This seminar explores recent research in applied microeconomics. Through regularly hosting a community of women researchers doing cutting-edge work in applied microeconomics, broadly defined, the seminar strives both to increase the voice of women in the research community and to foster a collaborative environment among female researchers.
We use de-identified data from Facebook to study the social integration of Syrian migrants in Germany, a country that received a large influx of refugees during the Syrian Civil War. We construct measures of migrants’ social integration based on Syrians’ friendship links to Germans, their use of the German language, and their participation in local social groups. We find large variation in Syrians’ social integration across German counties, and use a movers’ research design to document that these differences are largely due to causal effects of place. Regional differences in the social integration of Syrians are shaped both by the rate at which German natives befriend other locals in general (general friendliness) and the relative rate at which they befriend local Syrian migrants versus German natives (relative friending). We follow the friending behavior of Germans that move across locations to show that both general friendliness and relative friending are more strongly affected by place-based effects such as local institutions than by persistent individual characteristics of natives (e.g., attitudes toward neighbors or migrants). Relative friending is higher in areas with lower unemployment and more completed government-sponsored integration courses. Using variation in teacher availability as an instrument, we find that integration courses had a substantial causal ef- fect on the social integration of Syrian migrants. We also use fluctuations in the presence of Syrian migrants across high school cohorts to show that natives with quasi-random exposure to Syrians in school are more likely to befriend other Syrian migrants in other settings, suggesting that contact between groups can shape subsequent attitudes towards migrants.
This is joint work with Michael Bailey, Drew Johnston, Martin Koenen, Dominic Russel, and Johannes Stroebel.
10/10/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Backward Linkages in the Copper Mining Sector in Zambia
Anja Benshaul-Tolonen, Barnard College, Columbia University Abstract
Abstract
Mineral and metal mining generate revenues to a majority of governments in low- and middle-income countries. The mining sector’s impact on the domestic economy is complex: on the one hand, an enclave industry with too few linkages to the overall economy. On the other hand, it may cause the domestic economy to be overly dependent on natural resources. Local procurement policies are adopted to increase the upstream economic linkages of the mining sector. However, it may provide little hedging against the exposure of the domestic economy to international commodity price shocks. I explore this issue using a detailed, dyadic value added tax (VAT) and supplier-buyer transactional data set for Zambia, a large copper producer in Africa. Combining this data set with monthly production data on large copper mining firms in Zambia, and other mineral producers, I measure the link between monthly output of minerals and the value of domestic procurement. There is a strong, direct relationship between monthly mineral production at the mining company level and purchasing pattern: A 1% increase in monthly mineral production is associated with a 0.085% to 0.399% increase in purchasing value. Network analysis indicates that mining companies are (1) large purchasers in comparison to other firms, (2) clustered. Preliminary analysis shows that the 500 most well connected firms in Zambia are connected directly or by one degree of separation to at least one mining firm. The implication is that the economy is highly vulnerable to international commodity price shocks, as shown by the World Banks' downgrading of Zambia from a middle-income to low-income country at a recent copper price drop.
10/17/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Internal and External Labor Markets and Declining Dynamism
Over the last four decades, the US labor market has seen a notable shift in employment composition towards large firms and a decrease in worker mobility between employers. This raises the question, are workers in large firms climbing job ladders internally rather than externally? Using data from the Current Population Survey, I find evidence of the prevalence of internal job ladders within large firms. I document that job stayers in large firms, relative to small ones, realize a larger annual pay growth and a higher probability of internal job switching. While accounting for internal mobility offsets part of the decline in external mobility, there has also been a decreasing trend in the rate of internal job switching. I hypothesize that the decline in internal mobility could be driven by factors such as an aging workforce, firms' response to decreasing labor market competition, and increased job specialization.
10/24/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
The first course in econometrics has always been challenging for both students and instructors. Students come to the class with a negative attitude, from different quantitative backgrounds, and mostly with the prejudice that this is one of the most challenging courses in their academic career. On the other hand, instructors need to be incentivized to study the pedagogical approaches to teaching econometrics. We found that Classroom Response Systems (CRSs) effectively increase learning outcomes. CRSs also close the achievement gap between students from different degrees of quantitative background. We also find interesting results about instructors’ performances. In the process of this research, we noticed that an interactive visual graphical platform would help students learn each complex concept in econometrics. In Spring 2023, with the help of the Columbia University Provost Grant for an Innovative Course Design Project, we started developing the platform called MetricsMentor. We are almost done with the first simulation and plan to test it in the Intro to Econometrics and MA Econometrics course in the Spring 2024 semester. All seven simulations will be completed by Spring 2025. Now, we need to design an experiment that will go over 3 or 4 semesters to measure the effect of the interactive new design on students’ learning outcomes.
