Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent (joint with I. Berniell, D. de la Mata, M. Edo, Y. Fawaz, M. P. Machado, and M. Marchionni) [wp PDF]. Applied Economics [forthcoming]
In this paper we show that motherhood triggers changes in the allocation of talent in the labor market beyond the well-known effects on gender gaps in employment and earnings. Based on an event study approach around the birth of the first child and retrospective panel data for 28 European countries and Israel, we assess the labor market responses to motherhood across “talent” groups—i.e., groups with different educational attainment, Math performance at age 10, and personality traits associated to entrepreneurial ability. We show that even the most talented women—both in absolute terms and relative to their husbands—leave the labor market or uptake part-time jobs after the birth of the first child. We also find that motherhood induces a negative selection of female talents into self-employment. Overall, our results suggest relevant changes in the allocation of talent associated to gender differences in non-market responsibilities that can have sizable impacts on aggregate market productivity.
Motherhood and flexible jobs: Evidence from Latin American countries (joint with I. Berniell, D. de la Mata, M. Edo, and M. Marchionni) World Development, 2023. [Working paper: PDF]
We study the causal effects of motherhood on labour market outcomes in Latin America by adopting an event study approach around the birth of the first child based on panel data from national household surveys for Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. We show that motherhood not only reduces women’s employment but also implies changes in their occupational structure towards time-flexible, yet more vulnerable, forms of employment: part-time jobs, self-employment and informal work. Additionally, we provide suggestive evidence for 18 Latin American countries that gender norms and family policies shape the demand for flexibility that arises with the arrival of children. Countries that hold more conservative views regarding women’s role within the family or with less generous family policies show larger gaps in labour market outcomes between mothers and childless women .
Motherhood, Pregnancy or Marriage Effects? (joint with I. Berniell, D. de la Mata, M. Edo, Y. Fawaz, M. P. Machado, and M. Marchionni) [PDF] Economics Letters, 2022.
The existence of large child penalties on women’s labor market outcomes has been documented for multiple countries and time periods. In this paper, we assess to what extent marriage decisions and pregnancies may partly explain these child penalties. Using data for 29 countries drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we show that although marriage has a negative effect on women’s employment (3.3%), its magnitude is much smaller compared with the negative effect of a first child (23%). Moreover, we find that pregnancies that end in non-live births have nonstatistically significant effects on employment in the following years, supporting the exogeneity assumption underlying the identification in child penalty studies. These new results lend support to the hypothesis that child-rearing, rather than marriage or pregnancy, is responsible for women exiting the labor force upon motherhood.
Gender Gaps in Labor Informality: The Motherhood Effect (joint with Inés Berniell, Dolores de La Mata, María Edo, and Mariana Marchionni). Journal of Development Economics, 2021.
We estimate the short and long run labor market impacts of parenthood in a developing country, Chile, based on an event-study approach around the birth of the first child. We find that the first child has strong and long lasting effects on labor market outcomes of mothers, while fathers remain unaffected. Becoming a mother implies a sharp decline in women's employment, working hours, and labor earnings. Importantly, the birth of the first child also produces a strong increase in labor informality among working mothers (38%). Moreover, we find that these impacts are milder for women with higher levels of education. We build a model economy to assess the mechanisms behind these effects and find that the flexibility in working hours offered by informal jobs prevents some women from leaving the labor market upon motherhood. We also find that if the quality of the social protection provided by formal jobs were higher, the increase in informality associated to motherhood would be tempered. Our results suggest that mothers find in the informal sector the flexibility to balance family life and work, although at the cost of deteriorating their labor market prospects as well as resigning the access to social protection.
Jobs' amenability is not enough: The role of household inputs for safe work under social distancing in Latin American cities (joint with Daniel Fernández). World Development, 2021.
The recent literature has emphasized the role of occupations in quantifying the amount of telework possible under social distancing measures during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, telework requires not only a teleworkable occupation but also household inputs related to basic infrastructure (Internet connection and other housing services) and time availability. We use a recent household survey that includes rich information for large urban areas in eleven Latin American countries and we find that these household inputs are not available for more vulnerable workers. This introduces additional sources of inequality in the possibility of working from home, aside from those imposed by occupations, as well as it reinforces the association between economic development and the share of teleworkable jobs. We also analyze the profiles of workers in jobs that imply a higher exposure to the virus (high personal-proximity jobs), and we find important additional sources of inequality. In particular, workers in jobs of higher exposure to the COVID-19 also have other health risks, implying that this type of inequality should be carefully taken into account when designing deconfinement measures.
