Rehme, Günther. "Education, Economic Growth and Personal
Income Inequality Across (Rich) Countires." No. 300. April
2002. 37 pages.
Abstract: This paper offers a supply-side explanation of the variation in
long-run growth and inequality across countries. In the model education
simultaneously affects growth and income inequality. More human capital may
increase or decrease growth but also measured inequality. In contrast to some
recent contributions the paper uses consistently defined data showing that
higher (within-country) inequality is associated with lower growth in rich
countries, even when controlling for initial income, education or fertility.
Furthermore, (rich) countries that have a more productive education sector
appear to have lower inequality. It is argued that institutions and policies
which generate more high-skilled people or enhance the productivity of the
education sector may affect long-run income equality and growth in a positive
way.
http://lisweb.ceps.lu/publications/wpapersf.htm
Rehme, Günther. "(Re-)Distribution of Personal Incomes,
Education and Economic Performance Across Countries." No. 299.
March 2002. 47 pages.
Abstract: In many OECD countries income inequality has risen, but surprisingly
re-distribution as well. The theory attributes this partly to the redistributive
effect of education spending. In the model income inequality and growth depend
in an inverted U-shaped way on education. To maintain a given level of human
capital it is shown that a less efficient schooling technology requires more
resources, which lowers pre-tax and post-tax income inequality as well as
growth. Using consistently defined income data from the Luxembourg Income Study
suggests that there is a negative relationship between growth and income
inequality in rich countries. It is argued that using some unadjusted inequality
measures in growth regressions may yield estimates that are biased upwards. The
evidence suggests that a rich country would raise growth with lower pre-tax and
post-tax inequality if it spent more on education.
http://lisweb.ceps.lu/publications/wpapersf.htm
Christopher, Karen.
"Helping Mothers Escape Poverty: As European Policy Shows, Better Wages and
Generous Supports are a Better Cure than Promoting Marriage." No.
298. April, 2002.
Abstract: The belief that single motherhood is the pre-eminent cause of poverty
in America has become a bipartisan cliché. The welfare reform enacted in 1996
was designed, among other things, to discourage single parenthood and to promote
marriage. Yet a look at the experiences and policies of other nations suggests a
more complex story of the causes and cure of poverty. Evidence from Europe shows
that the remedy is increasing the economic resources available to low-income
families-through better paying jobs that relieve poverty directly and social
supports that reconcile paid employment with reliable parenting.
http://lisweb.ceps.lu/publications/wpapersf.htm
Gabrisch, Hubert and Maria Luigia Segana. " Intra-industry
Trade between European Union and Transition Economies: Does Income
Distribution Matter?" No. 297. March 2002. 28 pages.
Abstract: EU-TE trade is increasingly characterised by intra-industry
trade. For some countries (Czech Republic), the share of intra-industry trade in
total trade with the EU approaches 60 percent. The decomposition of
intra-industry trade into horizontal and vertical shares reveals overwhelming
vertical structures with strong quality advantages for the EU and shrinking
quality advantages for TE countries wherever trade has been liberalised.
Empirical research on factors determining this structure in an EU-TE framework
has lagged theoretical and empirical research on horizontal trade and vertical
trade in other regions of the world. The main objective of this paper is,
therefore, to contribute to the ongoing debate over EU-TE trade structures, by
offering an explanation of intra-industry trade. We utilize a cross-country
approach in which relative wage differences and country size play a leading
role. In addition, as implied by a model of the product-quality cycle, we
examine income distribution factors as determinates of the emerging EU-TE
structure of trade flows. Using OLS regressions, we find first, that relative
differences in wages (per capita income) and country size explain intra-industry
trade, when trade is vertical and completely liberalized and second, that cross
country differences in income distribution play no explanatory role. We conclude
that if increasing wage differences resulted from an increasing productivity gap
between high-quality and low-quality industries, then vertical structures will,
over the long-term create significant barriers for the increase in TE incomes
and lowering EU-TE income differentials.
http://lisweb.ceps.lu/publications/wpapersf.htm
Acemoglu, Daron. "Cross-Country Inequality
Trends." No. 296. August 2001. 18 pages.
