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AbstractThis paper explores the effect of China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) policy by considering the child human capital of households targeted by the policy. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy to identify the effect of TPA on child human capital. The evidence indicates that TPA significantly enhances beneficiary children’s health, cognitive, and non-cognitive abilities. The most substantial improvement is observed in cognitive ability, reaching 49.8 per cent of its standard deviation (0.999). Mechanism tests suggest that TPA achieves these positive outcomes primarily through improving infrastructure, alleviating resource constraints, and enhancing family-process capacity. Specifically, TPA contributes to local infrastructure enhancement to facilitate child human capital development while increasing targeted households’ utilization of medical services for their children and promoting educational inputs in children. Moreover, TPA substantially improves parent–child relationships, increases quality time spent together, and considerably reduces mothers’ depression in targeted households. A back-of-envelop calculation suggests that exposure to the TPA policy during childhood leads to a 0.562 increase in years of schooling and a 13.1 per cent increase in wages for adults in their twenties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of exports on productivity is a central theme in macroeconomics, explored in both the ‘learning by exporting’ and ‘Kaldor-Verdoorn law’ literature. We utilize a novel dataset of Italian firm microdata to build an empirical model examining the effect of persistent exporting on firm productivity. The model endogenizes a firm's export propensity using a probit specification that enables us to derive consistent estimates of the impact of exporting on productivity. In addition, we use the share of highly educated workers as a proxy of human capital to test the ability of persistently exporting firms to learn. This impact is derived using a biprobit specification, which enables us to endogenize the joint probability of being a continuously exporting firm while highly endowed with a skilled workforce. The results strongly support the hypothesis that persistent exporters show a significant productivity premium compared to occasional exporters. Moreover, the workforce's education level further increases productivity, with results supporting the hypothesis that highly educated shares of a firm's workforce enhance the ability to learn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in education between girls and boys persist in Pakistan, and the distribution of household resources and socioeconomic disparities are compounding the problem. This paper determines education attainment (primary to tertiary level) and current enrollment and explores underlying gender differences with reference to per capita income and socioeconomic characteristics of the household by using survey data of Pakistan (2005–2019) that have never been used in this context before. The potential endogeneity bias between income and education is addressed through the two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) method that is appropriate for non-linear models used in this study. Findings indicate that income is likely to increase and facilitate a significant transition from primary- to tertiary-level education attainment. The boys have a higher likelihood to increase tertiary-level education attainment by household income. However, the probability of current enrollment is equivalent for girls and boys after controlling for endogeneity. The gender effects of Oaxaca-type decomposition indicate higher unexplained variation that describes a strong gender gap between boys and girls. The standard deviation for education inequality and gender gap ratio confirm that higher levels of discrimination and lower economic returns are associated with girls' education, and individual and community attributes favor boys' education. Findings suggest policies and educational strategies that focus on female education and lower-income households to build socioeconomic stability and sustainable human capital in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's enrollment in colleges in developing countries is staggeringly low. Due to cultural norms and safety concerns, women may not be allowed to enroll. Alternatively, local colleges might be in short supply. Using the variation in college construction in India under a college construction grant policy, we assess whether increased access to colleges in home districts improves human capital outcomes for women. We find an improvement in educational and other development outcomes. The educational gains accruing to women are twice as large as for men. The benefits accrue to the rural women but do not spillover to the neighboring districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much research indicating the presence of a parental preference for a particular gender of children. The main objective of this paper is to test between the two main explanations for the existence of such preference, namely differences in the costs of raising sons and daughters versus the gender bias (corresponding to parental utility derived from a child’s gender or from characteristics exclusive to that gender). First, we use recent EU-SILC data from several Balkan and Scandinavian countries to confirm that the gender of the firstborn predicts the likelihood of a given family having three children or more—a common measure of parental gender preference. We confirm son preference in certain Balkan countries