The Role of Education in Economic Growth through the Sectoral Reallocation of Labor

The main questions of this paper are as follows: Whether and to what extent does rising educational attainment contribute to a country's economic growth by facilitating the reallocation of labor from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector? The transition from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector ("transition" hereinafter) is an important aspect of a country's development. Consider China as an example. In China, around 70% of the labor force worked in the agricultural sector in 1980, whereas only 47% remained in the agricultural sector in 2000. Over the same period of time, China's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased from U.S. $173 to$856. In addition, cross-country data demonstrate that developed countries have a lower share of employment in agriculture than less-developed countries. For instance, high income countries had 4% of their employees engaged in the agricultural sector in 2000, whereas middle income countries had 40% of their employees working in the agricultural sector. In low income countries, the share may be even larger: in Bangladesh, for example, more than 60% of employees work in the agricultural sector. Based on these empirical observations, using calibration exercises a number of papers have demonstrated the possibility that income differences across countries can be explained by different onsets of transition (Gollin et al. 2002, 2004, Parente et al. 2000, Restuccia et al. 2003). In contrast, there is little empirical research based on micro-level data studying the factors that affect the speed of transition. As far as I am aware, the most closely related empirical study of transition was carried out by Jeong and Kim (2005) using data for Thailand. However, the authors focused more on replicating gradual transition than on determinants governing the speed of transition. They relied on the assumption of “sector specific complementarity between work-experience and labor†to explain the slow transition, but did not provide direct empirical evidence for this assumption. In contrast to existing research, this paper tries to shed light on one hypothesized factor affecting the speed of transition: raising educational attainment may facilitate the labor force moving from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector. I use a Chinese household panel dataset--the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)--to measure the extent to which educational attainment raises the probability of a worker obtaining a non-agricultural job. To extract the causal effect of education, I use the increase in the number of secondary schools during the Cultural Revolution (CR) in China (1966 to 1976) as an instrumental variable. Reducing the differences between the peasantry and the rest of the population was identified as being a major goal of the CR; as a result of this ideology, the policies of this period promoted mass education among underserved groups, including rural populations especially in terms of the secondary schooling (Hannum 1999). My preliminary results suggest that one more secondary school per 10,000 people in a province is correlated with an increase in 1.15 years of schooling. Using a Probit model with this instrumental variable, I estimate that one more year of schooling raises the probability a worker will obtain a non-agricultural job by 4.53%. However, what does this estimation imply for transition and aggregate economic growth? In China, the share employed in agriculture has decreased from 68.1% in 1982 to 50% in 2000 (Chinese Statistical Yearbook, 2003). On the other hand, the average years of schooling of workers in China has increased from 5.83 years to 7.66 years (Chinese Population Census 1982, 2000). Hence, this increase in schooling, 1.84 years, may have contributed 8.34% points to the decrease in the agricultural share of employment from 1982 to 2000. In terms of the real GDP growth, accurate growth accounting requires further study. However, a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the decrease in the agricultural employment share due to rising educational attainment implies an increase of 0.65% points of the real GDP per worker growth per annum. Although the growth and level accounting remains to be done, I believe that this paper can contribute to the economic growth literature by testing whether and to what extent education causes growth. Within this research literature, many papers have suggested the possibility of a causal effect of education on growth, but a recent study by Bils and Klenow (2000) questions this causal relationship. For example, if we include the role of education in sectoral reallocation (0.65% point), the contribution of education to the annual growth rate of the real GDP per worker increases from about 20% to 32%. Therefore, we can conclude that education causes growth (at least 12%) and that its contribution to growth is significantEducation; Sectoral Shift; Transition; China

Axion dark matter search using the storage ring EDM method

We propose using the storage ring EDM method to search for the axion dark matter induced EDM oscillation in nucleons. The method uses a combination of B and E-fields to produce a resonance between the $g-2$ spin precession frequency and the background axion field oscillation to greatly enhance sensitivity to it. An axion frequency range from $10^{-9}$ Hz to 100 MHz can in principle be scanned with high sensitivity, corresponding to an $f_a$ range of $10^{13}$ GeV $\leq f_a \leq 10^{30}$ GeV, the breakdown scale of the global symmetry generating the axion or axion like particles (ALPs)

