No abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The strong correlation between parents' economic status and that of their children has been well-documented, but little is known about the extent to which this is a causal phenomenon. This paper attempts to improve our understanding of the causal processes that contribute to intergenerational immobility by exploiting historical changes in compulsory schooling laws that affected the educational attainment of parents without affecting their innate abilities or endowments. We examine the influence of parental compulsory schooling on children's gradefor-age using the 1960, 1970 and 1980 U.S. Censuses. Our estimates indicate that a one-year increase in the education of either parent reduces the probability that a child repeats a grade by between two to four percentage points. Among 15 to 16 year olds living at home, we also estimate that parental compulsory schooling significantly lowers the likelihood of dropping out. These findings suggest that education policies may be able to reduce part of the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Abstract: The strong correlation between parents' economic status and that of their children has been well-documented, but little is known about the extent to which this is a causal phenomenon. This paper attempts to improve our understanding of the causal processes that contribute to intergenerational immobility by exploiting historical changes in compulsory schooling laws that affected the educational attainment of parents without affecting their innate abilities or endowments. We examine the influence of parental compulsory schooling on children's gradefor-age using the 1960, 1970 and 1980 U.S. Censuses. Our estimates indicate that a one-year increase in the education of either parent reduces the probability that a child repeats a grade by between two to four percentage points. Among 15 to 16 year olds living at home, we also estimate that parental compulsory schooling significantly lowers the likelihood of dropping out. These findings suggest that education policies may be able to reduce part of the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Terms of use: Documents in

No abstract

No abstract

It is well known that mortality rates are pro-cyclical. In this paper, we attempt to understand why. We find little evidence that cyclical changes in individuals' own employment-related behavior drives the relationship; own-group employment rates are not systematically related to own-group mortality. Further, most additional deaths that occur when the economy is strong are among the elderly, particularly elderly women and those residing in nursing homes. We also demonstrate that staffing in nursing homes moves counter-cyclically. These findings suggest that cyclical fluctuations in the quality of health care may be a critical contributor to cyclical movements in mortality.Why do death rates rise when the unemployment rate falls? Pro-cyclical mortality rates in the United States (and elsewhere) are well-documented, but the causes of this association remain poorly understood. The most frequently cited explanation is that the business cycle affects individuals' time use, stress levels, and related health investments through its effects on hours of work. In this paper, we show that pro-cyclical mortality in the United States is not driven by changes in individuals' own time use associated with their own employment changes. Instead, we find evidence that alternative mechanisms are at work, including cyclical variation in the quality of health care.The negative relationship between the unemployment rate and the mortality rate has been documented in a series of influential papers by Christopher Ruhm (2000, 2003, 2005a, 2005b, 2007). A typical estimate suggests that a one-percentage point increase in a state's unemployment rate leads to a 0.54 percent reduction in that state's mortality rate (Ruhm, 2000). When applied to U.S. mortality counts from 2006, this implies that a one percentage point increase in unemployment would lead to about 13,000 fewer annual deaths. Ruhm's findings are widely cited in the health economics literature and have been echoed in work by HHS Public Access