and daughter preference in Scandinavian countries. Both having a first child of the preferred gender and of the more costly gender can decrease the probability of having three or more children because parents may already be content or may lack sufficient resources, respectively. Next, we use information on household consumption to differentiate the two explanations. We argue that under the differential cost hypothesis, parents of children of the more costly gender should spend more on goods for children and less on household public goods as well as on parental personal consumption. In contrast, having children of the preferred gender should increase spending on household public goods since such families have higher marriage surplus and are more stable. Our evidence corroborates the cost difference explanation in countries exhibiting daughter preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores theoretically, empirically, and quantitatively the role of age diversity in determining aggregate productivity and output. Age diversity has two conflicting effects on output. On the one hand, due to the complementarity between education and experience, age diversity may be beneficial. On the other hand, rapid skill-biased technological change makes age diversity costly as up-to-date education tends to be concentrated among younger cohorts. To study this trade-off, I first build an overlapping-generations (OLG) model which, in view of these two opposing forces, predicts a hump-shaped relationship between age diversity and GDP per capita. This prediction is established analytically, and also quantitatively using real-world population data in an extended computational version of the model. The prediction is then tested using country-level panel data with a novel instrument and regional data from Europe. Moving one standard deviation closer to the optimal level of age diversity is associated with a 1.5% increase in GDP per capita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective migration does not necessarily imply a unique unidirectional or 'synchronized' flow from the poorer to the richer regions. Indeed, migration is selective to individual characteristics of migrants, but also places. Therefore, it is likely that migrants with different skill levels, age, and gender select different destinations—irrespective of regional disparities—with a greater degree of synchronization by similar individuals. The article explores these processes in Italy using inter-provincial migration flows (NUTS3) data for the years 1975, 1985, 1995, and 2005 and dividing migrants into 18 categories based on their human capital (proxied by education), age, and gender. Findings confirm the hypothesis of selective migration flows with clear-cut differences in choosing locations according to individual characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the effect of population sorting on economic growth. The analysis is performed in a two-region growth model with endogenous fertility, in which public knowledge spillovers from the more advanced core amplify the productivity of investment in children's human capital in the periphery. I show how migration affects the inter-temporal evolution of human capital in each of the regions and the economy as a whole. I discuss how public policy interventions can help increase the per-capita human capital levels, if free uncontrolled migration leads to a reduction in human capital accumulation. I also analyse how migration and public policy interventions may affect population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article revisits the Mincer earnings function and presents comparable estimates of the average monetary returns associated with an additional year of education across different regions worldwide. In contrast to the traditional Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method commonly employed in the literature, this study applied a cutting-edge approach known as Support Vector Regression (SVR), which belongs to the family of machine learning (ML) algorithms. SVR is specifically chosen to address the bias arising from underfitting inherent in OLS. The analysis focuses on recent data spanning from 2010 to 2018, ensuring temporal homogeneity across the examined regions. The findings reveal that each additional year of education, on average, yields a private rate of returns of 10.4%. Notably, Sub-Saharan Africa exhibits the highest returns to education at 17.8%, while Europe demonstrates the lowest returns at 7.2%. Moreover, higher education is associated with the highest returns across the regions, with a rate of 12%, whereas primary education yields returns of 10%. Interestingly, women generally experience higher returns than men, with rates of 10.6 and 10.1%, respectively. Over time, the returns to education exhibit a modest decline, decreasing at a rate of approximately 0.1% per year, while the average duration of education demonstrates an increase of 0.16 years per year (1% per year). The application of the state-of-the-art ML technique, SVR, not only improves the accuracy of estimates but also enhances predictive performance measures such as the coefficient of determination (R 2) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) when compared to the OLS method. The implications drawn from these findings emphasize the need for expanding university education, as well as investments in primary education, along with significant attention toward promoting girls’ education. These findings hold considerable importance for policymakers who are tasked with making informed decisions regarding education expenditure and the implementation of education financing programs.