Occupational Choice and Investments in Human Capital in Informal Economies [PDF]. B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, 2021.
ANCE Award (Premio Julio H. G. Olivera de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias Económicas, Argentina).
Informality is pervasive in many developing countries and it can affect occupational and educational decisions. Cross-country data shows that the rate of entrepreneurship as well as the gap between the skill premium for entrepreneurs and for workers increase with the size of the informal economy. Also, in countries with larger informal sectors the fraction of high-skilled individuals that choose to be entrepreneurs is larger. To explain these facts, I develop a model economy with human capital investments, occupational choice and an informal sector, in which the investment in human capital improves the efficiency of labor as well as managerial skills, and the technology to produce goods exhibits capital-skill complementarity. Model predictions can account for cross-country evidence and also shed light on the mechanisms at work when the level of informality in the economy increases. In particular, a higher level of informality discourages human capital investments for workers while it incentivizes these investments for the case of some managers, mostly informal but talented.
Spillovers of Health Education at School on Parents' Physical Activity (Joint with D. de la Mata and N. Valdés) - Health Economics, 22 (9), September 2013. [PDF]
This paper exploits state health education (HED) reforms as quasi-natural experiments to estimate the causal impact of HED received by children on their parents' physical activity. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the period 1999–2005 merged with data on state HED reforms from the National Association of State Boards of Education Health Policy Database and the 2000 and 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study. To identify the spillover effects of HED requirements on parents' behavior, we use several methodologies (triple differences, changes in changes, and difference in differences) in which we allow for different types of treatments. We find a positive effect of HED reforms at the elementary school on the probability of parents doing light physical activity. Introducing major changes in HED increases the probability of fathers engaging in physical activity by between 6.3 and 13.7 percentage points, whereas on average, this probability for mothers does not seem to be affected. We analyze several heterogeneous impacts of the HED reforms to unveil the mechanisms behind these spillovers. We find evidence consistent with hypotheses such as gender specialization of parents in childcare activities or information sharing between children and parents.
Local shocks in labor markets: competition and information flow among peers (joint with D. de la Mata, and F. Juncosa) [CAF Working paper]
We present causal evidence of the effect of local labor supply shocks on labor outcomes of young job seekers in a developing country. We study a large-scale internship program in Argentina that randomly alters job seekers’ local labor environment. Exposure to areas with high program saturation results in adverse effects on labor market outcomes following program completion, while having a nearby individual who participated in the program improves labor outcomes. These results are compatible with the coexistence of a mechanism of transmission of valuable labor market information among peers and a competition mechanism.
Testing the trade-off between family size and human capital of children: Evidence from census data for five Latin American countries (joint with C. Bonavida, and D. de la Mata) [draft coming soon].
We study the relationship between family size and children's human capital, commonly referred to as the "quantity-quality trade-off" following Becker and Lewis (1973), in Latin American countries. Despite a history of elevated fertility rates in this region and a rapid convergence to the fertility levels in high-income countries, little is known on whether family size negatively affects investments in children's human capital. The evidence for other regions has challenged the existence of such trade-off. We use 10% public-use micro-data samples from the census of five Latin American countries with relatively high fertility rates. We employ a twin instrumental variable approach to estimate the causal effect of family size on educational attainment of children born prior to the twin birth. We shed light on the potential mechanisms affecting the relationship between family size and children's human capital outcomes when: i) financial restrictions are binding, ii) returns to education are low, iii) parental investments decisions are affected by gender norms; iv) formal education supply is scarce. Our results indicate the existence of a quantity-quality trade-off that is related to households' financial restrictions, gender norms and the provision of school services at the district of residence.
