The socio-economic status gradient in median lifespan by birth cohorts: Evidence from Dutch Olympic athletes born between 1852 and 1947

This paper quantifies the socio-economic status (SES) gradient in median lifespan for three birth cohort groups. For this, mortality models were estimated using unique data on the SES of Dutch Olympic athletes born between 1852 and 1947, and who were followed until their death (or December 2018). The empirical findings show that for the older birth cohorts (1852-1899) there were no significant differences in median lifespan between SES groups. For the middle cohorts (1900-1919), the low SES athletes had a significantly lower median lifespan of five years less compared to medium SES athletes and the median lifespans of high and medium SES athletes did not differ significantly. For the younger cohorts (1920- 1947), large and statistically significant differences were found between the three SES groups: Low SES athletes had a median lifespan of about six years lower than medium SES athletes, while high SES athletes had an almost five years higher median lifespan compared to medium SES athletes. These new findings, which can be reconciled with the existing literature, suggest a strong steepening of the population SES-lifespan gradient over time in the Netherlands

Endogenous local labour markets, regional aggregation and agglomeration economies

We examine the role of spatial unit size in measuring the urban wage premium. Using Dutch administrative data, we define local labour markets (LLMs) based on employees’ commuting outcomes, gender and educational attainment. We show that high-educated employees and male employees have a relatively large LLM. Using a continuum of regional aggregations, we find that urban wage premium estimates increase over the level of aggregation, also for different subgroups of employees. We show that the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) does not explain this pattern, consistent with stronger agglomeration externalities at higher regional aggregation levels

Gender differences in job flexibility: Commutes and working hours after job loss

This paper studies whether women and men cope with job loss differently. Using 2006-2017 Dutch administrative monthly microdata and a quasi-experimental empirical design involving job displacement because of firm bankruptcy, we find that displaced women are more likely than displaced men to find a flexible job with limited working hours and short commutes. Relative to displaced men, displaced women tend to acquire a job with an 8 percentage points larger loss in working hours and an 8 percentage points smaller increase in commuting. However, displaced women experience longer unemployment durations and comparable hourly wage losses. Job loss thus widens gender gaps in employment, working hours and commuting distance. Further, results point out that displaced expectant mothers experience relatively high losses in employment and working hours, amplifying child penalty effects. The findings show that firm bankruptcy for expectant mothers widens gender gaps in employment and working hours

Towards a Validation Methodology for Macroeconomic Agent-Based Models

Agent-based models provide a promising new tool in macroeconomic research. Questions have been raised, however, regarding the validity of such models. A methodology of macroeconomic agent-based model (MABM) validation, that provides a deeper understanding of validation practices, is required. This paper takes steps towards such a methodology by connecting three elements. First, is a foundation of model validation in general. Second is a classification of models dependent on how the model is validated. An important distinction in this classification is the difference between mechanism and target validation. Third, is a framework that revolves around the relationship between the structure of models of complex systems with emergent properties and validation in practice. Important in this framework is to consider MABMs as modelling multiple non-trivial levels. Connecting these three elements provides us with a methodology of the validation of MABMs and allows us to come to the following conclusions regarding MABM validation. First, in MABMs, mechanisms at a lower level are distinct from, but provide input to higher levels of mechanisms. Since mechanisms at different levels are validated in different ways we can come to a specific characterization of MABMs within the model classification framework. Second, because the mechanisms of MABMs are validated in a direct way at the level of the agent, MABMs can be seen as a move towards a more realist approach to modelling compared to DSGE

Regional Coronavirus Hotspots During the COVID-19 Outbreak in the Netherlands

We explore the impact of COVID-19 hotspots and regional lockdowns on the Dutch labour market during the outbreak of COVID-19. Using weekly administrative panel microdata for 50 per cent of Dutch employees until the end of March 2020, we study whether individual labour market outcomes, as measured by employment, working hours and hourly wages, were more strongly affected in provinces where COVID-19 confirmed cases, hospitalizations and mortality were relatively high. The evidence suggests that labour market outcomes were negatively affected in all regions and local higher virus case numbers did not reinforce this decline. This suggests that preventive health measures should be at the regional level, isolating hotspots from low-risk areas

