Graduate student views on the professional climate in the discipline of Economics (with Ann Mari May and Mary McGarvey), Contemporary Economic Policy
Abstract: This research examines gender differences in graduate student views on the professional climate in economics using a comprehensive survey of students enrolled in economics Ph.D. programs in the United States. The survey includes questions on stress and work/life balance, disciplinary climate in the profession, departmental climate, and the prevalence of sexual harassment. We find statistically significant gender differences in all four groups – particularly in views on departmental climate and disciplinary climate in the profession. We analyze the results based on gender, rank of the institution, public versus private institutional status, and representation of women faculty in departments.
Infrastructure system obstacles and technology adoption by firms in transition countries (with John E. Anderson), Comparative Southeast European Studies
Abstract: This study uses business survey data to determine how firms view their experience with the various infrastructure system as obstacles to doing business. We also examine whether EBRD transition indicators of reforms, intended to reflect improvements, are associated with perceptions of obstacles. Our analysis reveals that those indicators are often associated with more reported obstacles, not less. Results of the analysis indicate that there can be infrastructure bottlenecks in richer or faster developing economies that contribute to firms reporting more obstacles.
"I can make my own schedule": a mixed methods analysis of the Health Profession Opportunity Grant on workplace flexibility (with Andrea Hetling, Grace Maruska, and Victoria Coty) Revise & Resubmit
Abstract: Policymakers are increasingly focused on promoting job quality as a means to enhance financial stability and well-being through employment. Thus, evaluations of public workforce inventions are adding employment outcome measures that go beyond wages in order to assess job quality more broadly. This study employs a mixed methods design to understand what aspects of job quality, beyond wages and benefits, are valued by most participants of a federally-funded sectoral job training program and then assess the impact of the program using these grounded insights. We use secondary data from a randomized control trial of the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) for our analyses. Qualitative thematic coding reveals participants’ preference for scheduling choice as a strategy to achieve work-life balance. Statistical models demonstrate that the program facilitates access to jobs with greater workplace flexibility. Heterogeneity analysis reveals differential impacts by ethnicity and education level, and notable positive results for individuals with children, a group more likely to value and benefit from flexibility. Policy implications of these findings are especially important in the context of past HPOG evaluations that indicate no program impact on wages, a more traditional program measure of job quality.
Tiebout sorting in metropolitan areas in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-2009 (Census Bureau RDC project with John Anderson, Kyle Kopplin, and Aaron Scholl)
Abstract: This study examines the effects of the bursting of the housing bubble during the 2007--2009 Financial Crisis period on the Tiebout-like sorting pattern of households within and across communities in three large metropolitan areas. Phoenix, Denver, and St. Louis experienced varying degrees of housing market impacts, and we focus on Census tract-level estimates of responses to exposure to housing foreclosures. The testable hypothesis is that the Financial Crisis and its related mortgage crisis caused a significant resorting of households within and across communities in large metropolitan areas. The Tiebout model predicts that sorting in a metropolitan area results in homogeneity within communities and heterogeneity across communities. We hypothesize that the financial crisis resulted in reduced homogeneity within communities and greater heterogeneity across communities. Empirical testing of this hypothesis uses restricted-access American Community Survey (ACS) data that provides fine geographic detail which is then aggregated up to the Census tract level. These are merged to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data to measure tract-level exposure to foreclosures. Results indicate that significant resorting of households occurred with effects greater in metropolitan areas with more exposure to mortgage foreclosures.
Immigration enforcement and health insurance: evidence from Secure Communities (with Marina Lovchikova)
Abstract: This paper examines whether the implementation of Secure Communities (SC), a large-scale immigration enforcement program, affected health insurance enrollment of Hispanic U.S. citizens who themselves are not subject to the policy. Exploiting spatial and temporal variation in the implementation of SC, we estimate triple-difference and event study models. Our findings reveal SC significantly reduced Medicaid enrollment by 1.9 percentage points and increased the uninsured rate by 2.6 percentage points among Hispanics, with no effects observed for non-Hispanics. These effects are pronounced in the initial two years post-implementation, suggesting a temporary but substantial "chilling effect." Exploring the mechanism, we find that the effect of SC is driven by information transmission within families and communities. For policies aimed at closing a gap in health insurance coverage and take-up of social safety net programs among Hispanic, our results highlight a crucial role of communities in mitigating the unintended effects of anti-immigrant policies.
Are low-skilled immigration and coresidence substitutes? Evidence from Secure Communities
Abstract: This paper studies the effect of Secure Communities, an immigration enforcement program that removed a large number of non-citizens from the United States, on the living arrangements of elderly U.S.-born individuals. Using U.S. Census data and exploiting spatial and temporal variation in the implementation of the program, I estimate a difference-in-differences model with location and time fixed effects. I find that Secure Communities increased the likelihood of coresidence among single elderly individuals by about 3.6 percent. Furthermore, I provide suggestive evidence that the elderly's coresidence with a person out of the labor force increased by 5.4 percent following Secure Communities. Empirical tests suggest that the increased price of household services due to the reduction of immigrants' labor supply is the key mechanism generating these effects. Taken together, these findings suggest that strict immigration enforcement policies could have a large impact on the living arrangements and labor market outcomes of U.S.-born persons.
Automation, career trajectory, and education (with Marina Lovchikova)
Abstract: A large body of literature examines the impact of routine-biased technological change (RBTC) on the labor markets and the preparedness of workers for those changes. With a slow adjustment to new technologies, some workers could be left behind. This paper argues that the intergenerational persistence of occupational types is one of the explanations for the slow speed of the adjustment to new technologies. Using NLSY79 data, we document two stylized facts. First, children whose parents were employed in routine-intensive occupations are more likely to be employed in similar types of occupations by routine content. Second, the gap between children of parents in the first (lowest) and last (highest) terciles by routine intensity is persistent over age and career trajectory. Moreover, this gap is present both for college and non-college-educated children. Additionally, we find that college degree attainment varies with the routine intensity of parents' jobs. For example, the probability of having a college degree is 24p.p. higher for children with parents at the 25th percentile of routine intensity distribution compared to the 75th percentile. With the persistence of occupational types across generations, policies targeting areas exposed to automation to promote education and occupation variety might benefit the economy's overall growth.
Examining impact of the Health Professions Opportunity Grant on parents' access to jobs with benefits (with Andrea Hetling, Stephanie Walsh, and Victoria Coty)
Review of Dual-Enrollment Participation and Outcomes in New Jersey
Exploring Postsecondary Outcomes of Dual Enrollment Participation in New Jersey