Human Capital and Income Inequality

This study investigates empirically how human capital, measured by educational attainment, is related to income distribution. The regressions, using a panel data set covering a broad range of countries between 1980 and 2015, show that a more equal distribution of education contributes significantly to reducing income inequality. Educational expansion is a major factor in reducing educational inequality and thus income inequality. Public policies that improve social benefits and price stability contribute to reducing income inequality, while public spending on education helps to reduce educational inequality. In contrast, higher per capita income, greater openness to international trade, and faster technological progress tend to make both income and education distribution more unequal. Using the calibration of empirical results, we find that we can attribute the rising income inequality within East Asian economies in recent decades to the unequalizing effects of fast income growth and rapid progress in globalization and technological change, which have surpassed the income-equalizing effects from improved equality in the distribution of educational attainment during the period

The Impacts of Trade Liberalization on Women’s Marriage and Fertility Decisions in Vietnam

https://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/wie-dainn/This study investigates the impact of a large demand shock on the timing of women’s marital decisions and first childbirth experiences in Vietnam. Using the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in 2001 as an exogenous shock, we hypothesize that the reduction in women’s and men’s self-employment would delay family formation and childbirth, with the ultimate impact on marriage remaining ambiguous. Analyzing data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys, we find that both men and women are less likely to be self-employed in the face of a substantial trade shock. Notably, the decreasing impact on women's self-employment becomes more pronounced than that for men post-2012, a decade after the agreement's enforcement. Employing the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and survival analysis, we empirically demonstrate that increased exposure to trade postpones women's timing of marriage and first childbirth. On average, in 2013, the BTA resulted in a 4.43- and 4.45%-point decrease in the probability of entering marriage and becoming a mother, respectively. We also present suggestive evidence that increased exposure to trade liberalization eventually increases the likelihood of marriage and the number of children among women over 40.JFL Classification Codes: F6, J2, J3This work was supported by the Policy Research Center at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies [Project Number: P231RP201].technical repor

Patterns and Determinants of Intergenerational Educational Mobility: Evidence Across Countries

This study measures the intergenerational persistence of education attainment, using internationally comparable data for parents’ and children’s education levels by age cohort for 30 countries, and identifies its determinants. The estimated intergenerational regression coefficients show that educational mobility worsened over generations in most countries, but its degrees varies considerably across countries and over time. The country-cohort panel regressions show that intergenerational educational mobility decreases with educational expansion, income inequality and credit constraints, and increases with per-capita GDP. The results also highlight the importance of progressive public expenditure on education for improving intergenerational educational mobility

Legal Entitlement and Bargaining Power of Marriage Immigrants in Korea

The fraction of marriages between South Korean males and brides from other Asian countries has sharply increased since 1990 reaching around 10% of new marriages in 2005. We employ a large data set collected in 2012 to investigate the impact of citizenship acquisition of these brides on their bargaining power in the household and labor market. We employ propensity score matching using detailed information of brides, their spouses, and households required for nationality application. Our results show that legal entitlement of marriage immigrants raises the chance of being hired as a regular worker and increases decision power in a household. The findings in this paper imply that a legal framework is an important determinant of the bargaining power of immigrants in the labor market and households.JEL Classification Codes: J12, J15, J18http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/wie-dainn

Washed Away: The Impacts of Extreme Rainfall on Child Marriage in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has long been exposed to climate-induced disasters, and the literature has paid little attention to their impact on child marriage. This study empirically explores the gendered impact of extreme rainfall on child marriage in Bangladesh and provides a comprehensive yet detailed analysis using high-resolution weather data and nationally representative rural household survey. The duration analysis in this paper shows that women exposed to one standard deviation more extreme rainfall are at an increased risk of child marriage by 5.5%. However, we find no evidence that child marriages driven by extreme rainfall lead to early childbirth in women. We also report that extreme rainfall has no statistically significant impact on men’s child marriages. The main finding is consistent across several decades of cohort and robust to migration, which might threaten internal validity. We also highlight that our main findings are driven by households living in non-coastal regions, with significant heterogeneity across divisions.The study is supported by generous funding from the Policy Research Center at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (G221RP103: Child Marriage in Bangladesh). The funding is used for necessary software purchase, proofreading, and conference attendance.https://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/wie-dainn

Gone with the fire: Market reaction to cryptocurrency exchange shutdown

Disruption and shutdown of exchanges frequently happen in the cryptocurrency market, though its potential impacts are relatively under-investigated due to several empirical challenges. This study employs 20-h of service interruption on October 15th at Upbit, the dominant cryptocurrency exchange in Korea, as an exogenous shock to examine the effect of unexpected service interruption at the exchange on cryptocurrency market. Event study estimation using price data from Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, shows the sharp and negative reactions to cryptocurrencies mostly traded at Upbit. Major currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum also presented limited reactions, implying that service interruption could be interpreted as vulnerability of overall cryptocurrencies