I find that teachers respond to performance pay incentives by working six percent fewer hours per week at school. Performance pay also decreases participation in unpaid cooperative school activities, but it does not increase teacher turnover. The treatment effects are heterogeneous; male teachers respond more positively to performance pay than female teachers. Using Florida as a case study, I find that individual-level incentives appear to increase teacher effort and turnover compared to school-level incentives.

A common presumption is that increased growth in the aggregate enhances the welfare of both the rich and the poor. I show that instead, as the rich get richer, the welfare of the poor may decline if the underlying growth is asymmetric. There are two distinct and complementary explanations: First, sector-biased, skill-biased technological change, and second, efficiency improvements in the government sector. In the first case, skill-biased technological change in sectors consumed by the skilled rich increases their income beyond the increase in economic wealth, causing a decline in the consumption and welfare of the low-skilled poor. This result stands in contrast to the standard model of skill-biased technological change. In the second case, growth takes the form of improved efficiency in a government sector that is financed by rich taxpayers. The welfare of the low-skilled poor will decline whenever the consumption bundle of the skilled rich embodies more skill intensity than does the production of government services. This analysis demonstrates that a rising tide need not lift all boats and that the exact nature of consumption patterns is important not only for growth and inequality, as has been emphasized in earlier literature, but also for welfare.

The video game industry is a billion dollar industry with an ever-growing fan base. Massachusetts, along with other states, has begun to take an interest in further developing this dynamic industry. A problem facing many policy makers and economic developers is accurately defining the video game industry, determining the types of workers that form of human capital within its workforce and where these businesses are located. This study helps to solve thisproblem by converting video game credits, found in all video games, into Standard Occupational Codes to identify the types of workers who comprise the industry and by conducting spatial analysis using Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS). It also uses the Occupational InformationNetwork to evaluate what forms of human capital comprises the video game industry. The results show the video game workforce comprises both creative workers such as artists and musicians, but also computer programmers, engineers, and business management and marketing professionals. This workforce tends to be concentrated not only in larger U.S.metropolitan areas but also in regions with a significant high-technology workforce, college towns, and government laboratories. Also, as this diverse workforce contains a wide variety of skills and abilities, a common theme is being able to work together as a team to develop a product. This study is part of a growing body of research and initiatives to identify and to locate new, creative industries within metropolitan regions. This research will contribute to future research using occupational analysis to identify new and growing industries.

Ten states, beginning with Texas and California in 2001, have passed laws permitting undocumented students to pay the in-state tuition rate—rather than the more expensive out-of-state tuition rate—at public universities and colleges. We exploit state-time variation in the passage of the laws to evaluate the effects of these laws on the educational outcomes of Hispanic childhood immigrants who are not US citizens. Specifically, through the use of individual-level data from the 2001–2005 American Community Surveys supplemented by the 2000 US Census, we estimate the effect of the laws on the probability of attending college for 18- to 24-year-olds who have a high school degree and the probability of dropping out of high school for 16- to 17-year-olds. We find some evidence suggestive of a positive effect of the laws on the college attendance of older Mexican men, although estimated effects of the laws, in general, are not significantly different from zero. We discuss various reasons for the estimated zero effects. Two important considerations are that little time has elapsed since the state laws were passed and that unchanged federal policy on financial aid and legalization for undocumented students may dampen the state laws’ benefits. Thus, the longer-run effects of the laws may well differ from the short-run effects presented in this chapter.