Abstract: The economics profession has made considerable progress in
understanding the increase in wage inequality in the U.S. and the UK over the
past several decades, but currently lacks a consensus on why inequality did not
increase, or increased much less, in (continental) Europe over the same time
period. I review the two most popular explanations for these differential
trends: that relative supply of skills increased faster in Europe, and that
European labor market institutions prevented inequality from increasing. I argue
that these two explanations go some way towards accounting for the differential
cross-country inequality trends, but do not provide an entirely satisfactory
explanation. In addition, it appears that relative demand for skills increased
differentially across countries. Motivated by this reasoning, I develop a simple
theory where labor market institutions creating wage compression in Europe also
encourage more investment in technologies increasing the productivity of
less-skilled workers, thus implying less skill-biased technical change in Europe
than in the U.S.
http://lisweb.ceps.lu/publications/wpapersf.htm
Doblhammer, Gabriele. "Differences in Lifespan by Month of
Birth for the United States: The impact of early life events and conditions on
late life mortality." WP 2002-019. May 2002. 48 pages.
Abstract: We find significant differences in the mean age at death by
month of birth on the basis of 15 million US death certificates for the years
1989 to 1997: those born in fall live about 0.44 of a year longer than those
born in spring. The difference depends on race, region of birth, marital status,
and education: the differences are largest for the less educated, for those who
have never been married and for blacks, and the differences are more marked in
the South than in the North. They are only slightly larger for males than for
females. For blacks, the shape of the month-of-birth pattern is significantly
different from that of whites. We present evidence that this difference is due
to whether one has an urban or a rural place of birth. We find a significant
month-of-birth pattern for all major causes of death including cardiovascular
disease, malignant neoplasms, in particular lung cancer, and other natural
diseases like chronic obstructive lung disease, or infectious disease. We reject
the hypotheses that the differences in life span by month of birth are caused by
seasonal differences in daylight or by seasonal differences in temperature. Our
results are consistent with the explanation that seasonal differences in
nutrition of the mother during pregnancy and seasonal differences in the
exposure to infectious disease early in life lead to the differences in lifespan
by month of birth.
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/?http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Publications/working.htm
Billari, Francesco C., Alexia Prskawetz and Johannes
Fürnkranz. "The cultural evolution of age-at-marriage
norms." WP 2002-018. May 2002. 29 pages.
Abstract: We present an agent-based model designed to study the cultural
evolution of age-at-marriage norms. We review theoretical arguments and
empirical evidence on the existence of norms proscribing marriage outside of an
acceptable age interval. Using a definition of norms as constraints built in
agents, we model the transmission of norms, and of mechanisms of
intergenerational transmission of norms. Agents can marry each other only if
they share part of the acceptable age interval. We perform several simulation
experiments on the evolution across generations. In particular, we study the
conditions under which norms persist in the long run, the impact of initial
conditions, the role of random mutations, and the impact of social influence.
Although the agent-based model we use is highly stylized, it gives important
insights on the societal-level dynamics of life-course norms.
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/?http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Publications/working.htm
Hank, Karsten and Hans-Peter Kohler. "Gender
Preferences for Children Revisited: New Evidence from Germany." WP
2002-017. May 2002. 24 pages.
Abstract: Empirical research investigating gender preferences for children and
their implications for fertility decisions in advanced industrial societies is
relatively scarce. Recent studies on this matter have presented ambiguous
evidence regarding the existence as well as the direction such preferences can
take. We use data from the most recent German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) to
analyse determinants of the preferred sex composition of prospective offspring
as well as the influence of the sex of previous children on the respondent’s
fertility intentions and their actual behaviour at different parities. We find
that the socio-demographic determinants of gender preferences differ when
childless respondents are compared with parents, and that boys are preferred as
a first child. Although an ultimate sex composition that includes at least one
son and one daughter is generally favoured, there is no evidence for a
behaviourally relevant gender preference in Germany, when higher parities are
considered.