10/31/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
There's No Place Like Home? The Rise in Parental Cohabitation among Young Adults
Sandra Black, Columbia University
11/14/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
'Glossy Green' Banks: The Disconnect Between Environmental Disclosures and Lending Activities
Martina Jasova, Barnard College
11/21/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
TBD
Alexandra Spitz-Oener, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Abstract
Abstract
We analyze whether an increase in the female share of an occupation causally leads to lower relative wages in that occupation. The literature has documented a negative correlation between the female share and relative wages on the occupation level in different countries and time periods, but causal evidence has so far been missing. We exploit the natural experiment of German reunification as an exogenous shock to female occupational shares. Before reunification, East German women were not only more likely to participate in the labor market than their West German counterparts, but female occupational shares also differed substantially between East and West. Using the share of women among East German potential migrants in an occupation-age cell as an instrument for the actual female share in the West after reunification, we document that an increase in the female share in an occupation causally leads to lower wages in that occupation. This evidence is in line with the “devaluation hypothesis” developed in the sociological literature.
11/28/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Africa has some of the highest rates of unemployment globally. While a growing literature has linked ethnicity and ethnic bias to inefficient outcomes across a range of contexts in Africa, there is limited understanding of their contribution to labor market frictions and unemployment. Using new administrative data on 194,190 applicants and over 1.3 million matches from the largest online job platform in Nigeria, we study the role of ethnicity in matching and firm hiring. We find significant differences in the matching outcomes of applicants by ethnicity. While on average, applicants that share the same ethnicity as hiring managers from ethnic majority groups are more likely to be hired, the effects differ significantly by the applicant's gender. Co-ethnic female applicants are much less likely to be hired by hiring managers, while co-ethnic men are more likely to be hired. Male and female hiring managers exhibit similar hiring behavior by ethnicity. Evidence from an information experiment suggests that providing information on these patterns to hiring managers can dampen these effects. The results provide evidence of the role of social and cultural institutions in maintaining persistent group based inequality within formal labor markets.
12/05/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Customer Data Access and Fintech Entry: Early Evidence from Open Banking
Open banking (OB) empowers bank customers to share transaction data with fintechs and other banks. 49 countries have adopted OB policies. Consumer trust in fintechs predicts OB policy adoption and adoption spurs investment in fintechs. UK microdata shows that OB enables: i) consumers to access both financial advice and credit; ii) SMEs to establish new fintech lending relationships. In a calibrated model, OB universally improves welfare through entry and product improvements when used for advice. When used for credit, OB promotes entry and competition by reducing adverse selection, but higher prices for costlier or privacy-conscious consumers partially offset these benefits.
12/12/2023
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
The Competitive Preferences of Asian and White Americans
Homa Zarghamee, Barnard College
02/27/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
In 1900, East and South Asia were extremely patriarchal. Men were revered as high status, while female sacrifice was glorified. By socialising women to marry, obey their in-laws and stay put, Asian families consolidated trusted networks of social cooperation. Since chastity was crucial for family honour, women were also tightly restricted. But, over the 20th century, East Asian women increasingly undertook paid work in the public sphere, forged solidarity and gained status. Growth also catalysed a broader process of cultural liberalisation: autonomy, dating, and divorce. South Asian patriarchy is much more persistent. Intimate partner violence remains normalised. To explain this divergence, I suggest that every patrilocal family faces a trade-off between honour (achieved by social policing) and income (earned by exploiting female labour). East Asian female employment rose because rising wages compensated for honour. East Asian culture also differed: they were exogamous and less concerned about female seclusion.
