Elitism and Stochastic Dominance

Stochastic dominance has typically been used with a special emphasis on risk and inequality reduction something captured by the concavity of the utility function in the expected utility model. We claim that the applicability of the stochastic dominance approach goes far beyond risk and inequality measurement provided suitable adpations be made. We apply in the paper the stochastic dominance approach to the measurment of elitism which may be considered the opposite of egalitarianism. While the usual stochastic dominance quasi-orderings attach more value to more equal and more efficient distributions, our criteria ensure that the more unequal and the more the efficient the distribution, the higher it is ranked. two instances are provided by (i) comparisons of scientific performance across institutions like universities or departments and (ii) comparisons of affluence as opposed to poverty across countries.Decumulative distribution functions; Stochastic dominance; Regressive transfers; Elitism; Scientific Performance; Affluence

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? A Structural Time Series Model of the Relationship Between Teenage Employment and Minimum Wages in the United States

The work of Card and Krueger has cast doubt on the nature of the relationship between the minimum wage and teenage employment. The earlier "consensus" finding of a small but statistically significant negative effect was based on time series data whereas Card and Krueger's findings are based mainly on cross section data. In this article, we re-examine the time series relationship between minimum wage and teenage employment. We find that previous models break down due to their inability to capture changes in the trend, cyclical and seasonal components of teenage employment. We propose a structural time series model in which these components are treated as stochastic components and which contains the traditional approach as a special case. The model when estimated up to 1979 accurately predicts what happens to teenage employment subsequently, when the minimum wage was frozen after 1981 and then increased quite substantially in the early 1990s. Moreover, we find that there is a significant, negative effect of the minimum wage on teenage employment and its size and significance have hardly changed during the 1980s and early 1990s. Finally, the model remains robust in an out-of-sample test for 1993-99 containing two further minimum wage hikes.

THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL HEALTH ON CHILD LABOR. EVIDENCE FROM BANGLADESH

Using data for Bangladesh we find evidence of added worker effects resulting from father's health problems on both children's and (to a lesser extent) spouse's labor supply. In particular, when illness is short-lived or if treatment is required (when there are "health shocks") children's participation tends to increase. Our results suggest that income replacement through sickness benefit could significantly reduce child labor.child labor; health shocks; added worker effects

THE DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT OF FEDERAL AND STATE MINIMUM WAGES ON TEENAGE EMPLOYMENT

The "new economics of the minimum wage" is based on the findings from case studies that minimum wages had no effect on employment and may even have increased it. This conclusion is at odds with the findings of earlier studies and those of a number of more recent studies which find a statistically significant negative effect on teenage employment. These conflicting results constitute a puzzle. We find that this is due to minimum wage hikes implemented at the state-level having no negative effects on teenage employment during the 1980s and 1990s, while the federal hikes of the 1990s did. In states without their own minimum wages, the decline in the relative value of the federal minimum wage during the 1980s gave rise to an increase in low-wage employment that was subsequently checked and reversed by the federal hikes in the early 1990s.Federal Minimum Wages; State Minimum Wages; Teenage Employment

THE DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT OF FEDERAL AND STATE MINIMUM WAGES ON TEENAGE EMPLOYMENT

The "new economics of the minimum wage" is based on the findings from case studies that minimum wages had no effect on employment and may even have increased it. This conclusion is at odds with the findings of earlier studies and those of a number of more recent studies which find a statistically significant negative effect on teenage employment. These conflicting results constitute a puzzle. We find that this is due to minimum wage hikes implemented at the state-level having no negative effects on teenage employment during the 1980s and 1990s, while the federal hikes of the 1990s did. In states without their own minimum wages, the decline in the relative value of the federal minimum wage during the 1980s gave rise to an increase in low-wage employment that was subsequently checked and reversed by the federal hikes in the early 1990s.Federal Minimum Wages; State Minimum Wages; Teenage Employment

The Taylor Decomposition: A Unified Generalization of the Oaxaca Method to Nonlinear Models

Ce Working Paper fait l'objet d'une publication inJournal of Economic and Social Measurement, IOS Press, 2017, 42 (2), pp.101 - 121. 〈https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-economic-and-social-measurement/jem439〉. 〈10.3233/JEM-170439〉. 〈hal-01684635〉The widely used Oaxaca decomposition applies to linear models. Extending it to commonly used nonlinear models such as binary choice and duration models is not straightforward. This paper shows that the original decomposition using a linear model can be obtained as a first order Taylor expansion. This basis provides a means of obtaining a coherent and unified approach which applies to nonlinear models, which we refer to as a Taylor decomposition. Explicit formulae are provided for the Taylor decomposition for the main nonlinear models used in applied econometrics including the Probit binary choice and Weibull duration models. The detailed decomposition of the explained component is expressed in terms of what are usually referred to as marginal effects and a remainder. Given Jensen's inequality, the latter will always be present in nonlinear models unless an ad hoc or tautological basis for decomposition is used

The impact of parental health on child labor: the case of Bangladesh

International audienceIn recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of studies that examine the economics of child labor and more particularly the determinants of children's labor supply in developing countries. This paper provides a new angle on the causes of child labor force participation by showing that parents' health affects child labor through family labor supply decisions. Using a survey with detailed information on health matters for Bangladesh, we find that child labor supply is sometimes takes the form of an added worker effect in reaction to certain types of health shock

The impact of parental health on child labor: the case of Bangladesh

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of studies that examine the economics of child labor and more particularly the determinants of children's labor supply in developing countries. This paper provides a new angle on the causes of child labor force participation by showing that parents' health affects child labor through family labor supply decisions. Using a survey with detailed information on health matters for Bangladesh, we find that child labor supply is sometimes takes the form of an added worker effect in reaction to certain types of health shock.Child labor; health shocks; family labor supply decisions; Banglasdesh

THE DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT OF FEDERAL AND STATE MINIMUM WAGES ON TEENAGE EMPLOYMENT

The "new economics of the minimum wage" is based on the findings from case studies that minimum wages had no effect on employment and may even have increased it. This conclusion is at odds with the findings of earlier studies and those of a number of more recent studies which find a statistically significant negative effect on teenage employment. These conflicting results constitute a puzzle. We find that this is due to minimum wage hikes implemented at the state-level having no negative effects on teenage employment during the 1980s and 1990s, while the federal hikes of the 1990s did. In states without their own minimum wages, the decline in the relative value of the federal minimum wage during the 1980s gave rise to an increase in low-wage employment that was subsequently checked and reversed by the federal hikes in the early 1990s