Three essays in labor economics

This dissertation consists of three chapters that study issues related to workers and families, and the intersection of these two topics. The first chapter examines domestic outsourcing of labor services in Germany. This chapter uses a novel method to identify outsourcing in administrative data, and finds that outsourcing leads to a 10-15% drop in wages that is persistent, lasting at least 10 years. There is evidence that these wage losses are associated with the loss of firm-specific rents, suggesting that labor costs savings are an important consideration in outsourcing. Finally, the increase in outsourcing activity is tied to broader changes in the German wage structure, particularly increases in wage dispersion and occupational sorting. The second chapter analyzes the relationship between state abortion restrictions and the living circumstances of children living in these states. It uses data on 15 years of abortion laws in the US connected to individual level data on children and their family structure from the Census and American Community Survey, and finds evidence that low-income children who are born in states with more restrictive abortion laws are more likely to live with a single mother than similar children born in more permissive states. To address the endogeneity of these laws, data on nullified laws is incorporated; nullified laws have no impact, indicating that it is likely the hurdles faced by women seeking abortions in stricter states that impacts family structure. The third chapter develops a new method to identify married couples in administrative worker data that do not include a household identifier. Couples are identified using information on their geo-coded location, name, gender and age; using German social security records, about 3.3 million couples are identified. Consistency checks are provided using a subsample of the data for which marriage information is available, as well as a comparison to a known sample of married couples from the German Microcensus. These identified couples are then used to analyze patterns of relative income within households, where strikingly different patterns are found for couples who work in the same establishment and those who do not

The Rise of Domestic Outsourcing and the Evolution of the German Wage Structure

The nature of the relationship between employers and employees has been changing over the last three decades, with firms increasingly relying on contractors, temp agencies, and franchises rather than hiring employees directly. We investigate the impact of this transformation on the wage structure by following jobs that are moved outside of the boundary of lead employers to contracting firms. For this end we develop a new method for identifying outsourcing of food, cleaning, security, and logistics services in administrative data using the universe of social security records in Germany. We document a dramatic growth of domestic outsourcing in Germany since the early 1990s. Event-study analyses show that wages in outsourced jobs fall by approximately 10–15% relative to similar jobs that are not out-sourced. We find evidence that the wage losses associated with outsourcing stem from a loss of firm-specific rents, suggesting that labor cost savings are an important reason why firms choose to contract out these services. Finally, we tie the increase in outsourcing activity to broader changes in the German wage structure, in particular, showing that outsourcing of cleaning, security, and logistics services alone accounts for around 9 percent of the increase in German wage inequality since the 1980s

Estratégias de Ensino em Ciências para a Educação Infantil e os Anos Iniciais: um estado da arte

O ensino de Ciências é primordial para o desenvolvimento da reflexão, do pensamento crítico e da curiosidade dos alunos e, portanto, deve ser trabalhado desde o início da escolarização. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar pesquisas publicadas nos anais do Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa em Educação em Ciências (ENPEC) em recentes edições (2013, 2015, 2017 e 2019), referentes às estratégias de ensino em Ciências que vêm sendo utilizadas na educação infantil e nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental. Esse estudo possui uma abordagem qualitativa, com revisão bibliográfica (LÜDKE; ANDRÉ, 2013). Foram selecionados trinta e seis (36) trabalhos, os quais foram classificados de acordo com a estratégia utilizada, a edição do ENPEC, a etapa de ensino e a linha temática em que foram inseridos no encontro. Observou-se que as estratégias mais frequentes foram: ensino por investigação, estratégias lúdicas, experimentação e projetos. Também houve uma desigual distribuição entre as linhas, sendo que mais da metade dos trabalhos se concentrou na linha de “ensino e aprendizagem de conceitos científicos”, e, quanto às etapas de ensino, menos de um quarto das pesquisas se desenvolveu na educação infantil. Algo recorrente nas pesquisas analisadas foi a ideia de que os estudantes devem ser considerados como sujeitos ativos de seu próprio processo de aprendizado. Ressalta-se ainda a importância de se desenvolver, em pesquisas futuras, trabalhos que envolvam o ensino de ciências na educação infantil e que trabalhem numa perspectiva mais interdisciplinar e integradora também com os anos iniciais do ensino fundamental

Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory - Preliminary Design Report

The DUSEL Project has produced the Preliminary Design of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at the rehabilitated former Homestake mine in South Dakota. The Facility design calls for, on the surface, two new buildings - one a visitor and education center, the other an experiment assembly hall - and multiple repurposed existing buildings. To support underground research activities, the design includes two laboratory modules and additional spaces at a level 4,850 feet underground for physics, biology, engineering, and Earth science experiments. On the same level, the design includes a Department of Energy-shepherded Large Cavity supporting the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment. At the 7,400-feet level, the design incorporates one laboratory module and additional spaces for physics and Earth science efforts. With input from some 25 science and engineering collaborations, the Project has designed critical experimental space and infrastructure needs, including space for a suite of multidisciplinary experiments in a laboratory whose projected life span is at least 30 years. From these experiments, a critical suite of experiments is outlined, whose construction will be funded along with the facility. The Facility design permits expansion and evolution, as may be driven by future science requirements, and enables participation by other agencies. The design leverages South Dakota's substantial investment in facility infrastructure, risk retirement, and operation of its Sanford Laboratory at Homestake. The Project is planning education and outreach programs, and has initiated efforts to establish regional partnerships with underserved populations - regional American Indian and rural populations

