The Wage Elasticity of Informal Care Supply: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

This article focuses on the wage elasticity of informal care supply to elderly parents employing an instrumental variable approach to account for the fact that the wage rate is likely to be correlated with omitted variables. Using the 1998 wave of the 1998), the wage elasticity of informal care supply is estimated to be negative and larger in magnitude than found previously. The lower bound of this elasticity is estimated to be ?1.8 for males and ?3.6 for females. Additional findings suggest that this wage elasticity differs by the type of care provided to elderly parents and that it is larger in magnitude among individuals with siblings and those with independently living parents. Overall the reductions in the informal care constitute about 18% of the labor supply response for men and about 56% of the labor supply response for women, which are not compensated by monetary transfers

The Wage Elasticity of Informal Care Supply: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

This paper focuses on the relationship between wages and supply of informal care to elderly parents. Unlike most of the previous research estimating wage elasticities of informal care supply, this study employs instrumental variable technique to account for the fact that the wage rate is likely to be correlated with omitted variables. Based on the data from the 1998 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, the results show that the wage elasticity of informal care supply is negative and larger in magnitude than has been found previously. The lower bound of this elasticity is estimated to be -1.8 for males and -3.6 for females. Additional findings suggest that the wage elasticity of informal care supply diers by the type of care provided to elderly parents, and that it is larger in magnitude among individuals with siblings and those with independently living parents. The analysis also indicates that the reductions in the informal care constitute about 18% of the labor supply response for men and about 56% of the labor supply response for women, which are not compensated by monetary transfers.Wage Elasticity; Informal Care Supply; Labor Supply; Elderly Care; Family Obligations

Minimum Wage Effect in the Longer Run

Exposure to minimum wages at young ages could lead to adverse longer-run effects via decreased labor market experience and tenure, and diminished education and training, while beneficial longer-run effects could arise if minimum wages increase skill acquisition. Evidence suggests that as individuals reach their late 20s, they earn less the longer they were exposed to a higher minimum wage at younger ages, and the adverse longer-run effects are stronger for blacks. If there are such longer-run effects of minimum wages, they are likely more significant than the contemporaneous effects on youths that are the focus of research and policy debate

Exogenous Treatment and Endogenous Factors: Vanishing of Omitted Variable Bias on the Interaction Term

Whether interested in the differential impact of a particular factor in various institutional settings or in the heterogeneous effect of policy or random experiment, the empirical researcher confronts a problem if the factor of interest is correlated with an omitted variable. This paper presents the circumstances under which it is possible to arrive at a consistent estimate of the mentioned effect. We find that if the source of heterogeneity and omitted variable are jointly independent of policy or treatment, then the OLS estimate on the interaction term between the treatment and endogenous factor turns out to be consistent.treatment effect; heterogeneity; policy evaluation; random experiments; omitted variable bias

Evaluation of the impact of the Mother and Infant Health Project in Ukraine

This paper exploits a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of the quality change in the labor and delivery services brought about by the Mother and Infant Health Project in Ukraine. Employing program evaluation methods, we find that the administrative units participating in the Project have exhibited greater improvements in both maternal and infant health compared to the control ones. Among the infant health characteristics, the MIHP impact is most pronounced for infant mortality resulting from deviations in perinatal period. As for the maternal health, the MIHP is the most effective at combating anemia, blood circulation and urinary-genital system complications, and late toxicosis. The analysis suggests that the effects are due to early attendance of antenatal clinics, lower share of C-sections, and greater share of normal deliveries. Preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis shows enormous benefit per dollar spent on the project: the cost to benefit ratio is one to 97 taking into account both maternal and infant lives saved as well as cost savings due to the changes in labor and delivery practices

Minimum Wage Effects in the Longer Run

Exposure to minimum wages at young ages may lead to longer-run effects. Among the possible adverse longer-run effects are decreased labor market experience and accumulation of tenure, lower current labor supply because of lower wages, and diminished training and skill acquisition. Beneficial longer-run effects could arise if minimum wages increase skill acquisition, or if short-term wage increases are long-lasting. We estimate the longer-run effects of minimum wages by using information on the minimum wage history that workers have faced since potentially entering the labor market. The evidence indicates that even as individuals reach their late 20's, they work less and earn less the longer they were exposed to a higher minimum wage, especially as a teenager. The adverse longer-run effects of facing high minimum wages as a teenager are stronger for blacks. From a policy perspective, these longer-run effects of minimum wages are likely more significant than the contemporaneous effects of minimum wages on youths that are the focus of most research and policy debate.