Starting on the right track? The effects of first job experience on short and long-term labor market outcomes (joint with Dolores de la Mata). ANCE Award 2017 (Premio Julio H. G. Olivera de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias Económicas, Argentina). [new draft coming soon]
For young job seekers, barriers to entering the labor market are high, especially in developing countries where information frictions are substantial. Can first-job experience impact these barriers and have enduring effects? This paper exploits a large-scale youth employment program in Argentina that randomly allocated 12-month apprenticeships in formal firms to investigate the effects of (relatively) high-quality entry-level jobs on the labor market outcomes of young individuals. Short and long-term outcomes are measured with data gathered from a follow-up survey (short run) and from administrative registries (short and long run, up to 10 years later). Working in a formal firm caused large short and long-run gains in the probability of formal employment, as well as a fall in unemployment. The random assignment design also enables us to implement a saturation approach to measure displacement effects, which, if anything, we found to be positive for non-beneficiaries. We explore alternative mechanisms that could produce all these impacts of real-world first-job experience, and we find evidence favoring a reduction in informational barriers over alternative explanations, like on-the-job skills development.
Sorting of Students by Cultural Traits: The Effects of Immigration [PDF]
Many developed countries have been receiving large immigration inflows during the last decades, which has changed the distribution of cultural traits (native versus immigrant) of school-age children in these countries. Such sudden changes are likely to have an impact on segregation of students across public and private schools if cultural considerations play a role in parents' school choices. In many of these countries both the proportion of native parents who chose to send their children to private schools as well as the proportion of immigrant parents who chose public institutions increased with immigration. Spain provides a clear example of large immigration and subsequent native-flight out from public schools. Building on previous literature on school sorting and cultural transmission I construct and calibrate a model of school choice that can account for the observed sorting of students in Spain. The model economy is a single-community, multi-neighborhood general equilibrium model with overlapping generations of individuals who differ along two dimensions, income and cultural traits. Parents care about their children's future income and their acquired cultural identity. I use the model economy to study the impact of immigration on school and neighborhood segregation and to analyze policies that can affect the allocation of students across schools as well as the integration outcomes of immigrants. I find that reducing subsidies to private education as well as increasing its multi-cultural value can reduce the sorting of natives and immigrants across public and private institutions while ameliorating neighborhood segregation and improving cultural and economic integration outcomes of immigrants.
La movilidad educativa intergeneracional en el siglo XX en América Latina y el Caribe (joint with C. Bonavida, D. de la Mata y E. Schargordsky) [PDF].
En este trabajo aportamos nuevas mediciones de movilidad educativa intergeneracional para América Latina y el Caribe a partir de datos censales armonizados para 22 países. Producimos estimaciones de medidas de movildiad absolutas y relativas para cohortes nacidas entre 1930 y 2010. Las medidas absolutas muestran que la región experimentó una alta movilidad en la parte inferior de la distribución, aunque ciertos grupos de la población (hombres, grupos étnicos minoritarios y residentes en áreas rurales) se encuentran más rezagados. Se observan menos progresos teniendo en cuenta medidas de movilidad relativa, sin presentarse patrones claros según género o lugar de residencia. Existe convergencia entre áreas geográficas al interior de los países en métricas de movilidad relativa, aunque los resultados son mixtos según la métrica de movilidad absoluta considerada. Se realizan ejercicios de robustez para descartar sesgos por corresidencia y comparaciones con otras fuentes de información que permiten validar la fiabilidad de las métricas de movilidad calculadas a partir de censos.
Motherhood and Employment in Europe: The East-West Divide (co-authored with I. Berniell, D. de la Mata, M. Edo, Y. Fawaz, M. P. Machado, and M. Marchionni).
Perceptions of Mobility, Preferences for Redistribution, and Gender (co-authored with I. Albina and D. de la Mata).
Multigenerational Educational Mobility: Evidence from Ten Latin American Countries (co-authored with D. de la Mata).
University Construction and Educational Mobility in Latin America (co-authored with I. Albina, C. Bonavida, and D. de la Mata).
Intergenerational Persistence in Health in Latin America: The Maternal Health Link (co-authored with I. Benzaquen and D. de la Mata).
Intergenerational Persistence in Health Status: Survey Evidence for Ten Latin American Countries (co-authored with D. de la Mata and M. Finkelstein).
The Quality of Job Opportunities and Fertility Decisions (co-authored with B. Cañuelo, V. Castillo and D. de la Mata).
Assortative Mating and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital (co-authored with I. Albina, C. Bonavida, and D. de la Mata).
