gender and econ test 2

why do we use IV

when theres an endogeniety problem that we cant solve by controlling for confounders

what creates an upward bias in IV

regression makes it look like the tmt increases outcomes more than it actually does (bc of other effects)

what is needed to satisfy IV

relevance- instrument must be related to tmt variable x

validity- instrument can only affect outcome thru trmt variable x

why do we wnat strong relevance

instrument should have a strong relationship with x bc it creates a larger change in probability of receiving tmt, instrument actually influences tmt decisions, more useful variation in x to est the tmt effect, avoids wak intrument problems

compliers

people who recieve the tmt when theyre encouraged to, but not otherwise

always takers

recieve tmt regardless of instrument

never takers

don’t take the tmt regardless of instrument

defiers

do the opposite of whatever the instruement says

college proximity and earnings IV paper variables and reason for test

x- college attendance

y- earnings

z- growing up near a 4 yr college

needs IV because confounder like ability affects both x and y

relevance of college proximity and earnings IV paper

people are more likely to attend college if its near where they grew up

more poeple around them go to college, costs may be lower

validity in college proximity and earnings IV paper

growing up in a college town shouldn’t affect earnings except through going to college

however, the college town may have better schools or amenities that can affect future earnings

if it is valid, that would mean that growing up near a college or not is as good as random in terms of future earnings =? coefficient for college should give us an unbiased true effect

how to control for better schools/amenities in college proximity and earnings IV paper

control for school quality

what were the results of the college proximity and earnings paper

IV est the effect of college attendance for compliers

• Growing up closer to a four-year college increases the likelihood of attending college.

• College attendance increases earnings.

early marriage and female schooling in bangledesh variables and reason for test

x- age when married

y- female schooling

z- age of first period

uses IV bc girls who marry early typically come from more conservative or poorer families which could independently affect schooling

relevance of early marriage and female schooling in bangledesh

parents may wish to marry off their daughters young but girls are typically withheld from marriage market until puberty => earlier period can make girls eligible from marriage earlier

validity in early marriage and female schooling in bangledesh

periods are mostly random (genetics and nutrition can influence)

results of early marriage and female schooling in bangledesh

each additional yr that marriage is delayed is assoicated with .22 addition yrs of schooling and 5.6% higher literacy

also associated iwth women using preventive HC services

legally restricting marriages below 17 would inc avg female schooling by 9%

could period age have a direct effect on schooling in early marriage and female schooling in bangledesh

what if conservative fams are more liekly to stop daughters from going to school as soon as htey hit puberty as well as to marry them off young

=> reduction in schooling wouldnt necessarily be bc of early marriage => IV is not valid

when looking at this, they found very small impact of period age on marriage age or education attainment when a girl has many older sisters

women and the plough IV paper variables and reason for test

x- historical plough use

y- contemporary female labor force participation and gender attitudes

z- historical geographical and climatic conditions that made plough agriculture more beneficial

reasons- what if societies that had more unequal gender attitudes already were more likely to use hte plough - we wouldn’t know if hte plough caused gender inequality or the other way around

relevance in women and plough paper

some geopgraphical conditions made ploughing more beneficial

validity in women and plough paper

Geographic and climatic conditions influenced historical plough use, which helps explain differences in contemporary gender roles

results of women and plough paper

plough using socieities have significantly lower contemporary labor fofrce participation by women

both men adn women in plough using socieities report more conservative attitudes - when jobs are scarce, men should have more rights to the job than women, men make better political leaders than women do

how do they study culture v instituions in women and plough paper

culture- long term effect of plough reflects persistent cultural beliefs

instituions- plough use promotes development of institutions that are less conducive to women outside of the home

through second gen immigrants in the US - htey share US institutions and labor makers, but may have beleifs from their home cultures

=> women from cultures htat used the plough have lower labor force particpation in the US

female autonomy in bangladesh paper variables and reaons for testing

x- womens work status/inc

y- womens autonomy

z- agriculture and health shocks

whether an inc in income improves women autonomy in the home and whether this effect is the same for earned v unearned income

reverse causality - women with more barganing power may be more likely to work

confounders- women who are more capable or assertive may be more liklely to earn inc and have greater autonomy

relevance in female autonomy in bangladesh paper using agriculture shock

agriculture shock- if theres a crop failure, female labor may be reallocated

validity- crop failure shouldnt be directly related to autonomy

relevance and validity in female autonomy in bangladesh paper using health shock

relevance- if an elederly fam member got sick, women would withdraw form labor force ot care for them

validity - sickness of a family elder shouldnt directly effect autonomy

results of female autonomy in bangladesh paper

effect of earned inc on women’s barganing power is much greater htna that of unearned income

women who work on HH farm have no more autonomy than those who are housewives, while those who earn independent incomes have much greater autonomy