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/?http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Publications/working.htm
Liu, Guiping. "How Premarital Children and Childbearing in
the Current Marriage Influence Family Stability." WP 2002-016. April
2002. 32 pages.
Abstract:By using a Swedish register data set and applying hazard models with
unobserved heterogeneity, this study demonstrates that childbearing history
plays an important role in predicting the divorce risks of families with various
types of premarital children. Families with premarital children definitely have
a higher risk of divorce than do those without premarital children. Producing a
common child cements bonds in the family but as the youngest common child grows
up, his or her role of maintaining family relations weakens. Families with
premarital children from the wife's relation with another man clearly have a
higher risk of divorce than do families with other types of premarital children.
Additional findings deviate from what has been reported in the literature.
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/?http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Publications/working.htm
Brockmann, Hilke and Thomas Klein. "Love and Death in
Germany. The marital biography and its impact on mortality." WP
2002-015. April 2002. 31 pages.
Abstract: Most studies dealing with the impact of marriage on mortality
treat being married as a once-and-for-all status. However, multiple life changes
in marital status characterize the modern life course. The purpose of this paper
is to analyze how the timing of these changes affect mortality in Germany.
Longitudinal data show that the positive effects of getting married accumulate
over long periods of time, while the negative effect of divorce and widowhood
attenuates after some time. We also find that the effect of any marital status
wears out with an individual’s age and differs between cohorts, which is
partly due to selectivity. Both temporal mechanism and selection processes
demonstrate the plasticity of the marital biography and its variable effect on
mortality.
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/?http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Publications/working.htm
von der Lippe, Holger, Francesco C. Billari and Olaf Reis.
" Bearing children in unstable times. Psychological traits and early
parenthood in a lowest-low fertility context, Rostock 1990-1995."
WP-2002-014. April 2002. 38 pages.
Abstract: In this paper, we analyze a unique longitudinal data set from Rostock
in Eastern Germany. Data collection began in the communist era and has been
followed up until today. Employing proportional-hazard models, we use
psychological individual-level measures (such as personality traits, social and
cognitive resources, coping styles, etc.) at age 20 as determinants of the
subjects' subsequent transition rate to parenthood. We find strong evidence to
support the notion that psychological factors function as proximate determinants
of differential fertility. We conclude that psychological individual-level data
are important in understanding patterns, especially during times when society
faces massive and incalculable upheavals.
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/?http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Publications/working.htm
Graefe, Deborah Roempke and Daniel T. Lichter. "When Unwed
Mothers Marry: The Men in Women's Lives at Mid-Life." 02-01
Paper. February 2002. 38 pages.
Abstract: Marriage, presumably having the salutary effect of reducing
nonmarital childbearing, has
Wu, Xiaogang, and Yu Xie. "Does the Market Pay Off? Earnings
Inequality and Returns to Education in Urban China." PSC Research Report
02-500. April 2002. 32 pages.
Abstract: The Chinese household registration system (hukou) may be the most
important determinant of differential privilege in state socialist China. Urban
registrants are entitled to the best jobs, education, housing, and health care
-- all of which are unavailable to those with rural registration. Thus,
transforming one's hukou status from rural to urban is a central aspect of
upward mobility. But given that hukou status is essentially ascribed at birth,
how do rural hokou holders affect this change to urban status? Using data from a
1996 national probability sample, we found that education, communist party
membership, and military service are the main determinants of rural-to-urban
status changes.
http://141.211.200.59/pubs/FMPro?-db=items&-lay=web&-format=results.html&-max=30&series+code=rr&-SortField=pubyear&-SortOrder=descend&-SortField=Month+Number&-SortOrder=descend&-token=verb&-find
Wu, Xiaogang , and Donald J. Treiman. "The Household Registration
System and Social Stratification in China: 1955-1996." PSC Research Report
02-499. April 2002. 40 pages.