Place of Work or Place of Residence? Contagion Effects of Lifting Economic Lockdowns in Buenos Aires (co-authored with G. Alves, V. Castillo, D. Fernandez, F. Juncosa, and S. Rotondo).
Experimental Evidence on the Perceived Returns to Occupations and Occupational Choice (with D. de la Mata).
Books
Editor
Inherited Inequalities. CAF 2022 Flagship Report (RED 2022), co-edited with Dolores de la Mata. [Spanish, English]
More Skills for Work and Life: The contributions of Families, Schools, Jobs, and the Social Environment. CAF 2016 Flagship Report (RED 2016), co-edited with Dolores de la Mata. PDF, Spanish / PDF, English
Chapters in books
Intergenerational mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean: how much, in which ways, and why does it matter? (joint with Dolores de la Mata and Ernesto Schargrodsky), Chapter 1 in "RED 2022. Inherited Inequalities," CAF.
The multiple dimensions of social mobility: An assessment of Latin America and the Caribbean (joint with Dolores de la Mata), Chapter 2 in "RED 2022. Inherited Inequalities," CAF.
Human capital formation and intergenerational mobility (joint with Dolores de la Mata), Chapter 3 in "RED 2022. Inherited Inequalities," CAF.
Motherhood and Female labor Market Outcomes in Latin America, book chapter in Mothers in the Labor Market (Springer), joint with I. Berniell, D. de La Mata, M. Edo, M. Marchionni, and F. Pinto. 2022.
Transparency and citizen control (joint with Dolores de la Mata), Chapter 4 in "RED 2019. Integrity in public policy: Keys to prevent corruption," CAF.
Skills: Measurement and Latin America’s Current Situation and Outlook, Chapter 1 in "RED 2016. More Skills for Work and Life: The contributions of Families, Schools, Jobs, and the Social Environment," CAF.
The power of citizen participation (joint with Dolores de la Mata), Chapter 4 in “RED 2015. A More Effective State: Capacities for designing, implementing and evaluating public policies,” CAF.
Why some people commit crimes and others do not, Chapter 2 in “RED 2014. Towards a safer Latin America: A new perspective to prevent and control crime,” CAF.
Micro entrepreneurs: Why don’t they grow or become salaried workers?, Chapter 3 in “RED 2013. Enhancing productivity in Latin America: From subsistence to transformational entrepreneurship,” CAF.
Public Finance and Income Inequality in Latin America, Chapter 2 in “RED 2012. Public Finance for Development: Strengthening the connection between taxation and expenditures,” CAF.
Caracterización de la diversidad étnico-racial en América Latina y el Caribe y su distribución geográfica (joint with Iván Albina and Dolores de la Mata) [PDF-Spanish], CAF-Policy Paper Series #37. October 2024.
Alertas tempranas para prevenir el abandono escolar: el caso de la provincia de Mendoza (joint with Agustina Hatrick and Cecilia Llambí from CAF and Romina Paola Durán, Margarita Olivera, Leopoldo Javier Ontivero and Paula Ortega Grebenc from DGE-Mendoza) [PDF-Spanish], October 2023.
Social Policy Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean: analysis and policies (joint with Arreaza Adriana, Dolores de la Mata, Dolores, Santiago Levy y Ernesto Schargrodsky) [PDF-Spanish, PDF-English]. July 2023.
Hands-on-Data: Artificial intelligence for the design of public policy in Latin America (joint with L. Acion, L. Lombardi, E. Altszyler, C. Sarraute, A. Vazquez, A. Gravano, and W. Sosa-Escudero) [PDF]
Computing Accessibility Metrics for Argentina (joint with C. Lang, T. Carreira, G. Dima, and C. Sarraute) [PDF]
Digitalización de las licencias médicas en el sistema educativo público de la Provincia de Buenos Aires: Modernización del Estado para una mejor educación (con A. Caccianini e I. Sanguinetti) [PDF]
Distribución espacial del empleo formal en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Un diagnóstico a partir de registros administrativos (con Alves, G., Castillo. V., De La Mata, D., Fernandez, D., Juncosa, C. y Rotondo, S) [PDF]
Prácticas laborales como mecanismo para mejorar la empleabilidad de los jóvenes: Lecciones para el caso argentino (con Dolores de la Mata) [PDF]