Refraction during incipient presbyopia:the Aston Longitudinal Assessment of Presbyopia (ALAP) study

Purpose: To investigate non-cycloplegic changes in refractive error prior to the onset of presbyopia. Methods: The Aston Longitudinal Assessment of Presbyopia (ALAP) study is a prospective 2.5 year longitudinal study, measuring objective refractive error using a binocular open-field WAM-5500 autorefractor at 6-month intervals in participants aged between 33 and 45 years. Results: From the 58 participants recruited, 51 participants (88%) completed the final visit. At baseline, 21 participants were myopic (MSE -3.25 ± 2.28 DS; baseline age 38.6 ± 3.1 years) and 30 were emmetropic (MSE −0.17 ± 0.32 DS; baseline age 39.0 ± 2.9 years). After 2.5 years, 10% of the myopic group experienced a hypermetropic shift (≥0.50 D), 5% a myopic shift (≥0.50 D) and 85% had no significant change in refraction (<0.50 D). From the emmetropic group, 10% experienced a hypermetropic shift (≥0.50 D), 3% a myopic shift (≥0.50 D) and 87% had no significant change in refraction (<0.50 D). In terms of astigmatism vectors, other than J45 (p < 0.001), all measures remained invariant over the study period. Conclusion: The incidence of a myopic shift in refraction during incipient presbyopia does not appear to be as large as previously indicated by retrospective research. The changes in axis indicate ocular astigmatism tends towards the against-the-rule direction with age. The structural origin(s) of the reported myopic shift in refraction during incipient presbyopia warrants further investigation

Examining the long-term effects of afterschool programming on juvenile crime: A study of the LA\u27s BEST afterschool program

This article examines the extent to which participation in a large urban afterschool program had an impact on reducing participants\u27 future juvenile crime rate. The research tracked the academic and juvenile crime histories for a sample of 6,000 students, including 2,000 participants in LA\u27s BEST and 4,000 matched control students not participating in the program. Multilevel propensity scores were used to match control to treatment students, and applied to multilevel longitudinal models and multilevel survival analyses methods to analyze the data. Results indicate that LA\u27s BEST positively impacted the probability of juvenile crime. Furthermore, analyses indicated that students who were actively and intensely engaged benefited the most from the program. (DIPF/Orig.

The Rise of Domestic Outsourcing and the Evolution of the German Wage Structure

The nature of the relationship between employers and employees has been changing over the last decades, with firms increasingly relying on contractors, temp agencies and franchises rather than hiring employees directly. We investigate the impact of this transformation on the wage structure by following jobs that are moved outside of the boundary of lead employers to contracting firms. For this end we develop a new method for identifying outsourcing of food, cleaning, security and logistics services in administrative data using the universe of social security records in Germany. We document a dramatic growth of domestic outsourcing in Germany since the early 1990s. Event-study analyses show that wages in outsourced jobs fall by approximately 10-15 % relative to similar jobs that are not outsourced. We find evidence that the wage losses associated with outsourcing stem from a loss of firm-specific rents, suggesting that labor cost savings are an important reason why firms choose to contract out these services. Finally, we tie the increase in outsourcing activity to broader changes in the German wage structure, in particular showing that outsourcing of cleaning, security and logistics services alone accounts for around 9 percent of the increase in German wage inequality since the 1980s

Identifizierung von Ehepaaren in Administrativen Daten

Zusammenfassung Wir entwickeln eine neue Methode zur Identifizierung verheirateter Paare in administrativen Daten. Mittels Adressdaten und Nachnamen der Gesamtheit der Beschäftigungsmeldungen in Deutschland, identifizieren wir ca. 3,3 Millionen Paare von Personen die an der gleichen Adresse wohnen, deren Nachnamen übereinstimmen, und einen Altersabstand von weniger als 15 Jahren haben. Wir zeigen mittels verschiedener Konsistenzchecks, dass ca. 89 bis 94 Prozent dieser Paare tatsächlich verheiratete Paare sind. Anhand von Informationen des Mikrozensus, zeigen wir, dass unsere Methode etwa 17 Prozent aller verheirateten Paar in Deutschland identifiziert und ca. 35 Prozent aller Paare bei denen beide Partner in sozialversicherungspflichtiger Beschäftigung oder arbeitslos sind. Der Paarindikator wird der Forschungsgemeinschaft und Nutzern der IAB Daten zur Verfügung gestellt. Unsere Methode eröffnet damit neue Forschungsmöglichkeiten für Haushaltsanalysen die von der Präzision und großen Beobachtungszahlen von administrativen Daten profitieren