03/05/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Intergenerational Correlations in Longevity in the US
We examine longevity and its transmission across generations using a unique dataset containing about more than 26 million individuals born between 1880 and 1920. We first document new facts about the transmission of longevity using both absolute and relative mobility measures. Absolute mobility was high: between 45 and 55 percent of individuals lived longer than their parents, though it was much higher for women than men. Relative measures on the other hand show substantially less variation across time and subpopulations. The intergenerational correlation in longevity (a measure of persistence rather than mobility) is 0.09 for both sexes – this low correlation is observed across races, education groups, cohorts and birth states. Finally, we document that the intergenerational persistence of longevity is much smaller than the persistence in socio-economic status. Moreover, correlations in longevity and in education are largely independent of each other, suggesting that mobility in wellbeing was larger than measures of income suggest.
03/19/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Enclaves and Assimilation in the Age of Mass Migration: Evidence from Ethnic Catholic Churches
We study the effect of enclave residence on immigrant assimilation in the early twentieth century by comparing matched neighborhoods that were later designated (or not) by the Catholic diocese to receive an ethnic church. In Polish neighborhoods, which organized their cultural life around the church, enclaves grew after church construction, and residents slowed their cultural and economic assimilation, delaying their English ability, taking manual jobs, giving their children more Polish-sounding names and increasing the rate of in-group marriage. Children who grew up in enclave neighborhoods were more likely to stay in the area and hold manual jobs. These patterns are not observed in Italian neighborhoods, which organized cultural life around home-based religious practice rather than the church.
03/26/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Artificial Intelligence and Firms' Systematic Risk
We leverage a comprehensive dataset of firm-level AI investments to examine how firm systematic risk changes with the advent of commercial artificial intelligence (AI). Firms that invest more in AI see increases in their systematic risk, measured by equity market beta. A one-standard-deviation increase in firm-level AI investments translates into a 0.05 increase in market beta. This result is robust to the choice of asset pricing model and controlling for changes in leverage. Other technologies, such as IT and robotics, are not predictive of changes in beta. Furthermore, the results cannot be explained by either increased correlation with the tech sector or by simple within-industry concentration: AI-investing firms experience similar increases in comovement in equity returns with their own industry, with the tech sector, and with other industries. This increased systematic risk appears to be benign: AI-investing firms experience reductions in cash flow volatility, and the increases in their market betas concentrate on the upside (during good market conditions). Overall, our findings suggest a novel market implication of new technologies: they do not only affect firm growth but also change firms' risk profiles.
04/02/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Personal Connections and Hiring Decisions in the Public Sector
Relying on comprehensive employment records of applicants in the universe of public jobs in Brazil from 1986 until 2017, an institutional reform that reduced discretion in hiring, and novel performance metrics for public administration, we provide the first evidence of how personal connections influence recruitment processes. We find that a reduction in the ability to leverage personal connections affects both the job search behavior of connected individuals and employers’ hiring decisions. Moreover, hires after the reform are of higher quality, have lower separation rates and absenteeism, and are more likely to be promoted. We also show that the decrease in connected hires improves the operational and budgetary efficiency of public sector establishments. These results carry significance in enhancing our understanding of how to bolster state capacity.
04/09/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Schedule Unpredictability, Required Availability, and Effective Wages in Hourly Service Work
Most poor families don’t have a full-time worker, and anti-poverty policies often focus on incentivizing parents to work more in order to reduce poverty. While previous research has identified on a variety of reasons that parents are unable to get a full-time job--disability, care responsibilities, poor work prospects due to criminal justice involvement or a high local unemployment rate, etc.--we identify a heretofore undocumented reason: hourly service jobs (a dominant and growing sector for non-college workers) that provide unstable schedules. Using a representative sample of hourly service worker parents, we document that cancelling shifts, sending workers home early, and telling them to come in late are all commonplace practices in these jobs, causing workers to frequently lose expected pay. In addition, calling workers in early or keeping them late, calling workers in at the last minute, and changing workers' schedules from week to week are commonplace, meaning that workers must hold many more hours available for work than they get paid for and making it very difficult to combine multiple jobs. We find that workers have to hold on average 70% more hours available for work than they actually work in a given month, and that doing so drives the effective hourly wage for some subgroups of workers below the federal minimum. Holding more hours available lowers the probability of having a second job and lowers the likelihood that a worker's child is enrolled in formal child care or Head Start.
04/16/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
Canceled
Seyhan Erden, Columbia University
04/23/2024
1120 International Affairs Building, Columbia University 1:00 PM
