Does Parental Divorce Affect Adolescents' Cognitive Development? Evidence from Longitudinal Data

In this paper we analyse data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 to investigate whether experiencing parental divorce during adolescence reduces measured cognitive ability. To account for the potential endogeneity of parental divorce we employ a difference-in-differences model that relies on observing tenagers' outcomes before and after divorce. We find that parental divorce does not negatively affect teenagers' cognitive development. Our results also suggest that cross-section estimates overstate the detrimental effect of parental divorce.Divorce, Difference in differences, Cognitive Development

Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Evidence from Clinton's Second Mandate

In this paper I analyse data from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to investigate the effect of employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) on job mobility from March 1996 to February 2000. First, I estimate the effect of EPHI on four month job turnover. I find that, after accounting for unobserved individual heterogeneity, holding EPHI induces substantial mobility reductions for all demographic groups, ranging from 31% to 58%. Second, I evaluate whether the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act succeeded in mitigating insurance induced mobility reductions and I find that it did not.health insurance, job mobility

Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Evidence from Clinton's Second Mandate

In this paper we analyse data from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to investigate the effect of employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) on job mobility from 1996 to 2000. First, we estimate the effect of EPHI on four month job turnover. It is found that, after accounting for unobserved individual heterogeneity, holding EPHI induces substantial mobility reductions for all demographic groups, ranging from 31\% to 58\%. Second, we evaluate whether the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act succeeded in mitigating insurance induced mobility reductions and we find that it did not.Health Insurance; Job Mobility

Wage Rigidity and Disinflation in Emerging Countries

This paper examines the consequences of rapid disinflation for downward wage rigidities in two emerging countries, Brazil and Uruguay, relying on high quality matched employer-employee administrative data. Downward nominal wage rigidities are more important in Uruguay, while wage indexation is dominant in Brazil. Two regime changes are observed during the sample period, 1995-2004: (i) in Uruguay wage indexation declines, while workers' resistance to nominal wage cuts becomes more pronounced; and (ii) in Brazil, the introduction of inflation targeting by the Central Bank in 1999 shifts the focal point of wage negotiations from changes in the minimum wage to expected inflation. These regime changes cast doubts on the notion that wage rigidity is structural in the sense of Lucas (1976).downward wage rigidity, indexation, matched employer-employee data, emerging economies

Wage rigidity and disinflation in emerging countries

This paper examines the consequences of rapid disinflation for downward wage rigidities in two emerging countries, Brazil and Uruguay, relying on high quality matched employer-employee administrative data. Downward nominal wage rigidities are more important in Uruguay, while wage indexation is dominant in Brazil. Two regime changes are observed during the sample period, 1995-2004: (i) in Uruguay wage indexation declines, while workers'resistance to nominal wage cuts becomes more pronounced; and (ii) in Brazil, the introduction of inflation targeting by the Central Bank in 1999 shifts the focal point of wage negotiations from changes in the minimum wage to expected inflation. These regime changes cast doubts on the notion that wage rigidity is structural in the sense of Lucas (1976).Labor Markets,Income,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies

Real wages and local unemployment in the euro area

We present empirical evidence of the extent of wage rigidity in the euro area and European countries derived from longitudinal data on individuals. Wage rigidity is measured by the elasticity of individual real wages with respect to local unemployment. The results suggest that the elasticity is indeed negative, i.e. that real wages are lower in local labour markets with higher unemployment. The size of the elasticity for the euro area is similar to that found in previous studies for a number of countries, including the United States. Furthermore, there is some variation in the unemployment elasticity by worker groups and along the wage distribution. In particular, public sector wages are relatively rigid compared to wages in the private sector, contributing significantly to wage rigidity in the euro area. Country results show some heterogeneity in wage rigidity across European countries and suggest a tentative ranking of countries. JEL Classification: E24, J45, J64local unemployment, panel data, real wages, wage curve

Smoking persistence in Europe: A semi-parametric panel data analysis with selectivity

We study smoking persistence, which can be due to both true state dependence and individual unobserved heterogeneity, in ten European countries. We distinguish between the two sources of persistence by using semi-parametric dynamic panel selection methods, applied to both smoking participation and cigarette consumption. We find that for both smoking decisions true state dependence is generally much smaller when unobserved individual heterogeneity is taken into account, and we also uncover large differences in true state dependence across countries. Finally, allowing for heaping in the reported number of cigarettes smoked considerably improves the fit of our model.smoking, panel data, state dependence, selectivity

The obesity epidemic in Europe

This paper uses longitudinal micro-evidence from the European Community Household Panel to investigate the obesity phenomenon in nine EU countries from 1998 to 2001. The author documents cross-country prevalence, trends and cohort-age profiles of obesity among adults and analyses the socioeconomic factors contributing to the problem. The associated costs of obesity are also investigated, both in terms of health status, health care spending and absenteeism

Coverage of Infertility Treatment and Fertility Outcomes: Do Women Catch Up?

The ageing of first-time mothers and the changes in women's labor market conditions have been accompanied by the introduction and subsequent increase in the use of assisted reproductive therapies (ART) that help extend women's reproductive lives. Considering the financial cost of infertility treatments, policy interventions that increase insurance coverage may significantly affect fertility trends, and ultimately, population age structures. However, policies have ignored the overall impact of ART coverage on fertility. In this paper, long-term effects of insurance coverage for infertility on the timing of first births and on total fertility rates are examined. Variation in the enactment of infertility insurance mandates over time and across U.S. states allows the estimation of both the short-term and long-term effects. We concentrate on the effects of the more demanding mandates enacted in six states in the later 80s and 90s. Our results show that the effect of these mandates to cover infertility treatment is positive on the average age at first birth and increases over time. The long-term estimates of the increase in age of first-time mothers range from 3 to 5 months. Importantly, we also show that these mandates do not increase the total fertility rates of women by the end of their reproductive lives.assisted reproductive technologies, infertility insurance mandates, total fertility, synthetic control methods

Wage Rigidity and Disinflation in Emerging Countries

This paper examines the consequences of rapid disinflation for downward wage rigidities in two emerging countries, Brazil and Uruguay. Although wage rigidities are altered by disinflation, in neither of the two countries does price stability eliminate frictions in wage-setting mechanisms. In a context of individual wage negotiations and weak unions, disinflation in Uruguay puts an end to its history of indexation, but strong resistance to nominal wage cuts emerges. In strongly unionized Brazil, wage indexation is highly persistent, but the introduction of inflation targeting by the Central Bank in 1999 moves the focal point of wage negotiations to expected inflation.Financial support from the Government of Catalonia (contract no. 2009SGR189 and the XREPP) and the Government of Spain (through the SFLAC TF and ECO2011-28822 Grant) is gratefully acknowledged