Research

Job Market Paper


This paper evaluates the impact of working from home (WFH) on mental health, relative to other forms of workplace arrangements during the pandemic. Leveraging the longitudinal structure of the data from the British Cohort Study, the paper explores two novel dimensions that potentially influence the mental health effects of WFH, early-age cognitive and social abilities. To account for self-selection, the identification relies on a Roy selection model with correlated factors and cost-shifters. The findings suggest that WFH has negative mental health effects compared to a workplace arrangement (WP), but positive effects compared to not working (NW). Additionally, WFH has the largest detrimental impact on mental health of individuals with lower social abilities relative to WP, and it confers the most substantial benefits on those with higher cognitive abilities compared to NW. Finally, the model predicts that investments in cognitive and social ability mitigate the cost and amplify the benefits associated with WFH.

Working Papers

Affirmative Action, Education and Labor Market Outcomes in Vietnam

Draft Available Upon Request


This paper examines the effects of a nationwide affirmative action policy change in Vietnam that exempted ethnic minority students from a high-stakes high school entrance exam. Using the joint variation in the student's ethnicity and birth year in a difference-in-differences framework, I show that the policy improves the probability of entering high school for ethnic minorities. Further, leveraging this policy-induced variation as an instrument, I explore the policy's long-term effects on labor market outcomes. The results indicate that ethnic minority students who were encouraged to enter high school by the policy are more likely to participate in the labor force, obtain employment, and hold salaried positions. The analysis of occupation-specific skill distributions and task intensity suggests that these effects are likely attributable to the human capital channel rather than education signaling. Despite its overall benefits, the policy's impacts are not equally distributed across the gender line and wealth levels: Male and wealthy ethnic minority students benefit more from the policy. Using a random forest model to identify the compliers characteristics confirms that future family concerns among females and financial constraints are major frictions for ethnic minorities to benefit from the policy.

Who Participate in Socio-Emotional Training in School? A Pilot Study


Recent studies have increasingly emphasized the cultivation of socio-emotional skills, but the role of schooling in this development remains unclear. This project examines the impact of Teach for Vietnam's English classes on socio-emotional skills in Quang Binh, Vietnam. Preliminary findings show that compared to their classmates, program participants who voluntarily joined the program, have higher self-esteem and cooperation scores by 0.21 and 0.22 standard deviations at the end of the program. Short-term academic expectations also increase for program participants in math, English, and Vietnamese. However, the program does not significantly affect long-term aspirations, with participants and non-participants having similar educational and occupational goals.

Roe v Wade: Women and the Asking Wage from an Online Labor Market Platform

The recent overturn of Roe v. Wade is a significant event with the potential to reshape women's negotiation positions. This direct abortion restriction affects over 23 million women of reproductive age living in one of the US states with an abortion ban, and its repercussions across various social dimensions may have far-reaching impacts. This paper assesses the consequences of the overturn on women's asking wages within an online labor market platform. To capture wage changes as the event unfolds across states, I employ a difference-in-differences framework, utilizing the joint variation in user registration location and registration time. The findings reveal a 13.83% reduction in women's asking wages attributed largely to the abortion access restriction. A placebo test conducted on the male sample shows no discernible impact of the overturn on asking wages.

Labor Market Outside Option and Gendered Value of Platform Work

Flexible labor supply comes with doubtful advantages, especially in an online economy where workers are detached from traditional work benefits. In this paper, I look at the effects of labor market outside options on participation in the platform economy and individual preferences for flexible labor supply. I combine a large dataset of US-based workers on a leading online labor market platform with state monthly level employment over 10 years. I show that in a given month state, a strong labor market outside options reduces women’s hourly asking wage on the platform, indicating a higher level of preference for flexible labor supply from the platform. Whereas, for men, the results are smaller in magnitude and statistically insignificant. I also show that the preference for flexible labor supply is lower for both men and women residing in a state that provides paid family leave. This suggests an interplay between family responsibility and labor market outside options on preferences for flexible labor supply in the platform economy.

Publications

Birth in Hard Times When You Belong To Minorities


Combining a unique dataset of birth records with municipal-level real estate information, we assess the impact of the 2008 recession on the health of immigrant newborns in Italy. Health at birth (e.g., low birth weight) of immigrants deteriorated more than health at birth of Italians. The negative effects on immigrants are not equally distributed across ethnicities, but rather they are driven by the main economic activity of the ethnicity and its related network at the municipal level. Immigrants whose ethnicity is mainly employed in the sectors most affected during the recession, suffered the most. By contrast, the recession hardship is mitigated for immigrants in municipalities where their ethnic network is organized through more registered immigrant associations. The characteristics of ethnic groups and their organization at the municipal level do not explain the heterogeneous effects on Italian newborns and this confirms network rather than neighborhood effects.

Which skills are for the Digital Era? A Returns-to-Skills Analysis


This paper sheds light on the extent to which different types of skills are rewarded as industries go digital. It relies on information from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills on labour market participation and workers’ skills for 31 countries as well as on a novel OECD index on the digital penetration of industries. It investigates how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are rewarded in digital vs. less digital intensive industries and assesses the extent to which skills bundles matter. The results indicate that digital intensive industries especially reward workers having relatively higher levels of self-organisation and advanced numeracy skills. Moreover, for workers in digital intensive industries, bundles of skills are particularly important: workers endowed with a high level of numeracy skills receive an additional wage premium, if they also show high levels of self-organisation or managing and communication skills.