Evaluation of the Impact of the Mother and Infant Health Project in Ukraine

This paper exploits a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of the quality change in the labor and delivery services on maternal and infant health. Since basic medical care has been universally available in Ukraine, implementation of the Mother and Infant Health Project allows addressing quality rather than quantity effect of medical care. Employing program evaluation methods we find that the administrative units participating in the Project have exhibited greater improvements in both maternal and infant health compared to the control rayons. Among the infant health outcomes, the MIHP impact is most pronounced for infant mortality resulted from deviations in perinatal period and respiratory system failures. As for the maternal health, the MIHP is the most effective at addressing anemia, blood circulation, and urinary-genital system complications, as well as late toxicosis. The analysis suggests that the effects are due to early attendance of antenatal clinics, lower share of C-sections, and greater share of normal deliveries, and these effects are causal. Preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis shows enormous benefit per dollar spent on the project: the cost to benefit ratio is one to 122 taking into account both maternal and infant lives saved as well as cost savings due to changes in labor and delivery practices.Maternal health, maternal mortality, infant health, infant mortality, prenatal care

Minimum Wage Effects in the Longer Run

Exposure to minimum wages at young ages may lead to longer-run effects. Among the possible adverse longer-run effects are decreased labor market experience and accumulation of tenure, diminished education and training, and lower current labor supply because of lower wages. Beneficial longer-run effects could arise if minimum wages increase skill acquisition, or if initial wage increases are long-lasting. We estimate the longer-run effects of minimum wages by using information on the minimum wage history that workers have faced since potentially entering the labor market. The evidence indicates that even as individuals reach their late 20's, they earn less and perhaps work less the longer they were exposed to a higher minimum wage at younger ages. The adverse longer-run effects of facing high minimum wages at young ages are stronger for blacks. From a policy perspective, these longer-run effects of minimum wages are likely more significant than the contemporaneous effects of minimum wages on youths that are the focus of most research and policy debate.

Evaluation of the Impact of the Mother and Infant Health Project in Ukraine

This paper exploits a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of the quality change in the labor and delivery services on maternal and infant health. Since basic medical care has been universally available in Ukraine, implementation of the Mother and Infant Health Project allows addressing quality rather than quantity effect of medical care. Employing program evaluation methods we find that the administrative units participating in the Project have exhibited greater improvements in both maternal and infant health compared to the control rayons. Among the infant health outcomes, the MIHP impact is most pronounced for infant mortality resulted from deviations in perinatal period and respiratory system failures. As for the maternal health, the MIHP is the most effective at addressing anemia, blood circulation, and urinary-genital system complications, as well as late toxicosis. The analysis suggests that the effects are due to early attendance of antenatal clinics, lower share of C-sections, and greater share of normal deliveries, and these effects are causal. Preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis shows enormous benefit per dollar spent on the project: the cost to benefit ratio is one to 122 taking into account both maternal and infant lives saved as well as cost savings due to changes in labor and delivery practices.maternal health, maternal mortality, infant health, infant mortality, prenatal care

Net versus Gross Measure of Monetary Transfers in Intergenerational Exchange Studies

This paper investigates whether the choice of the net versus gross measure of monetary transfers from adult children to their elderly parents can explain the differences in the estimates of the wage effect on money transfers found in earlier studies. It carefully documents the transfer pattern and points to the limitations of the OLS specification in the analysis of net transfers. A three-part model is offered as a better alternative for the analysis of net transfers. This model consists of a multinomial probit and two OLS equations for negative and positive net transfers. The results from estimating this model uncover the following empirical regularities. First, wages of adult children play an important role in the determination of the transfer status: higher wages are associated with a lower likelihood of adult children being net recipients and higher likelihood of them being net givers. Second, there is a significant positive effect of wages on the amount of transfers given to elderly parents among the net givers while the wage effect among the net recipients is negative but not statistically different from zero. Finally, it has been found that certain characteristics have similar effect on both probability of being a net recipient and probability of being a net giver. These features provide a useful guideline for future theoretical research. One of the possible theoretical models that possesses such features is outlined in this paper