State Abstinence Education Programs and Teen Fertility in the U.S.

Title V, section 510 of the Social Security Act, passed in 1996 and implemented in 1998, appropriates funding to states for the purpose of educating minors on the benefits of abstinence before marriage. Despite considerable research on the impact of abstinence education on teen fertility outcomes, good quality population-level studies on state abstinence education using panel data are absent. This paper uses state-level data to analyze the impact of abstinence education on the birth rates for teens 15-17 years by evaluating the Title V, section 510 State Abstinence Education (SAE) program. For an average state, increasing spending by $50,000 per year on SAE can help avoid approximately four births to teenagers.

Key Players and Key Groups in Teams

Using data for 2008-2009, we determine winning strategies for the game in two different formats: 50-over one-day internationals and 20-over games from the Indian Premier League and Twenty20 Internationals. We find that attacking batting and defensive bowling outperform all other strate- gies in determining the probability of winning in both formats despite the thirty over difference between them. Moreover, in both versions of the game, good elding turns out to be an important complement to these two strategies. We speculate that this will have implications for the future of cricket, especially for the popularity of formats and the composition of teams.

Essays in health economics and public policy

This dissertation consists of three essays analyzing the role of public policy in affecting such outcomes as fertility, educational attainment and women’s preferences towards fertility and sexual activity. First, I investigate how a government educational policy affected the fertility behavior of teenagers in the United States. Specifically, Title V State Abstinence Education (SAE) program appropriates funding to states for the purpose of educating minors on abstinence before marriage. Using state level data to analyze the impact of abstinence education on the birth rates for teens; I find that for an average state, increasing spending by $50,000 per year on state abstinence education can help avoid approximately four births to teenagers. Next, I examine the fertility impact of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which was implemented in August 1993, is a federal reform requiring firms of a certain size in all states to grant job-protected leave to any employee satisfying certain eligibility criteria. One of the provisions of the FMLA is to allow women to stay at home for a maximum period of 12 weeks to give care to the new born. Using data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) this study analyzes whether the FMLA has influenced birth outcomes in the U.S. over the period 1989 to 2006. I find that eligible women increase the probability of giving a first and second birth by about 6 and 4.2 percentage points, respectively. Compared to other women, eligible women are giving birth to the first child 11 months earlier and about 6 months earlier for the second child. In the final part of this research, I estimate the impact of schooling on preferences among women. I first analyze the effect of a government policy that provides free primary education on completed schooling. From this investigation, I find that increased schooling changes a woman’s preference for the demand for children, delays the start of first sexual encounter and increases the use of modern contraceptives. Increased education has also empowered women

The Impact of Education on Health Knowledge

The theory on the demand for health suggests that schooling causes health because schooling increases the efficiency of health production. Alternatively, the allocative efficiency hypothesis argues that schooling alters the input mix chosen to produce health. This suggests that the more educated have more knowledge about the health production function and they have more health knowledge. This paper uses data from the 1997 and 2002 waves of the NLSY97 to conduct an investigation of the allocative efficiency hypothesis by analyzing whether education improves health knowledge. The survey design allows us to observe the increase in health knowledge of young adults after their level of schooling is increased by differential and plausibly exogenous amounts. Using nine different questions measuring health knowledge, we find weak evidence that an increase in education generates an improvement in health knowledge for those who ultimately attend college. For those with high school as the terminal degree, no relationship is found between education and health knowledge. These results imply that the allocative efficiency hypothesis may not be the primary reason for why schooling impacts health outcomes.

The impact of education on health knowledge

The theory on the demand for health suggests that schooling causes health because schooling increases the efficiency of health production. Alternatively, the allocative efficiency hypothesis argues that schooling alters the input mix chosen to produce health. This suggests that the more educated have more knowledge about the health production function and they have more health knowledge. This paper uses data from the 1997 and 2002 waves of the NLSY97 to conduct an investigation of the allocative efficiency hypothesis by analyzing whether education improves health knowledge. The survey design allows us to observe the increase in health knowledge of young adults after their level of schooling is increased by differential and plausibly exogenous amounts. Using nine different questions measuring health knowledge, we find weak evidence that an increase in education generates an improvement in health knowledge for those who ultimately attend college. For those with high school as the terminal degree, no relationship is found between education and health knowledge. These results imply that the allocative efficiency hypothesis may not be the primary reason for why schooling impacts health outcomes.Schooling Health Education Teenagers Heart disease Smoking Pregnancy Drinking Alcohol addiction Health knowledge NLSY

Obesity, chronic job discrimination and social support

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and chronic job discrimination. Additionally, the authors explore the contribution of various forms of social support to that relationship. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were obtained from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the USA (MIDUS). Only those who reported being employed participated in the study (n = 1,150). The variables of interest included BMI, supervisor support, coworker support, family support, friend support, religious support and chronic job discrimination. Analysis included correlations, ANOVA’s and hierarchical linear regression. Findings BMI was positively associated with chronic job discrimination. Respondents in the obese and morbidly obese categories reported higher job discrimination compared to normal weight respondents. Family support, supervisor support and coworker support were associated with less reported chronic job discrimination. Practical implications Organizational leaders should acknowledge that obesity is associated with discrimination. Organizations should thus create anti-discrimination policies covering weight-based discrimination, conduct sensitivity training for all employees and train and coach supervisors on effective ways of offering support to employees. Originality/value This study contributes to the understanding of the role various forms of social support can play in reducing perceptions of chronic job discrimination. The paper is unique in that it considers several sources from which people draw support in managing for stressors

Obesity, chronic job discrimination and social support

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and chronic job discrimination. Additionally, the authors explore the contribution of various forms of social support to that relationship. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were obtained from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the USA (MIDUS). Only those who reported being employed participated in the study (n = 1,150). The variables of interest included BMI, supervisor support, coworker support, family support, friend support, religious support and chronic job discrimination. Analysis included correlations, ANOVA’s and hierarchical linear regression. Findings BMI was positively associated with chronic job discrimination. Respondents in the obese and morbidly obese categories reported higher job discrimination compared to normal weight respondents. Family support, supervisor support and coworker support were associated with less reported chronic job discrimination. Practical implications Organizational leaders should acknowledge that obesity is associated with discrimination. Organizations should thus create anti-discrimination policies covering weight-based discrimination, conduct sensitivity training for all employees and train and coach supervisors on effective ways of offering support to employees. Originality/value This study contributes to the understanding of the role various forms of social support can play in reducing perceptions of chronic job discrimination. The paper is unique in that it considers several sources from which people draw support in managing for stressors