=> importnace of controlling income, as opposed to contributing to the generation of inc, as a crucial determinant of autonomy

missing women price of tea paper variables and reasons

x- mother inc relative to fathers inc

y- child survival rates/sex rations

z- price of tea relative to orchard crops

families with higher female outcome may differ in culture, prefs, etc, these factors could affect child survival

relevance of missing women price of tea paper

women have a comparative advantage in tea picking and men in orcahrds

=> when the price of increases relative to orchard crops, women’s income inc relative to mens income

validity of missing women price of tea paper

price of tea should only affect child survival thru women’s relative income

migration across areas was controlled, sex determining techs were unavail, no other reason child survival rates should differ

results of missing women price of tea paper

increasing total HH income had no effect on the sex ratio, increasing female income while holding male income constant increases girls survival rates, while inc men income and holding female constant decreased girls survival rates

increasing mothers inc increases education attainment for all children, increasing fathers incom dec education attainment for girls and has no effect on boys

2 key assumptions for RDD

being just above or below the threshold is as good as random (cant manipulate thier position on one side of the cutoff)

no other variable that affects Y changes discontinuously at the threshold

gmas and granddaughters paper question

does an inc in HH cash flow imporve childrens health outomes? does it matter if the money goes to a woman or man

gmas and granddaughters setup

pension scheme in south africa

women are eligible for pensions at age 60, men are eligible at 65

running variable = age of grandparent

tmt- pension eligibility

outcome- childrens nutrition status

results of gmas and granddaughters paper

girls had significantly lower BMI than boys of hte same age

pensions recieved by women increased weight for height of girls by 1/19 standard deviations, but didn’t significantly inc that of boys

pensions recieved by men arent associated iwth importvement int he nutritional status of girls or boys

what is diff in diffs

compares change in outocme for a tmt group with the change in an outcome for a control group

to isolate the effect of the tmt

DiD formula

(Y tmt after - Y tmt before) - (Y control after - Y control before)

change in the tmt group - change in control group

DID outcomes broken up

control before = baseline

treatment before = baseline + selection

control = baseline + (common) trend

treatment after = baseline + selection + trend + treatment effect

DiD with an interaction term, which do we care about

Y= Beta 0 +B1 tmt + B2 after + B3 (tmt x after) + u

beta 3 - shows treatment effect

key assumption of DiD

parallel trends - tmt and control groups shouldve followed parallel trends in the absence of the tmt

unilateral divorce laws paper question and variables

did unilateral divorce laws increase divorce laws

tmt group - states changed to unilateral divorce

control group - states that didnt change/ kept consent divorce

tmt - unilateral divorce law

outcome- divorce rates

results of unilateral divorce laws paper

unilaterla divorce didn’t increase the # of divorces int he long run

hastened divorces in marriages htat wouldve failed anyway

avg duration of marriages therefore declined as a result of hte law

power of the pill paper question and variables

how did access to bc pill affect womens career and marriage decisions

tmt- access to the pull

outcome- marriage timing and womens career

access to the pill increased over time, starting with older cohorts of women who were past hte age of majority

reuslts of power of the pill paper

age of marriage declined over time for the cohorts of women who had access to the pill

fraction of women in professional schools increased

• mainly driven by an increase in female applicants

=> access to the pill made it easier for women to delay marriage and invest in educationa nd careers

why is hte unitary HH model unrealistic

the model treats the HH as if it were one person makiing decisions, assumed HH memebrs share the same prefs and act together to maximize one HH objective

what is bargaining within the HH

bargaining is the process thru which HH members negotiated decisions when they have diff prefs

nash bargaining solution

considers what each person would recieve if they reach an agreement, what each person would recieve if htey fail to reach an agreement

outside option

outside of hte fronteir (max possibility of outcome), utility of each person if they dont collab/come to an agreement

why does a better outside option improve the bargaining outcome

Situation A:

A woman has no independent income and relies entirely on her husband. If she disagrees with him, she may have very few alternatives => She has less bargaining power.

Situation B:

The woman earns her own income and has assets she can rely on, She has a more realistic alternative if the marriage agreement is unfavorable, She can negotiate for a larger share of household resources or more influence over decisions.

Therefore, improving women's outside options can improve their bargaining power.

why does the ability to make a counteroffer matter

if someone receives and offer and can’t respond, they may have to walk away or accept an unfavorable agreement

if they can make a counteroffer they can reject an unfair offer, can propose a diferent allocation, have more influence over the final agreement

=> more bargaining power bc they dont need to simply accept or reject the first offer

basic argument for increasing women’s financial resources improvement on social statue within the HH

more resources for women → better outside option → greater bargaining power → more HH influence

can also imrove outomes for children bc women and men can have diff prefs about allocation

female autonomy in bangladesh paper also shows bargaining power bc

Independent earnings provide greater financial control and improve her outside option.

missing women price of tea paper also shows bargaining power bc

The results show that increasing female income improves girls' survival rates, while increasing male income decreases girls' survival rates.

