Do Employment Subsidies Work? Evidence from Regionally Targeted Subsidies in Turkey

This paper studies the effects on registered employment, earnings, and number of registered establishments of two employment subsidy schemes in Turkey. We implement a difference-in-differences methodology to construct appropriate counterfactuals for the covered provinces. Our findings suggest that both subsidy programs did lead to significant net increases in registered jobs in eligible provinces (5%-13% for the first program and 11%-15% for the second). However, the cost of the actual job creation was high because of substantial deadweight losses, particularly for the first program (47% and 78%). Because of better design features, the second subsidy program had lower, though still significant, deadweight losses (23%-44%). Although constrained by data availability, the evidence suggests that the dominant effect of subsidies was to increase social security registration of firms and workers rather than boosting total employment and economic activity. This supports the hypothesis that in countries with weak enforcement institutions, high labor taxes on low-wage workers may lead to substantial incentives for firms and workers to operate informally.employment subsidies, deadweight loss, formalization, social security contribution

Saving Lives at Birth:The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes

Abstract: Many developed countries have recently experienced sharp increases in home birth rates. This paper investigates the impact of home births on the health of low-risk newborns using data from the Netherlands, the only developed country where home births are widespread. To account for endogeneity in location of birth, we exploit the exogenous variation in distance from a mother’s residence to the closest hospital. We find that giving birth in a hospital leads to substantial reductions in newborn mortality. We provide suggestive evidence that proximity to medical technologies may be an important channel contributing to these health gains

Saving Lives at Birth:The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes

Abstract: Many developed countries have recently experienced sharp increases in home birth rates. This paper investigates the impact of home births on the health of low-risk newborns using data from the Netherlands, the only developed country where home births are widespread. To account for endogeneity in location of birth, we exploit the exogenous variation in distance from a mother’s residence to the closest hospital. We find that giving birth in a hospital leads to substantial reductions in newborn mortality. We provide suggestive evidence that proximity to medical technologies may be an important channel contributing to these health gains.

Saving lives at birth:the impact of home births on infant outcomes

Many developed countries have recently experienced sharp increases in home birth rates. This paper investigates the impact of home births on the health of low-risk newborns using data from the Netherlands, the only developed country where home births are widespread. To account for endogeneity in location of birth, we exploit the exogenous variation in distance from a mother's residence to the closest hospital. We find that giving birth in a hospital leads to substantial reductions in newborn mortality. We provide suggestive evidence that proximity to medical technologies may be an important channel contributing to these health gains

Do Employment Subsidies Work? Evidence from Regionally Targeted Subsidies in Turkey

This paper studies the e ects on registered employment, earnings, and number of registered establishments of two employment subsidy schemes in Turkey. We implement a di erence-in-di erences methodology to construct appropriate counterfactuals for the covered provinces. Our ndings suggest that both subsidy programs did lead to signi cant net increases in registered jobs in eligible provinces (5%{13% for the rst program and 11%{15% for the second). However, the cost of the actual job creation was high because of substantial deadweight losses, particularly for the rst program (47% and 78%). Because of better design features, the second subsidy program had lower, though still signi cant, deadweight losses (23%{44%). Although constrained by data availability, the evidence suggests that the dominant e ect of subsidies was to increase social security registration of rms and workers rather than boosting total employment and economic activity. This supports the hypothesis that in countries with weak enforcement institutions, high labor taxes on low-wage workers may lead to substantial incentives for rms and workers to operate informally.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61165/1/IPC-working-paper-066-Pages.pd