Income Fluctuation, Poverty and Well-Being Over Time: Theory and Application to Argentina

This paper studies poverty as a dynamic phenomenon, motivated by the recurringeconomic crises that affect developing countries and the incidence of income fluctuationson household welfare. While the increasing availability of household panel data has beenexploited in theoretical analysis and empirical applications, the methodological andapplied literatures still lack a unified framework. Echoing Atkinson (1987), this paperaddresses the question of how poverty should be measured over time - or, in moregeneral terms, how to measure well-being based on repeated observations of householdincome. The paper develops and illustrates a set of tools for empirical work based ontheoretically sound extensions of the existing methodology for static distributionalanalysis. Moreover, this framework encompasses some of the existing approaches asspecial cases. These tools are illustrated with longitudinal data for Argentina in the 1995-2002 period, which is well suited for this type of analysis given the large fluctuations inhousehold income due to the repeated economic crises in the country.Risk, Income Fluctuations, Panel Data, Poverty Measurement, Argentina

Generalizing the Causal Effect of Fertility on Female Labor Supply

Abstract We study the effect of fertility on labor supply in Argentina and Mexico exploiting a source of exogenous variability in family size first introduced by Angrist and Evans (1998) for the United States. Our results constitute the first external validation of the estimates obtained for the US. External validation of empirical results is central to the making of rigorous science, but there are very few attempts to establish it. We find that the estimates for the US can be generalized both qualitatively and quantitatively to the populations of two developing countries where, compared to the US, fertility is known to be higher, female education levels are much lower and there are fewer facilities for childcare.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40011/2/wp625.pd

Fertility and Female Labor Supply in Latin America: New Causal Evidence

We study the effect of fertility on maternal labor supply in Argentina and Mexico exploiting a source of exogenous variability in family size first introduced by Angrist and Evans (1998) for the United States. We find that the estimates for the US can be generalized both qualitatively and quantitatively to the populations of two developing countries where, compared to the US, fertility is known to be higher, female education levels are much lower and there are fewer formal facilities for childcare.

Argentinas Crises and the Poor, 1995-2002

This paper documents the impact of Argentina's recent economic crises on different aspects of poverty, with a special focus on the economic collapse of 2002. We discuss the methodology of poverty measurement in Argentina and we use a simple rule to compensate for the lack of regional poverty figures until 2001, providing consistent series of urban poverty estimates at the national and regional levels. We then present series of short term dynamics of poverty, decomposing the changes in every period of time with panel data. Finally, we analyse the determinants of poverty, with a focus on accounting for observed differences in income (and thereby poverty) between October 2001 and May 2002. Among other conclusions, we find in our decomposition analysis that households without the means to diversify their income sources suffered more than others from the crisis of 2002.Poverty, unemployment, Argentina.

A Distribution in Motion: The Case of Argentina

This paper documents the changes in the income distribution in Argentina from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s. Over the period inequality increased substantially. Two types of episodes have shaped this upward trend: deep macroeconomic crises and periods of sudden and intense economic liberalization. The sizeable rise in inequality in the 1990s seems to be associated to reallocations against unskilled-labor intensive sectors, and skilled-biased technological change within most sectors, both factors stimulated by the process of economic integration. The depth and speed of the reforms and the scarcity of public policies to ease the transition contributed to the particular severity of the income distribution changes. The macro crises and the subsequent recoveries contributed to the volatility of inequality along this upward trend. The large macroeconomic crisis of 2001/02 triggered a large jump in inequality, although income disparities returned to pre-crisis levels as the economy recovered fast, and large cash transfer programs were implemented.inequality, distribution, integration, wages, Argentina

Generalizing the Causal Effect of Fertility on Female Labor Supply

Abstract We study the effect of fertility on labor supply in Argentina and Mexico exploiting a source of exogenous variability in family size first introduced by Angrist and Evans (1998) for the United States. Our results constitute the first external validation of the estimates obtained for the US. External validation of empirical results is central to the making of rigorous science, but there are very few attempts to establish it. We find that the estimates for the US can be generalized both qualitatively and quantitatively to the populations of two developing countries where, compared to the US, fertility is known to be higher, female education levels are much lower and there are fewer facilities for childcare.Causality, Internal and External Validity, Childbearing and Female Labor Supply

Generalizing the Causal Effect of Fertility on Female Labor Supply

We study the effect of fertility on labor supply in Argentina and Mexico exploiting a source of exogenous variability in family size first introduced by Angrist and Evans (1998) for the United States. Our results constitute the first external validation of the estimates obtained for the US. External validation of empirical results is central to the making of rigorous science, but there are very few attempts to establish it. We find that the estimates for the US can be generalized both qualitatively and quantitatively to the populations of two developing countries where, compared to the US, fertility is known to be higher, female education levels are much lower and there are fewer facilities for childcare.Fertility, labor supply, causality, instrumental variables

Transient and chronic poverty in turbulent times: Argentina 1995-2002

Using panel data, poverty in Argentina is decomposed into transient and chronic components. Overall poverty has increased in large part due to higher chronic poverty. While many household characteristics have similar impacts on both chronic and transient poverty, there are differences. Households with self-employed workers and business owners have higher levels of transient but not chronic poverty. The reverse is observed for households with public sector workers.

Perceptions of Risk: an Experimental Approach using Internet Questionnaires

Building on previous studies on perceptions of inequality, welfare and risk we investigate the structure of individuals' rankings of uncertain prospects in terms of risk and their relationship to individual preferences. We examine three interlinked propositions that are fundamental to the standard economic approach to risk: (i) that rankings by risk are simply the reverse of ranking by preference over distributions with a given mean; (ii) that risk-rankings respect the principle of mean-preserving spreads; (iii) that risk-rankings are independent of whether the individual is personally involved in the gains/losses associated with the uncertain prospects. To do this we use a set of questionnaires implemented through the Virtual Laboratory, a novel experimental setting for the study of normative issues in experimental economics. The results from the questionnaires provide an evaluation of the similitude between individual perceptions of risk and theoretical axioms. They also help identify the individual characteristics that might affect such perceptions.Inequality, risk, experiment, transfer principle, mean-preserving spread.

Quality of Life in Buenos Aires Neighborhoods: Hedonic Price Regressions and the Life Satisfaction Approach

This paper studies quality of life in urban neighborhoods in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. First, hedonic price regressions for residential prices are augmented with neighborhood characteristics, based on a real estate database with indicators on each property’s distance to public facilities and amenities, and on a smaller survey with greater detail. Second, following recent developments in the field of happiness research, the document assesses the importance of different neighborhood characteristics on quality of life by interacting objective and subjective indicators. Indices of quality of life related to local amenities are derived for the different neighborhoods for both the hedonic regression and life satisfaction approaches. The results indicate a strong but not perfect correlation between real estate prices, income levels and neighborhood characteristics, suggesting scope for welfare-improving policy interventions.