Identity,homophily and in-group bias

Many instances of social interaction display either or both of the following well-documented phenomena. People tend to interact with similar others (homophily). They also tend to treat others of shared social identity more favorably (in-group bias). While both phenomena involve some degree of discrimination towards others, a systematic study of their relations and interplay is yet missing. In this paper we report the findings of an experiment designed to address this issue. Participants are exogenously and randomly assigned to one of two groups. Subsequently they play a sequence of eight games with either an in-group or an out-group member. In treatment EXO in- and out-group matches are formed exogenously, while in ENDO participants can choose between in- and out-group matches. We find strong evidence of in-group bias in EXO, and strong evidence of homophily in ENDO. In-group biases, however, either decrease or disappear altogether under endogenous matching. We show that self-selection of homophilous agents into in-group matches cannot explain this fact. We also find that homophily is strongly correlated with risk aversion, and we build on this evidence to derive a rationale for both the existence of homophily and the disappearance of in-group biases under endogenous matching.     

Diverging Stories of “Missing Women” in South Asia: Is Son Preference Weakening in Bangladesh?

ABSTRACT

South Asia is a region characterized by a culture of son preference, severe discrimination against daughters, and excess levels of female mortality, leading to what Amartya Sen called the phenomenon of “missing women.” However, the onset of fertility decline across the region has been accompanied by considerable divergence in this phenomenon. In India, improvements in overall life expectancy have closed the gender gap in mortality rates among adults, but persisting gender discrimination among children and increasing resort to female-selective abortion has led to growing imbalance in child sex ratios and sex ratios at birth. In Bangladesh, by contrast, fertility decline has been accompanied by a closing of the gender gap in mortality in all age groups. Using quantitative and qualitative data, this study explores changing attitudes toward sons and daughters in Bangladesh to explain why the phenomenon of “missing women” has played out so differently in these two neighboring countries.     

DETERMINANTS OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AMONG MIGRANT CHILDREN: SURVEY EVIDENCE FROM CHINA'S JIANGSU PROVINCE*

Abstract.  Across the developing world education is seen as a means of raising levels of everyday wellbeing and is being linked to improved measures of productivity and economic growth. This paper employs a household production function framework to examine the determinants of school attendance among migrant children using a unique dataset collected in China's Jiangsu province. The study finds that the main predictors of school attendance among migrant children in the sample were household income, mother's education, the length of residence of the child's mother in the city and whether both parents were working in the same city.     

Religious fragmentation,social identity and cooperation: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment in India

We study the role of village-level religious fragmentation on intra- and inter-group cooperation in India. We report on data on two-player prisoners׳ dilemma and stag hunt experiments played by 516 Hindu and Muslim participants in rural India. Our treatments are the identity of the two players and the degree of village-level religious heterogeneity. In religiously heterogeneous villages, cooperation rates in the prisoners׳ dilemma, and to a lesser extent the stag hunt game, are higher when subjects of either religion play with a fellow in-group member than when they play with an out-group member or with someone whose identity is unknown. Interestingly, cooperation rates among people of the same religion are significantly lower in homogeneous villages than in fragmented villages in both games.     

Is emigration of workers contributing to better schooling outcomes in Nepal?

This paper presents evidence on how emigration for work affects schooling outcomes for primary and secondary school‐age children in Nepal. Using an instrumental variable strategy exploiting past migration network, we show that the identified effects critically depend on how schooling outcomes are measured. While conventional measures of school attendance indicate no impact, our new set of schooling status and schooling gap measures reveals significant impacts. Schooling status measures reveal favorable impacts for girls, and for emigration to India. Schooling gap measures reveal favorable effects of all emigration on schooling outcomes for girls and of emigration to other countries for boys.     

Commentary on Janet Landa's Paper

In her paper, Janet Landa argues that the key behind the success of the ethnically homogeneous Chinese middleman group (EHMG) is their highly developed in-group cooperation. She places the EHMG phenomenon within the framework of evolutionary biology by calling it 'a cultural transmission unit' subject to the influence of both genes and culture. Landa suggests that the individual members of the EHMG comprise the units of selection for EHMG groups much like the genes comprise the units of selection for individual organisms. However, evolution occurs through the differential survival and reproduction of individual organisms. In order to meet the criteria of biological group selection, it would have to be demonstrated that groups in competition with EHMGs had gone extinct. The fact that the EHMGs are simply faring better than their competitors is not evidence for group selection. The other reason biological group selection is not really applicable to EHMGs is that there are no physical/biological barriers to exogamous mating, and cultural barriers are intrinsically unstable.     

