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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Dartmouth College

Labor Economics

2014

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Social Support Substitution And The Earnings Rebound: Evidence From A Regression Discontinuity In Disability Insurance Reform, Lex Borghans, Anne C. Gielen, Erzo F. P. Luttmer Nov 2014

Social Support Substitution And The Earnings Rebound: Evidence From A Regression Discontinuity In Disability Insurance Reform, Lex Borghans, Anne C. Gielen, Erzo F. P. Luttmer

Dartmouth Scholarship

We exploit a cohort discontinuity in the stringency of Dutch disability reforms to estimate the effects of decreased DI (disability insurance) generosity on behavior of existing recipients. We find evidence of social support substitution: individuals on average offset €1.00 of lost DI benefits by collecting €0.30 more from other social assistance programs, but this benefit-substitution effect declines over time. Individuals also exhibit a rebound in earnings: earnings increase by €0.62 on average per euro of lost DI benefits and this effect remains roughly constant over time. This is strong evidence of substantial remaining earnings capacity among long-term claimants of DI.


Do Male-Female Wage Differentials Reflect Differences In The Return To Skill? Cross-City Evidence From 1980–2000, Paul Beaudry, Ethan Lewis Apr 2014

Do Male-Female Wage Differentials Reflect Differences In The Return To Skill? Cross-City Evidence From 1980–2000, Paul Beaudry, Ethan Lewis

Dartmouth Scholarship

Male-female wage gaps declined significantly over the 1980s and 1990s, while returns to education increased. In this paper, we use cross-city data to explore whether, like the return to education, the change in the gender wage gap may reflect changes in skill prices induced by the diffusion of information technology. We show that male-female and education-wage differentials moved in opposite directions in response to the adoption of PCs. Our most credible estimates simply that changes in skill prices driven by PC adoption can explain most of the decline in the US male-female wage gap since 1980.


Informality And Development, Rafael La Porta, Andrei Shleifer Jan 2014

Informality And Development, Rafael La Porta, Andrei Shleifer

Dartmouth Scholarship

In developing countries, informal firms account for up to half of economic activity. They provide livelihood for billions of people. Yet their role in economic development remains controversial with some viewing informality as pent-up potential and others viewing informality as a parasitic organizational form that hinders economic growth. In this paper, we assess these perspectives. We argue that the evidence is most consistent with dual models, in which informality arises out of poverty and the informal and formal sectors are very different. It seems that informal firms have low productivity and produce low- quality products; and, consequently, they do not …