Publications
Dynamic Incentives in Retirement Earnings-Replacement Benefits (with Andres Dean and Sebastian Fleitas)
The Review of Economics and Statistics (2024).
Links: Pre-publication draft | Online Appendix | Previous version circulated as IZA DP No. 12982
We analyze dynamic incentives in pension systems created by the use of a small set of final years of earnings to compute benefits. Using social security records and household surveys from Uruguay, we show that self-employed workers and some employees of small firms respond to these incentives by increasing reported earnings in the benefit calculation window. We find evidence that suggests that these responses are explained by changes in earnings reporting and not in total earnings or labor supply. Back-of-the envelope calculations indicate that this behavior increases the cost of pensions by about 0.2% of the GDP.
The Review of Economics and Statistics (2024).
Links: Pre-publication draft | Online Appendix | Previous version circulated as IZA DP No. 12982
We analyze dynamic incentives in pension systems created by the use of a small set of final years of earnings to compute benefits. Using social security records and household surveys from Uruguay, we show that self-employed workers and some employees of small firms respond to these incentives by increasing reported earnings in the benefit calculation window. We find evidence that suggests that these responses are explained by changes in earnings reporting and not in total earnings or labor supply. Back-of-the envelope calculations indicate that this behavior increases the cost of pensions by about 0.2% of the GDP.
Short-Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Child Health (with Jessamyn Schaller)
American Journal of Health Economics (2019). Links: Ungated draft | Policy Brief (CPR, UC Davis) |
Previous version circulated as NBER Working Paper No. 21745
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: Ungated draft | Policy Brief (CPR, UC Davis) |
Previous version circulated as NBER Working Paper No. 21745
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
Short- and Medium-Run Impacts of Preschool Education: Evidence from State Pre-K Programs
Resubmitted, Journal of Population Economics
Previous version circulated as Equitable Growth WP No. 1204 | Coverage by Equitable Growth
This paper studies the effects of state preschool programs on grade progression, child development, and health outcomes from ages 5 to 15. Leveraging variation in the timing of pre-K program implementation across states and using data from state legislatures and two national surveys, I estimate the dynamic reduced-form impacts of a large group of pre-K programs. The findings show that pre-K significantly reduces grade retention, particularly for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with no significant differences between targeted and universal pre-K programs. There is suggestive evidence of short-run improvements in developmental and behavioral outcomes, alongside a temporary increase in illness-related missed school days, but no significant effects on overall health. These results highlight the lasting academic benefits of early childhood education, especially for disadvantaged children.
Resubmitted, Journal of Population Economics
Previous version circulated as Equitable Growth WP No. 1204 | Coverage by Equitable Growth
This paper studies the effects of state preschool programs on grade progression, child development, and health outcomes from ages 5 to 15. Leveraging variation in the timing of pre-K program implementation across states and using data from state legislatures and two national surveys, I estimate the dynamic reduced-form impacts of a large group of pre-K programs. The findings show that pre-K significantly reduces grade retention, particularly for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with no significant differences between targeted and universal pre-K programs. There is suggestive evidence of short-run improvements in developmental and behavioral outcomes, alongside a temporary increase in illness-related missed school days, but no significant effects on overall health. These results highlight the lasting academic benefits of early childhood education, especially for disadvantaged children.
Social assistance and labor market outcomes: Evidence from the Uruguayan PANES (with V. Amarante, M. Manacorda, and A. Vigorito).
IDB Technical Note No. IDB-TN-453, October 2011.
IDB Technical Note No. IDB-TN-453, October 2011.
Work in Progress
Informality and Earnings Reporting: The Role of Parental Leave Benefit Duration (with Fernanda Rojas Ampuero)
Job Loss and Health Insurance Coverage Before and After the Affordable Care Act (with Jessamyn Schaller)
Medicaid for middle-class families? Job loss and health insurance coverage of parents and children
(with Chloe East, Elira Kuka and Jessamyn Schaller)
(with Chloe East, Elira Kuka and Jessamyn Schaller)
No place like home? Home size, unemployment, and divorce (with Edoardo Ciscato and Thimo De Schouwer)