Online housing search dataset: Information flows of real estate platform users

This data article describes user-generated data of Funda.nl, the largest online housing market website of the Netherlands. The data contain the inflow and outflow of hits (mouse clicks, opening of webpages, etc.) at the municipality level. The municipality of the user defines the origin and the municipality of the property that is viewed defines the destination. The data capture real behavior of the platform users. The flow data are based on 1.1 billion hits that are made by the users of the website in the first six months of 2018. The underlying data are collected by Google Analytics, the web analytics tool of Google. Funda utilizes the data for platform stability, security, product development, etc. The proprietary data of Funda are used to generate the information flows between municipalities. In the full sample we have 148,216 information flows between municipalities in the Netherlands, among which 313 zero flows. The data include subsamples for different types of platform users as user search intentions range from serious to fully recreational. The data enable researchers to analyze housing search behavior from a novel perspective. The data are, for instance, relevant for housing market researchers, digital economists, and economic geographers

Brace yourselves, Pension is coming: Consumption, financial literacy and tailored pension communication

People generally do not like to think about intricate financial decisions and even less about long-term decisions like pensions. It comes naturally to postpone those decisions and enjoy the now instead of bracing yourself for a winter that might seem far away. Excessive information provision causing information overload does not help consumers either in dealing with pension planning. With her PhD thesis Milena Dinkova contributes to the quest to offer a way out of the information overload and to activate people to become more involved pension planners. It consists of four studies that experimentally and empirically test the effectiveness of tailored pension communication and financial literacy on pension planning and consumption decisions. Those studies made use of two tailoring approaches: • in the e-mail invitations to participants to check their pension situation; where men and women and participants of different age categories received different messages • in the website participants were redirected to, different versions have been designed (by age category) regarding the structure resulting in a different navigation per group. This way, the most prominent information for each age group was at the top of the webpage. In general, young and middle-aged participants were less sensitive to tailoring and were also less active in looking up their pension situation than older participants. A more general conclusion is that financial literacy was positively associated with a higher consumption level for elderly women and men who were part of a couples’ household. This also holds for different income levels and different education levels. Financial behaviour could also be influenced by how much you like to think about complicated issues such as the provision of information on pensions. Insights from behavioural psychology can therefore help to complement economic analyses

Women’s Adverse Health Events and Labor Market Participation

This dissertation contributes to the research of the changes in labor market participation after a female adverse health event. It focuses on how elements of the Dutch institutional setting relate to the impact of adverse health on employment. The first study provides a general overview of the employment adjustments of women who have suffered from an adverse health event. The analysis considers the differences in employment adjustments among women who have different job protection coverage after the adverse health event. The second study analyses the employment gains of the nationwide breast cancer screening program, which is a health policy aimed at early diagnosis of breast cancer. The third study researches the difference in spillover effects after a breast cancer diagnosis on the spouse’s employment among families with different coverage of the sick leave policy. The overarching question researched in the three studies is whether the labor market consequences of a female adverse health event could be affected by the institutional setting

Housing careers and the Great Recession

This paper studies the housing careers of renters and homeowners before, during and after the Great Recession by using the concept of the housing ladder. Based on Dutch administrative data, we find that renters and homeowners were less likely to climb the housing ladder during the Great Recession than before and that these upward movement rates recovered to pre-recession levels afterwards. The negative recession effect was driven by a decreased probability of moving to privately owned housing. The decrease in the probability of house buying may be explained by low consumer confidence, housing price uncertainty and a limited supply of housing due to loss aversion

I know (and) I can and I do?: The role of Multi-dimensional financial literacy in explaining pension information behavior

This paper assesses whether financial literacy can explain the likelihood of people delving into their pension situation. I suggest to use a financial literacy construct that, next to the usual financial literacy questions assessing numeracy and knowledge of financial concepts, also includes perceived financial knowledge, questions on pension-specific knowledge and a vocabulary test. A survey was distributed amongst employees and customers of a large insurance company in order to elicit participants’ financial literacy level, some relevant behavioural factors and demographics. I linked participants’ login behaviour in their respective digital pension environment (DPE) to their financial literacy level and behavioural factors including attitudes towards pension information, need for cognition and future time perspective. People with higher pension knowledge and knowledge about the concept of interest compounding were more likely to log in to the DPE. Attitudes, need for cognition and future time perspective are directly related with login behaviour. The relationship between financial literacy and login behaviour is not affected by behavioural factors