Publications
Short-Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Child Health (with Jessamyn Schaller)
American Journal of Health Economics (2019). Links: AJHE | NBER Working Paper No. 21745 | Policy Brief (CPR, UC Davis)
Abstract: Recent research suggests that parental job loss has negative effects on children's outcomes, including their academic achievement and long-run educational and labor market outcomes. In this paper we turn our attention to the effects of parental job loss on children's health. We combine health data from 16 waves of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which allows us to use a fixed effects specification and still have a large sample of parental job displacements. We find that paternal job loss is harmful to children's physical and mental health, particularly among children in low-socioeconomic status (SES) families. By contrast, we find that maternal job loss does not have detrimental effects on child health. Increases in public health insurance coverage compensate for close to half of the loss in private coverage that follows parental displacement, and we find no significant changes in medical care utilization.
American Journal of Health Economics (2019). Links: AJHE | NBER Working Paper No. 21745 | Policy Brief (CPR, UC Davis)
Abstract: Recent research suggests that parental job loss has negative effects on children's outcomes, including their academic achievement and long-run educational and labor market outcomes. In this paper we turn our attention to the effects of parental job loss on children's health. We combine health data from 16 waves of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which allows us to use a fixed effects specification and still have a large sample of parental job displacements. We find that paternal job loss is harmful to children's physical and mental health, particularly among children in low-socioeconomic status (SES) families. By contrast, we find that maternal job loss does not have detrimental effects on child health. Increases in public health insurance coverage compensate for close to half of the loss in private coverage that follows parental displacement, and we find no significant changes in medical care utilization.
Working Papers
Dynamic Incentives in Retirement Earnings-Replacement Benefits (with Andres Dean and Sebastian Fleitas)
Under review. Links: Latest version | IZA DP No. 12982
Abstract: Many defined-benefit pension systems in developed and developing countries use a small set of final years of earnings to compute pension benefits. This provides dynamic incentives to report higher earnings in the final years of the career. In this paper, we document the responses of self-employed and employed workers to these incentives, using social security administrative records and household surveys from Uruguay. We implement event studies that leverage the use of a 10-year benefit-calculation window, combined with the discrete change in the probability of retirement at the minimum retirement age. We find that reported earnings of self-employed workers and employees of small firms start increasing sharply 10 years prior to minimum retirement age, reaching a 3% increase on average. This is not the case for employees of large firms, where earnings underreporting is less prevalent. These responses are not explained by changes in total earnings or hours of work, as reported in household surveys, suggesting a change in reporting behavior. Back of the envelope calculations for the self-employed bound the cost of these responses between 1.9% and 2.6% of the total cost of pensions for this group.
Under review. Links: Latest version | IZA DP No. 12982
Abstract: Many defined-benefit pension systems in developed and developing countries use a small set of final years of earnings to compute pension benefits. This provides dynamic incentives to report higher earnings in the final years of the career. In this paper, we document the responses of self-employed and employed workers to these incentives, using social security administrative records and household surveys from Uruguay. We implement event studies that leverage the use of a 10-year benefit-calculation window, combined with the discrete change in the probability of retirement at the minimum retirement age. We find that reported earnings of self-employed workers and employees of small firms start increasing sharply 10 years prior to minimum retirement age, reaching a 3% increase on average. This is not the case for employees of large firms, where earnings underreporting is less prevalent. These responses are not explained by changes in total earnings or hours of work, as reported in household surveys, suggesting a change in reporting behavior. Back of the envelope calculations for the self-employed bound the cost of these responses between 1.9% and 2.6% of the total cost of pensions for this group.
Short and Medium Run Impacts of Preschool Education: Evidence from State Pre-K Programs
Under review. Links: Latest version available upon request | Equitable Growth WP No. 1204 | Coverage by Equitable Growth
Abstract: I study the effects of state preschool programs on child development, health, and academic progress from ages 5 to 15. Using data from state legislatures and two national household surveys, I leverage variation in the timing of implementation of pre-K programs across states to look at the causal effects of pre-K on child outcomes, while controlling for state and time fixed effects, as well as differential policies and trends across states. This empirical strategy allows me to evaluate the intent-to-treat effects of a large and nationally representative set of universal and targeted pre-K programs, and characterize the dynamics of the effects on child outcomes along 11 years after preschool age, as well as their heterogeneity across universal and targeted programs. I find very robust evidence that availability of a pre-K program, and especially universal pre-K, improves developmental outcomes in the short-run and causes persistent reductions in grade repetition for children from low-income families. My results also suggest increased missed days of school due to illness in the short run, although I find no direct evidence of worse health. I provide bounds for policy-relevant local average treatment effects, which would imply large effects if there are no spillover effects on children who do not attend pre-K.
Under review. Links: Latest version available upon request | Equitable Growth WP No. 1204 | Coverage by Equitable Growth
Abstract: I study the effects of state preschool programs on child development, health, and academic progress from ages 5 to 15. Using data from state legislatures and two national household surveys, I leverage variation in the timing of implementation of pre-K programs across states to look at the causal effects of pre-K on child outcomes, while controlling for state and time fixed effects, as well as differential policies and trends across states. This empirical strategy allows me to evaluate the intent-to-treat effects of a large and nationally representative set of universal and targeted pre-K programs, and characterize the dynamics of the effects on child outcomes along 11 years after preschool age, as well as their heterogeneity across universal and targeted programs. I find very robust evidence that availability of a pre-K program, and especially universal pre-K, improves developmental outcomes in the short-run and causes persistent reductions in grade repetition for children from low-income families. My results also suggest increased missed days of school due to illness in the short run, although I find no direct evidence of worse health. I provide bounds for policy-relevant local average treatment effects, which would imply large effects if there are no spillover effects on children who do not attend pre-K.
Work in Progress
Means-Tested Programs and the Distribution of Reported Earnings in a Context of High Informality (with Marco Manacorda and Andrea Vigorito).
Children's health insurance coverage and health expenses after parental job loss: Are families landing in or falling through the safety net? (with Chloe East, Elira Kuka and Jessamyn Schaller)
