Gender differences in multiple-choice questions and the risk of losing points

I study the gender differences in performance in multiple-choice questions in a setting where wrong answers are penalized and the objective is to score as high points as possible. I exploit data from an undergraduate level microeconomics course at a Finnish university across a six-year period of 2010 and 2012-2016. The course consists of two equally weighted exams that include both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. The results show that, when controlling for the performance in the first exam, women omit more multiple-choice question items (MCQ) in the second exam than men which, in turn, translates to fewer points. Women do not do worse in open-ended questions that are similar to the MCQ, neither is the probability of them answering incorrectly to the MCQ higher. Hence, gender differences in test results might reflect differences in behavior in a very particular test setting rather than genuine differences in skills

Financial development and volatility of growth rates: Cross-country evidence on the link between insurance market activity and the volatility of GDP per capita growth rate

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between insurance market activity and the volatility of the GDP per capita growth rate. We investigate whether insurance market activity has an effect on the volatility of GDP per capita growth rate and whether the effect of insurance market development on economic growth volatility follows a hump-shaped pattern, i.e. a shape of an inverse parabola. The role of the insurance sector has grown in importance. In addition to becoming quantitatively more important as a part of the general development of financial institutions, insurance has also become qualitatively more important due to the increase of risks and uncertainties in most societies. While there have been studies conducted on the financial development and macroeconomic volatility, the insurance sector has not received much attention in this respect. We fill this gap by reviewing theory and empirical evidence and suggest channels of influence. DATA We use measures of insurance penetration, i.e. insurance premiums in relation to GDP, as proxies for insurance market development for a set of 74 countries over the period from 1980 to 2007. We will control for variables, e.g. the country size in terms of population, the inflation and exchange rate volatility and government consumption. RESULTS Findings of the study show a negative and significant relationship between insurance market activity and GDP per capita growth volatility suggesting that the proxies used for insurance market activity have a causal effect on economic growth volatility. We find no evidence suggesting that the relationship would be hump-shaped. Moreover, the results for the non-linear effect suggest that the effect of insurance market activity is negative in all cases, i.e. total, non-life and life insurance. According to our study, it might be beneficial for governments and economies to encourage the use of insurance policies and help households and companies in risk management

Essays on Family Economics and Human Capital Development

This dissertation consists of three essays on family economics and human capital development.  In the first essay, I estimate the effect of screening for gestational diabetes on birth outcomes using a regression discontinuity design and exploiting exogenous variation in screening at the overweight threshold of the body mass index. I do not find an impact of screening for gestational diabetes on birth outcomes, i.e. birth weight and cesarean section related outcomes. An additional analysis using a differences-in-differences framework and the introduction of the policy provides suggesting evidence that expanding the screening to overweight mothers (otherwise not prone to developing gestational diabetes) did not have an effect on birth outcomes. The second essay, which is joint-work with Kristiina Huttunen studies the impact of parental job loss on children's schooling choices. We use administrative data from Finland that allows us to follow all family members for over 20 years. Our results show that father's job loss decreases the likelihood that a child chooses the same study choice as the parent. Children of displaced fathers are also more likely to choose a "safer" field in terms of employment prospects. We find no impact on children's outcomes measured before schooling choices are made, such as crime and school grades. The results suggest that children's schooling decisions are an important mechanism through which childhood shocks can affect later life outcomes. In the third essay, I study the effect of the Finnish child home care allowance, for which parents with children aged 1-to-3-years are eligible, on marital stability. I use variation across regions and over time in the allowance created by the municipal supplement to identify the causal effect. I find that child home care allowance has a modest positive effect on marital stability in the long-run. A 100 euros increase in the supplement increases the probability that the mother has the same spouse ten years later by 0.8 %. Further analysis shows that the mechanism varies depending on how the mother would have behaved in the absence of the municipal supplement. For those who are more likely to stay at home even in the absence of the municipal supplement, the supplement has no effect on the employment or take-up in the short-run, but has instead, a positive effect on income. For this group, I find a positive effect on marital stability both in the short-run (4.6 %) and in the long-run (4.3 %). For those who are possibly pushed into taking home care allowance by the municipal supplement, I find a long-lasting decrease in employment, and a modest positive effect on marital stability that shows up later (0.5 %)

The impact of an early career shock on intergenerational mobility

No abstract available

Liikennejärjestelmän työmarkkinavaikutukset ja niiden arviointi

Hankkeessa on selvitetty, millaisia vaikutuksia liikenteellisen saavutettavuuden muutoksilla on työmarkkinoilla, miten vaikutuksia voidaan tutkia ja miten niitä käsitellään liikenteen arviointikehikoissa. Työmarkkinavaikutusten käsittelyyn liikennejärjestelmän vaikutusarvioinnissa on tehty ehdotus sekä tunnistettu jatkotutkimuskysymykset. Liikennejärjestelmän saavutettavuusmuutoksilla voi teorian mukaan olla vaikutuksia työn tarjontaan, työn kysyntään ja näiden kohtaantoon. Teoreettinen viitekehys ei ole yksiselitteinen vaan liikennejärjestelmän muutoksen vaikutus työmarkkinoihin on pitkälti empiirinen kysymys. Menetelmällisesti edistyksellisissä empiirisissä tutkimuksissa liikennejärjestelmän työmarkkinavaikutukset on todettu pieniksi ja vaikeasti osoitettaviksi. Työmarkkinavaikutukset ovat pääosin sisällä liikenneväyläinvestoinneista tehtävissä hankearvioinneissa eli hyöty-kustannusanalyyseissä. Muutamissa maissa laajemmat taloudelliset vaikutukset työmarkkinoilla ovat mukana liikennehankkeiden arviointiohjeissa, mutta niiden arviointiin asetetaan korkeat kriteerit. Liikennejärjestelmän työmarkkinavaikutusten arviointiin esitetään nelitasoista kehikkoa: 1) laadullinen vaikutuskanavien kuvaus, 2) työvoiman saavutettavuuden alueellinen kuvaus, 3) työmatkojen käyttäjähyötyjen rahamääräinen ja alueellinen arviointi sekä 4) laajempien työmarkkinavaikutusten rahamääräinen arviointi. Tason 1 arvioinnin edellytyksenä on liikennemarkkinoilla syntyvien suorien vaikutusten tunteminen. Tasoilla 2 ja 3 tarvitaan vaikutusalueen kattavaa liikennemallia. Taso 4 on tavoitteellinen tila, jonka suuntaan edetään jatkotutkimusten kautta. Jatkotutkimuskysymyksinä esitetään valtakunnallisen liikennemallin kehittäminen, sen perusteella tuotettu historiallinen saavutettavuusaineisto sekä empiirinen tutkimus saavutettavuusaineistolla ja henkilötietojen pitkittäisaineistolla