The important idea is that the identity of the person receiving income affects how household resources are allocated.

gma and granddaughter paper also shows bargaining power

This provides evidence that giving resources to women can produce different household outcomes from giving resources to men.

missing women meaning

women who are absent from a population bc of unusually high female mortality resulting form discrimination or unequal access to resources

how does hte breastfeeding paper connect to missing women

son preference combined with breatfeeding as contraception can unintentially increase mortality among girls in India

how did different agriculture methods lead to gender norms

creates diff comparitive advantages

men are more invovled with plough agriculture

women became more focused on HH responsibilities

societies develop a gender division of labor

matrilineal and patriarchical w public goods paper question

Do women supply more public goods than men? Does this differ between matrilineal and patriarchal societies?

two different frames to test matrilineal and patriarchical socities w public goods

positive framing - described benefits of investing in the group

negative framing - described neg effects of individual investment on others

results of two different frames to test matrilineal and patriarchical socities w public goods

less free riders in the matrilineal society

agents in matrilineal society tend ot contribute more to the public good

higher public good provision observed in the matrilineal society is due more to male diffs in giving across societies than to female diffs

in the patriarchal societies, framing matters

matrilineal and patriarchical socities competition paper question

are diffs in competitveness between boys and girls innate or do they develop thru socialization

matrilineal and patriarchical socities competition test

children threw tennis balls into a bucket placed 10 ft away, no gender diffs in ability to perform this task, no gender diffs in ability

could choose between piece rate or tournament pmt

matrilineal and patriarchical socities competition paper takeaway

Comparing boys and girls across patriarchal and matrilineal societies helps researchers investigate whether competitiveness differences are shaped by social context rather than simply being innate.

comparitive advantage in marriage

spouses can maximize joint gains by specializing according to comp adv

this can inc total HH production bc each perosn focuses on what hteyre relatively better suited to doing

downside to comparitive advantage/specizliation in HH

if owmen is specialize in HH work and childcare, htey spend less time wokring outside the home, accumulate less lower earnings, outside option is worse

creates a cycle:

specialization in HH work → less work experience → lower future earnings →worse outside optoin → less bargaining power

inc joint gains but worsen womens bargaining postition in long run

trends from children and gender inequality denmark paper

womens earnings decline after the birth of hteir first child

womens hours worked decline

womens participation rates decline womens wage rates decline

mens outcomes are much less affected

bargaining power in unilateral v mutual consent divorce

mutual consent- spouse who wants tos tay married has more bargaining power bc hte other cant obtain a divroce without agreement

unilateral- spouse who wants a divorce has more bargaining power bc htey can leave without the other spouses consent

=> moving form mutual consent to unilateral divorce shifts bargaining power towards the spouse who wants to leave

why does child marriage lead to worse life outcomes

less schooling, lower human capital worse outside options, worse bargaining power, earlier fertility, higher maternal mortality, worse groom quality

main takeaway for sibling ocmpetition in marriage

sibling competition in arranged marriage markets can cause older girls to marry earlier, sacrificing education and groom quality

what are the four factors causing a decline in fertility

decline in child mortality, decline in child labor, better social security systems, inc in the opporunity cost of mothers time

why does decline in child mortality cause a decline in fertility

when fewer children die, parent may not feel the need to have as many children to achieve thier desired number of surviving children

why does decline in child labor cause a decline in fertility

children ebcome less economically useful as workers, reduces the economic incentive to have many children

why does better social security systems cause a decline in fertility

if parents can rely on social sec during old age, they may depend on less on having many children to support them, reduces the incentive to have a large number of children for financial security

why does an incnrease in opportunity cost of mothers time cause a decline in fertility

if women have better education and career opportunities, having children can involve a greater sacrifice of potential earnings and career advancement

opportunity cost of raising children increases

=> women and HH may choose to have fewer children

how did pill affect womens career and marriage decisions

allowed women to delay marriage, pursue education, invest in careers, enter professional schools

gave women greater certainty regarding the pregnancy consequences of sex

how does breastfeeding affect fertility

reduces post natal fertiltiy

also provides nutrition, protects infants from unsafe or contaminated food and water, reduces exposure to waterborne diseases

how does birth order affect breastfeeding

if a mother wants to have more children, she may stop breastfeeding earlier

older childreen tend to be weaned earlier

breastfeedinf duration increases with birth order

breastfeeding duration increases once dseired number of children has been reached

how does son prefernce affect breastfeeding

if parents want sons they may continue having children until they ahve the desired number of sons

girls who dont have older brothers may be breastfed for a shorter period bc hte parents may want another child sooner

especially important for higher birth order girls

results in breastfeeding fertility

boys are breastfed longer than girls on avg, diff is signficantly greater after the first six months, diff is especially large for hgiher birth order girls iwthout older brothers, child mortality is significantly higher among girls, mortality different is especially high in families without piped water

breastfeeding and missing girls

estimated differences in breastfeeding explain 14% of gender gap in child mortality in India (around 22000)