Propose with a Rose? Signaling in Internet Dating Markets

The large literature on costly signaling and the somewhat scant literature on preference signaling had varying success in showing the effectiveness of signals. We use a field experiment to show that even when everyone can send a signal, signals are free and the only costs are opportunity costs, sending a signal increases the chances of success. In an online dating experiment, participants can attach “virtual roses” to a proposal to signal special interest in another participant. We find that attaching a rose to an offer substantially increases the chance of acceptance. This effect is driven by an increase in the acceptance rate when the offer is made to a participant who is less desirable than the proposer. Furthermore, participants endowed with more roses have more of their offers accepted than their counterparts.

Matrix metalloproteinases: expression and regulation in the endometrium during the estrous cycle and at the maternal-conceptus interface during pregnancy in pigs

Objective Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of endoproteases produced by various tissues and cells and play important roles in angiogenesis, tissue repair, immune response, and endometrial remodeling. However, the expression and function of MMPs in the pig endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy have not been fully elucidated. Thus, we determined the expression, localization, and regulation of MMP2, MMP8, MMP9, MMP12, and MMP13 in the endometrium throughout the estrous cycle and at the maternal-conceptus interface during pregnancy in pigs. Methods Endometrial tissues during the estrous cycle and pregnancy and conceptus and chorioallantoic tissues during pregnancy were obtained and the expression of MMPs was analyzed. The effects of steroid hormones and cytokines on the expression of MMPs were determined in endometrial explant cultures. Results Expression levels of MMP12 and MMP13 changed during the estrous cycle, while expression of MMP2, MMP9, MMP12, and MMP13 changed during pregnancy. Expression of MMP2, MMP8, and MMP13 mRNAs was cell type-specific at the maternal-conceptus interface. Gelatin zymography showed that enzymatically active MMP2 was present in endometrial tissues. In endometrial explant cultures, estradiol-17β induced the expression of MMP8 and MMP12, progesterone decreased the expression of MMP12, interleukin-1β increased the expression of MMP2, MMP8, MMP9, and MMP13, and interferon-γ increased the expression of MMP2. Conclusion These results suggest that MMPs expressed in response to steroids and cytokines play an important role in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy by regulating endometrial remodeling and processing bioactive molecules in pigs

Spatiotemporal expression and regulation of peptidase inhibitor 3 and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor at the maternal–fetal interface in pigs

Objective Two serine protease inhibitors, peptidase inhibitor 3 (PI3) and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), play important roles in protease inhibition and antimicrobial activity, but their expression, regulation, and function at the maternal–fetal interface in pigs are not fully understood. Therefore, we determined the expression and regulation of PI3 and SLPI in the endometrium throughout the estrous cycle and at the maternal–fetal interface in pigs. Methods Endometrial tissues during the estrous cycle and pregnancy, conceptus tissues during early pregnancy, and chorioallantoic tissues during mid to late pregnancy were obtained, and the expression of PI3 and SLPI was analyzed. The effects of the steroid hormones estradiol-17β (E2) and progesterone (P4) on the expression of PI3 and SLPI were determined in endometrial explant cultures. Results PI3 and SLPI were expressed in the endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy, with higher levels during mid to late pregnancy than during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy. Early-stage conceptuses and chorioallantoic tissues during mid to late pregnancy also expressed PI3 and SLPI. PI3 protein and SLPI mRNA were primarily localized to endometrial epithelia. In endometrial explant cultures, the expression of PI3 was induced by increasing doses of P4, and the expression of SLPI was induced by increasing doses of E2 and P4. Conclusion These results suggest that the PI3 and SLPI expressed in the endometrium and conceptus tissues play an important role in antimicrobial activity for fetal protection against potential pathogens and in blocking protease actions to allow epitheliochorial placenta formation

Did the Great Recession affect sex ratios at birth for groups with a son preference?

This paper examines the extent to which the Great Recession affected gender composition at birth. We focus on ethnic minorities in the US known for a son preference—Chinese, Indians, and Koreans. Using the DID method, we find that in response to the Great Recession, the fraction of newborn boys increased among Chinese Americans. Our results suggest that a cultural norm, namely son preference, may be directly affected by economic conditions