We compare propensity-score matching methods with covariatematching estimators. We first discuss the data requirements of propensity-score matching estimators and covariate matching estimators. Then we propose two new matching metrics incorporating the treatment outcome information and participation indicator information, and discuss the motivations of different metrics. Next we study the small-sample properties of propensity-score matching versus covariate matching estimators, and of different matching metrics, through Monte Carlo experiments. Through a series of simulations, we provide some guidance to practitioners on how to choose among different matching estimators and matching metrics. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sleep insufficiency, insomnia, and daytime sleepiness are prevalent in Chinese adolescents. Sleep insufficiency on weekdays may be attributable to earlier morning rising to meet school schedules. Parental history of insomnia is associated with elevated risk for insomnia symptoms in adolescent offspring, although adolescent-parent correlations in sleep/wake patterns are relatively low.

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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. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SThe The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public.IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.IZA Discussion Paper No. 9621 January 2016 ABSTRACTThe Health Implications of Social Pensions: Evidence from China's New Rural Pension Scheme * This paper estimates the causal effect of income on health outcomes of the elderly and investigates underlying mechanisms by exploiting an income change induced by the launch of China's New Rural Pension scheme (NRPS). Using this policy experiment, we address the endogeneity of pension income by applying a fixed-effect model with instrumental variable correction. The results reveal that pension enrollment and income from the NRPS both have had a beneficial impact on objective measures of physical health, cognitive function, and psychological well-being of the rural elderly, and also reduced mortality over a three-year horizon by 6 percentage points. Evidence further suggests that pension recipients respond to the new pension income in multiple ways: improved nutrition intake, better accessibility to health care, increased informal care, increased leisure activities, and better self-perceived relative economic situation. These in turn act as channels from pension income to health of the Chinese rural elderly. JEL Classification:H55, I12, I38, J14

During the peak of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), we conducted a survey in Beijing on 18 April 2003 to determine the economic impact of SARS, in particular its effects on several service sectors in China. The survey indicated that SARS had significant negative impacts on China's economy. The tourism sector was hit the hardest. We estimated that by the end of 2003, China's tourism revenue from foreigners would decrease by about 50-60 percent (amounting to about US$10.8 billion) compared with the tourism revenue in 2002 and revenue from domestic tourists would decrease by around 10 percent (amounting to about US$6.0 billion). Thus, we predicted that the total loss to China's tourism industry would be around US$16.8 billion by the end of 2003. We also concluded that SARS would cause, through a multiplier effect, a total loss of US$25.3 billion to China's economy and that the growth rate of China's GDP in 2003 would be 1-2 percentage points lower than it would have been if the SARS outbreak had not occurred. Copyright (c) 2004 Center for International Development and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.