Enabling quantitative data analysis through e-infrastructures

This paper discusses how quantitative data analysis in the social sciences can engage with and exploit an e-Infrastructure. We highlight how a number of activities which are central to quantitative data analysis, referred to as ‘data management’, can benefit from e-infrastructure support. We conclude by discussing how these issues are relevant to the DAMES (Data Management through e-Social Science) research Node, an ongoing project that aims to develop e-Infrastructural resources for quantitative data analysis in the social sciences

Proton-proton bremsstrahlung towards the elastic limit at 190 MeV incident beam energy

AbstractA series of nucleon–nucleon bremsstrahlung (NNγ) experiments at 190 MeV incident beam energy have been performed at KVI in order to gain more insight into the dynamics governing the bremsstrahlung reaction. After initial measurements wherein the bremsstrahlung process was studied far away from the elastic limit, a new study was used to probe the process nearer to the elastic limit by measuring at lower photon energies. Measured cross sections and analyzing powers are compared with the predictions of a microscopic model and those of two soft-photon models. The theoretical calculations overestimate the data by up to ≈30%, for some kinematics

The decisions of Spanish youth : a cross-section study

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comThis paper presents a simultaneous model for the joint decisions of working, studying and leaving the parental household by young people in Spain. Using cross-section data from the 1990–1991 Encuesta de Presupuestos Familiares, the model is estimated by a two stage estimation method. Endogeneity of the three decisions proves to be important in order to understand the dynamics of household formation. Our results also confirm a number of plausible intuitions about the effect of individual characteristics and economic variables on these decisions, and provide some new insights into the reasons for young people in Spain remaining in large numbers in the parental home. Most of the results are gender independent.Publicad

Intergenerational transmission of education: the relative importance of transmission channels

This paper aims at quantifying the relative importance of different transmission channels generating the high levels of intergenerational correlations in education, especially in Latin America. A simultaneous equations model is applied to rich survey data from Mexico. The results show that the economic situation of the family has the highest impact, even more than heritability of cognitive abilities. The long-run economic situation seems to matter more than the current consumption level. Parental education affects the schooling outcome directly but also indirectly through the economic situation, which is particularly true for the father

Measuring Trust: Experiments and Surveys in Contrast and Combination

Trust is a concept that has attracted significant attention in economic theory and research within the last two decades: it has been applied in a number of contexts and has been investigated both as an explanatory and as a dependent variable. In this paper, we explore the questions of what exactly is measured by the diverse survey-derived scales and experiments claiming to measure trust, and how these different measures are related. Using nationally representative data, we test a commonly used experimental measure of trust for robustness to a number of interferences, finding it to be mostly unsusceptible to stake size, the extent of strategy space, the use of the strategy method, and the characteristics of the experimenters. Inspired by criticism of the widespread trust question used in many surveys, we created a new, improved survey trust scale consisting of three short statements. We show that the dimension of this scale is distinct from trust in institutions and trust in known others. Our new scale is a valid and reliable measure of trust in strangers. The scale is valid in the sense that it correlates with trusting behaviour in the experiment. Both survey and experimental measure correlate with related factors such as risk aversion, being an entrepreneur or a shareholder. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the survey measure's test-retest reliability (six weeks) is high. The experimental measure of trust is, on the other hand, not significantly correlated with trust in institutions nor with trust in known others. We conclude that the experimental measure of trust refers not to trust in a general sense, but specifically to trust in strangers

The Effect of Gender Policies on Fertility: The Moderating Role of Education and Normative Context

In this paper, we aim to assess the extent to which individual-level completed fertility varies across contexts characterized by policies supporting different gender division of labor models. We examine key labor market and care policies that shape gender relations in households and in the public domain. We also consider the role of gender norms, which can act as both a moderator and a confounding factor for policy effects. We hypothesize that, by facilitating role compatibility and reducing the gendered costs of childrearing, policies that support gender equality lead to an increase in fertility levels and to a reduction in fertility differentials by the level of education. Using individual-level data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 16 countries, combined with country-level data, we analyze completed fertility through multilevel Poisson’s models. We find that the national level of childcare coverage is positively associated with fertility. Family allowances, prevalence of women’s part-time employment and length of paid leaves were also found to be positively associated with completed fertility, though the associations were not statistically significant. These variables show a significant positive pattern according to education. A high number of average working hours for men are negatively associated with completed fertility and show a strong negative pattern by educational level. The prevalence of gender-egalitarian norms is highly predictive of fertility levels, yet we found no consistent evidence of a weaker association of gender-equality policies in countries where egalitarian values are less prevalent

Mothers' Labour Market Participation: Do Grandparents Make it Easier?

Childcare arrangements are key in women's ability to juggle motherhood and working outside the home. As such, the study of the access to childcare and its use is of great policy relevance. We focus on a particular kind of informal childcare, the one provided by grandparents. Empirically, assessing the effect of grandparental childcare is not an easy task due to unobserved preferences. In light of the potential outcome framework, we interpret the biases resulting from unobserved preferences as arising from the non-compliance of mothers to the availability of grandparents and from preferences of grandparents for activities other than childcare. Using an Instrumental Variable approach on Italian data, we find that the effect of grandparental childcare on mothers' labour supply is positive, statistically significant and economically relevant. The effect is stronger for lower educated mothers, with young children and living in the North and Centre

Arbeitsmarkt und Demographie

Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden die wechselseitigen Beziehungen von demographischen Veränderungen und Arbeitsmarktentwicklungen anhand eines Literaturüberblicks diskutiert. Insbesondere werden die Effekte von demographischen Strukturen und Prozessen auf die Lohnstruktur und auf die Arbeitslosigkeit präsentiert, wobei sowohl Mikro- als auch Makroansätze diskutiert und die Implikationen der Bevölkerungsalterung für den Arbeitsmarkt besprochen werden. In Mikroansätzen werden z.B. altersspezifische Profile der Humankapitalbildung als optimale Lösung eines individuellen Entscheidungsproblems modelliert. Im Gegensatz dazu werden in Makroansätzen die Beziehung von Makrovariablen, z.B. Jugendarbeitslosigkeit und Besetzungsstärke der eigenen Kohorte, modelliert. Schließlich stellen wir verschiedene theoretische Perspektiven vor, welche Effekte arbeitsmarktrelevanter Faktoren auf die Fertilität untersuchen

Trick or Treat? Maternal Involuntary Job Loss and Children's Non-Cognitive Skills

Negative effects of job loss on adults such as considerable fall in income have long been examined. If job loss has negative consequences for adults, it may spread to their children. But potential effects on children's non-cognitive skills and the related mechanisms have been less examined. This paper uses propensity score matching to analyze maternal involuntary job loss and its potential causal effect on children's non-cognitive skills. Job loss is defined as end of employment either due to plant closure or due to dismissals by employer. Using a rich and representative data set, the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), I estimate associations of maternal job loss on child outcomes for preschool children aged five/six and for adolescents aged seventeen. The paper analyses influences on children's socio-emotional behavior and on adolescents' locus of control. The obtained results show that children whose mothers experience an involuntary job loss are more likely to have behavioral problems and are less likely to believe in self-determination