Direct and Indirect Effects of Chronic Bullying Victimization on Adult Wages
Abstract: Bullying victimization is a major threat to an individual’s well-being; however, little is known about the long-term economic consequences of bullying victimization. This paper focuses on measuring the direct and indirect effects of chronic bullying victimization on labor market outcomes using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. We find that chronic bullying victimization is directly associated with 10.8% lower wages. The indirect wage penalty is 6.6% and is driven by education, work experience and occupational outcomes. Chronic bullying victimization is associated with fewer years of education and work experience. Victims of chronic bullying victimization work in occupations that require lower levels of interpersonal, leadership and independence skills. Our findings indicate that chronic bullying victimization may have a substantially larger total effect on wages due to the indirect effects than what previous studies document.
The Differential Effects of Childhood and Chronic Bullying Victimization on Health and Risky Health Behaviors
with Bidisha Mandal
Abstract: Bullying is a major social problem that harms an individual’s well-being. This paper focuses on the heterogeneous effects of childhood bullying and chronic bullying on a wide range of outcomes using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NSLY97). We employ two methods in identifying the impact of bullying: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM). We find that exposure to childhood bullying and chronic bullying negatively affects the physical and mental health of youths. Childhood bullying and chronic bullying are associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors such as smoking and marijuana use. The adverse effects tend to increase with chronic bullying. We find no causal effects of childhood or chronic bullying on the likelihood of earning a high school diploma and the likelihood of attending college. Childhood bullying is positively associated with social skills, whereas chronic bullying victimization is not related to cognitive or social skills. Individuals who were exposed to childhood or chronic bullying join the labor market at earlier ages than non-victims. Finally, chronic bullying victimization increases the likelihood of utilizing mental health services and experiencing life-disrupting emotional problems in adulthood. Being a victim of childhood bullying increases the likelihood of having emotional problems later in life, however the effect is smaller in comparison to chronic victims.
Mental Health and Fertility Behavior
with Bidisha Mandal
Abstract: Mental health problems have detrimental effects on economic outcomes; however, little is known about consequences on fertility behavior. This study examines the relationship between a woman’s mental health status and her fertility behavior using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). We use event history models and Poisson regression models to estimate the effect of mental health on the timing of the first birth and the total number of children born. Our results show that better mental health is associated with an earlier transition into motherhood. We also find that women with better mental health have fewer children. We discuss the potential implications of these results to post-pandemic fertility outcomes and the direction of future research.