Abstract: The Chinese household registration system (hukou) may be the
most important determinant of differential privilege in state socialist China.
Urban registrants are entitled to the best jobs, education, housing, and health
care -- all of which are unavailable to those with rural registration. Thus,
transforming one's hukou status from rural to urban is a central aspect of
upward mobility. But given that hukou status is essentially ascribed at birth,
how do rural hokou holders affect this change to urban status? Using data from a
1996 national probability sample, we found that education, communist party
membership, and military service are the main determinants of rural-to-urban
status changes.
http://141.211.200.59/pubs/FMPro?-db=items&-lay=web&-format=results.html&-max=30&series+code=rr&-SortField=pubyear&-SortOrder=descend&-SortField=Month+Number&-SortOrder=descend&-token=verb&-find
Knodel, John, Wassana Im-em, Chanpen Saengtienchai, Mark VanLandingham, and
Jiraporn Kespichayawattana. "The Impact of an Adult Child's Death due
to AIDS on Older-Aged Parents: Results from a Direct Interview Survey." PSC
Research Report 02-498. April 2002. 86 pages.
Abstract: The present report describes the methodology and findings of a
direct interview survey in Thailand of parents of deceased adult children who
died of AIDS and a comparison group of older age parents who had not suffered
such a loss. The results provide extensive information on living arrangements;
parental caregivng; health Impacts; spouses and orphaned children; care,
treatment and funeral expense; longer term economic impacts; and community
reaction. The detailed results of our survey show considerable diversity in the
extent parents are impacted. Clearly personal caregiving and instrumental
assistance by parents, especially the mother, can be very demanding. Even when a
parent is a main caregiver, other family members, particularly other adult
children, often assist the parental caregiver. Parents also often serve as
critical links between their ill adult child and the health care system. Care
giving often takes a toll on the emotional and physical health of the parental
caregiver at the time care is being provided. Only a minority of the AIDS
parents had fostered grandchildren left behind by their deceased son or
daughter. Overall, the loss of a child to AIDS has a serious economic impact for
only a minority of AIDS parents. At the same time, the poor appear to be the
most adversely affected. Sustained social stigma directed at parents of persons
who died of AIDS is far from universal in Thailand at present. Sympathetic and
supportive reactions from others in the community are more frequently reported
than negative ones.
http://141.211.200.59/pubs/FMPro?-db=items&-lay=web&-format=results.html&-max=30&series+code=rr&-SortField=pubyear&-SortOrder=descend&-SortField=Month+Number&-SortOrder=descend&-token=verb&-find
Hu, Yu-Whuei
and Barbara Wolfe. "Health Inequality between Black and
White Women." DP 1251-02. April 2002. 46 pages.
Abstract: The black-white inequality in health status in the United States
has persisted despite large increases in life expectancy and improvements in the
health status of both races. Our objective is to examine the inequality in
health status between black and white women and to explore the extent to which
such differences are associated with observed dissimilarities in characteristics
such as insurance status, utilization of care, and socioeconomic status. We use
data from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to estimate (reduced-form)
health production functions. Based on results of a "Chow-type" test,
separate models are estimated for the black and white samples. To account for
the endogeneity of medical care utilization, we employ a Murphy-Topel two-step
econometric method; a Hausman test rejects the exogeneity hypothesis. According
to our medical care utilization estimation, those who are both poor and
uninsured are less likely to use physician services. Controlling for observed
factors, including prior health status, our estimation of the health production
function shows that greater use of medical care and higher educational levels
increase the likelihood of being healthy, while lower incomes and being
overweight reduce that likelihood. On the basis of our estimates, we predict
that black women's likelihood of having excellent health would increase by 3-4
percentage points if they had the same characteristics, such as number of
physician visits, educational level, marital status, weight status, and income
level, as those of their white counterparts.
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/dp/dplist-02.htm
Compiled by: Kari Swanson - Library Assistant
Center for Demography
and Ecology Information Services
Rm. 4471 Social Science Building
1180
Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1393 USA
Email: kswanson@ssc.wisc.edu