Work in Progress
Timing of School Entry and Personality Traits in Adulthood
with Kamila Cygan-Rehm and Andreas Leibing (CESifo Working Paper No. 12273; accepted at the European Economic Review)
Abstract: This paper investigates the long-run consequences of a later school start on personality traits. For identification, we exploit the statutory cutoff rules for school enrollment in Germany within a regression discontinuity design. The longitudinal nature of our personality data allows us to study the effects at different stages in adulthood. We find that a later school start persistently reduces the levels of neuroticism among women. The effects on other personality traits, if anything, are transitory and coincide with important life events. The findings potentially carry important implications for gender gaps in the labor market because women typically score significantly higher on neuroticism at all life stages, which puts them at a disadvantage.
Internal Migration over the Life Cycle and the Role of Education: Evidence from Germany
with Kamila Cygan-Rehm, Guido Heineck, and Sebastian Vogler
Abstract: This paper studies internal migration from a lifetime perspective using detailed residential histories of German cohorts 1944-1986. First, we document substantial heterogeneity in mobility throughout the life cycle, across space, over time, and among sociodemographic groups. Internal mobility is particularly pronounced around important educational decisions, with striking differences across groups, especially by educational attainment. We then investigate whether the education-mobility gradient responds to policy-induced changes in education. To this end, we exploit two central features of the German school system, affecting education at different margins of the ability distribution. Difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity analyses reveal no effects on internal mobility.
The Effects of Expanded Prenatal Care on Maternal and Child Health: Evidence from Gestational Diabetes Screening
with Kamila Cygan-Rehm and Anica Kramer
Abstract: This paper evaluates whether expanding access to prenatal screening affects maternal and infant health. We exploit the 2013 introduction of full reimbursement for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screening in Germany, which raised screening uptake by almost 25 percentage points. GDM is the leading cause of excessive fetal growth and can have adverse long-term consequences for both mother and child. Using a difference-in-discontinuities design with administrative data on all hospital births, we find no economically significant beneficial effects on neonatal health or maternal birth outcomes. We do, however, detect slight increases in hospital length of stay and costs, consistent with the costs of marginal diagnoses and downstream care.