Does political competition lessen ethnic discrimination? Evidence from Sri Lanka

The impact of political competition on ethnic discrimination remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, this paper explores the relationship between the level of political competition and the probability of receiving government transfers among ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka in the run up to the national elections of 2000. The paper shows that making politicians dependent on the votes of members of ethnic groups other their own can encourage moderation in discriminatory practices towards ethnic minorities. Specifically we find that political competition positively influenced the distribution of government food stamps among Sri Lankan Tamils, who otherwise are less likely to receive food stamps relative to the Sinhalese majority. The negative impact of political competition on discrimination is higher when minorities form part of swing constituencies than when they form part of the base support for political parties. Lessons learnt here suggest that having built-in incentives in the design of the electoral process for intergroup bargaining and cooperation in countries with ethnically heterogeneous societies can be an effective restraint on ethnic discrimination. This is consistent with other research that considers political institutions to be a key lever for making ethnically divided societies more inclusive.     

Determinants of private health insurance coverage among Mexican American men 2010–2013

Abstract

Background: Private health insurance (PHI) represents the largest source of insurance for Americans. Hispanic Americans have one of the lowest rates of PHI coverage. The largest group in the US Hispanic population are Mexican Americans; they account for about two in every three Hispanics. One in every three Mexican Americans aged 64 years and under did not have health insurance coverage. Mexican Americans have the most unfavorable health insurance coverage of any population group in the nation.

Objectives: The objective is to determine the factors associated with the gap in PHI coverage between Mexican American and non-Hispanic American men.

Methods: This study used the National Health Interview Surveys (2010–2013) as the sample. A non-linear Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition was run, estimating the explained and unexplained gap in PHI coverage between the groups. Several robustness tests of the model were also included.

Results: This study estimates that 44.4% of employed Mexican American men are covered by PHI compared to 79.5% of non-Hispanic American men. Nearly 60% of employed Mexican American men were found to be foreign born, 35% have an educational attainment less than a high school degree, and 40% are likely to have language barriers. Decomposition results show that income, low educational attainment, being foreign-born, and language barriers diminished the probability of private health insurance coverage for Mexican Americans, and that 10% of the gap is unexplained.

Conclusions: Most of the difference in the PHI rate between Mexican American men and non-Hispanic men is explained by observable differences in group characteristics: education, language, and immigration status. About 10% of the difference can be attributed to discrimination under the traditional interpretation of an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. The PHI rate gap is large and persistent for Mexican American men.     

The effect of coffee price shock on school dropout: new evidence from the 2008 global financial crisis

This article examines the effect of coffee price shock on the school dropout status of children in rural Ethiopia. To identify the effect, I exploit the exogenous coffee price shock caused by the 2008 global financial crisis. Using a unique rural data set collected before and shortly after the crisis, I compare the school dropout status of children in coffee-producing and non–coffee-producing villages. The difference-in-difference estimate suggests that the decline in the global price of coffee during the financial crisis increased school dropout rates among children aged 15–18 in coffee-producing villages. The effect is more pronounced among female children in this age group.     

Employment discrimination in a former Soviet Union Republic: Evidence from a field experiment

We provide the first experimental evidence about ethnic and gender discrimination in the labor market of a former Soviet Union country, Georgia. We randomly assign Georgian and non-Georgian, male and female, names to similar resumes and apply for jobs as advertised on help-wanted websites in Georgia. We find that gender has no effect on the probability of callback, but a job applicant who is ethnically Georgian is more than twice as likely to be called for a job interview than an equally skilled ethnic non-Georgian (Azerbaijani or Armenian). The 113% ethnic gap in callbacks (167% among males and 79% among females), which is substantially larger than the gap typically documented in the existing literature for both developed and developing countries, is statistically significant and cannot be abridged by having more experience or education. There is no evidence of gender discrimination in callbacks, both within the Georgian group and the non-Georgian group.     

Date of birth and selective schooling: Some lessons from the 1944 education reforms in England and Wales

We compare the probabilities of selective (grammar) school entry in England and Wales before and after the 1944 Education Act. The Act had direct and indirect influences on the costs of grammar education and on entry-exam coverage, design and marking methodology. Post-1944, grammar school entry among children born in the middle of the school year improved considerably. We argue that age-adjusted group standardized testing was an important contributory factor. The youngest pupils remained significantly disadvantaged. We produce evidence that this is consistent with the practice of streaming (tracking) junior school children at age 7 into classes delineated by average ability.     

Childhood malnutrition and schooling in the Terai region of Nepal

Data on 350 primary school age children from subsistence farm households in the Terai (southern plains) region of Nepal are analyzed to assess the relationship between nutritional status and school participation. Only fifteen percent reported attending school; nutritional status, particularlyas measured by percent of median height-for-age, was found to be a significant determinant of both enrollment in school and age-adjusted grade attainment. It is concluded that local interventions or national policies designed to improved child nutritional status could have important educational as well as health benefits.     

Exploring peer effects in education in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper assesses peer group influence on academic performance of primary school students in Latin America and the Caribbean. Based on TERCE data set, we investigate peer effects in mathematics, language and sciences tests outcomes among sixth grade students. We apply a social interaction model which allows to identify endogenous and exogenous peer effects while controlling for group-level fixed effects. We explore some heterogeneities related to the school type (private, public or rural). The estimates suggest the existence of endogenous peer effects but their magnitude and significance depend on subject and school type.     

Romanians,Hungarians and their wages,in transition,in Romania

Legally binding treaties or memorandums have been used over time to regulate the issue of national borders of many European countries. As a result, relatively large groups of people have become ethnic minorities in other countries. They may conserve their ethnic identities, and therefore their children may accumulate ethnic human capital (e.g., language, culture, and religion) in addition to the general human capital of the country. Therefore, they can get access to an appropriate occupation linked by tradition or other factors to their ethnic group. This paper uses estimates from a selection model with an endogenous switch among three broad types of occupational groups to analyze the composition of the wage gap between Romanians and ethnic Hungarians in Romania before and during the transition from a planned to a market economy. The results suggest that the institutional settings of the controlled economy allowed Romanians to work in occupations that gave them the best returns, while the changes during the transition years allowed ethnic Hungarians to work in occupations that gave them the best returns.     

农村学龄前儿童图书阅读情况调查与思考——基于湖南省中东部农村地区的调查研究

儿童尤其是农村儿童阅读能力的提高,对于其自身发展、整体国民素质的提高、城乡教育差距的缩小等都有着极为重要的意义。在社会调查的基础上,分析了被调查地区学龄前儿童阅读的基本情况,指出目前农村地区学龄前儿童阅读的特点和普遍存在的问题,并为提高农村学龄前儿童的阅读提出若干建议。     

The poverty experience of lone mothers and their children

Lone mothers, as sole caregivers and women, face unique challenges to guaranteeing the economic well-being of their children compared to lone fathers. While all lone parents face a trade-off in time spent earning wages and time spent caring for children, mothers are likely to earn wages lower than fathers, thus increasing their chances of falling into poverty. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 Current Population Survey, we estimate the size of the gender poverty gap among lone-parent families. We apply the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition to assess whether this gap can be solely attributed to parent and family demographics. Much of the poverty gap, however, is attributed to unobservables, suggesting the increased likelihood of being in poverty for lone-mothered families may be, in part, due to gender-based discrimination in labour markets.     

学区房的溢价究竟有多大：利用“租买不同权”和配对回归的实证估计

中国城市居民只有在学区中买房(而非租房)才能享有学区内小学的入学权。本文借助"租买不同权"的入学制度,以及学区房与相邻非学区房的配对回归,更好地处理特征价格模型中的遗漏变量,精确测度优质教育资源的隐含价格。结果表明,2011年北京重点小学学区房的溢价约为8.1%。将基础教育资源与住房租买形式挂钩的制度安排,是中国城市居民过度偏好住房自有的重要原因之一,会扭曲居民住房选择和资源配置,造成优势区位房价过高。     

Unemployment duration,Fiscal and monetary policies,and the output gap: How do the quantile relationships look like?

We use country-level panel data on average unemployment duration (AvgUD) to explore how the conditional distribution of AvgUD varies with primary fiscal balance (fiscal policy), short-term interest rate (monetary policy), and the state of the business cycle (output gap). We obtain the quantile estimates via a Bayesian quantile mixed effects model, which has so far received limited attention in economics. Our results reveal rich heterogeneity in both the sign and strength of these associations at different quantiles of AvgUD, in different gender and age groups, and in some transition economies that have markedly different labour markets. A higher fiscal balance/surplus is associated with higher middle-upper quantiles of AvgUD among prime-age and old-age men, whereas the empirical association is weak at all quantiles of AvgUD among young men and women. The association between quantiles of AvgUD and fiscal and monetary policies tends to be weaker among women than men. A better state of the business cycle is associated with a lower AvgUD at all quantiles among young men and women.     

The effect of primary school type on the high school opportunities of migrant children in China

Using longitudinal data collected from China, this paper studies how primary school type affects migrant children’s high school opportunities. We use parental residence prior to a policy change in Shanghai as an instrument for primary school type, and find that migrant children who attended private primary schools are 10% less likely to enter high schools without retention than their counterparts who attended public primary schools. We show that both institutional barriers and learning at the primary school stage affect students’ probability of entering high school and whether they go to regular or vocational high schools.     

The effects of information and competition on racial discrimination: Evidence from a field experiment

We study racial discrimination by simultaneously selling identical products on eBay in pairs of auctions posted under different racially identifying names. We detect significant price differences, which are indicative of in-group biases. White names receive higher prices for distinctively white products, and black names receive higher prices for distinctively black products. But price differences only emerge for sellers who have low eBay feedback scores in less competitive markets. Because the price differences dissipate as sellers accumulate credible reputations, the patterns in the data are indicative of statistical discrimination. Overall, the results suggest that mechanisms designed to reduce informational asymmetries and increased competition are both effective at reducing discrimination in online auctions.