Can the economic legacy of highly skilled groups persist long after they were uprooted from their homelands? To answer this question, we study long-term sub-national development in Turkey after the mass expulsions of the Armenian and Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. Since these events led to an almost complete and permanent removal of both communities from Turkey within a short time period, they provide a unique quasi-natural experiment that rules out any direct minority influence on development in the post-expulsion period. By exploiting local variations in historical minority population shares and community buildings across modern districts and villages/neighborhoods within each district, we document a sizable Armenian and Greek legacy effect on contemporary measures of economic development. We argue that this persistent influence is grounded on the significant contribution of Armenian and Greek communities to human capital accumulation among Muslims. We show evidence that inter-group transfers of skills and knowledge were instrumental in this process, leading to greater human capital among Muslims in minority regions both in the past and today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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I present results from a partial re-analysis of the Kenyan school tracking experiment first described in Duflo et. al (2011). My results suggest that, in a developing country school system with state-employed teachers, tracking can reduce short-run test scores of initially low-ability students with high learning potential. The highest scoring students subjected only to the tracking intervention scored well below comparable students in untracked classrooms at the end of the intervention. In contrast, students assigned to tracking under the experimental alternative teacher intervention experienced gains from tracking that increased across the outcome distribution. These alternative teachers were drawn from local areas, exhibited significantly higher effort levels and faced different incentives to produce learning. I conclude that although Pareto-improvements in test scores from tracking are possible, they are not guaranteed.

The academic debate in migrant entrepreneurship has mainly focused on movements from emerging economies into developed economies. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that the highest impact is generated by migrants in/from emerging economies. To extend this academic discussion in the Latin-American context, this study investigates why migrants are more entrepreneurial than natives. By adopting the human capital and the institutional approach, we theorize that individual and environmental conditions produce selection/discrimination effects in the host labour market. Consequently, these effects influence migrants' decision to become entrepreneurs. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 13,368 adults between the ages of 18–64 based across the 16 Chilean regions. Our results showed that being a high-skilled migrant in a dynamic emerging economy is not a guarantee of success in the labour market, but it is a determinant of international and necessity-driven entrepreneurship. Several implications and a provocative discussion emerged from these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guest worker programs are often criticized for worker maltreatment. Income earned could, however, benefit migrants. I examine the impact of the Bracero Program, a guest worker program between Mexico and the United States in the mid-20th century, on human capital investments. I use proximity to recruitment centers as an instrument for migration. The opening and closing of centers, due to changes in international bargaining power, provides exogenous variation. Estimates show that bracero migration caused increases in primary school enrollments, the provision of primary schools, and spending on education by state governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how human capital develops in response to early-life weather and pollution exposures in the Philippines. Both pollution and weather are examined in relation to short- and long-term human capital outcomes. We combine a three-decade longitudinal survey measuring human capital development, a database of historical weather, and multiple databases characterizing carbon monoxide and ozone in the Philippines during the 1980s. We find evidence that extreme precipitation and temperature affect short-term anthropometric outcomes, but long-term outcomes appear unaffected. For long-term cognitive outcomes, we find that early-life pollution exposures negatively affect test scores and schooling. These long-term responses to early-life pollution exposures extend to the labor market with reduced hours worked and earnings. The implication is that a 25 per cent reduction in early-life ozone exposure would increase per person discounted lifetime earnings by $1,367, which would scale to $2.05 billion at the national level (or 2 per cent of 2005 GDP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I study a settlement policy implemented by the Chilean government between 1882 and 1904 to analyze the relationship between European immigration and the human capital of natives. Using historical censuses, I show that this policy was successful in recruiting skilled Europeans, who located in different parts of the country. Using a panel data of provinces observed between 1860 and 1920, I find a strong, positive, and robust correlation between recruited Europeans and the human capital of natives. This finding is not driven by changes in the provision of public goods or regional shocks. However, the arrival of Europeans is associated with an increase local economic output 50 years after the policy was terminated. These changes in the local economy, together with narrative historical evidence, suggest that a modernization of economic activities is a potential explanation for the increase in the human capital of natives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to show whether working in a good organisational atmosphere (job satisfaction) in the academic sector influences the propensity to migrate. This theory was tested using two surveys administered to Italian researchers abroad (IRA) and Italian researchers in Italy (IRI). The main purposes were: first, to study the relation among job satisfaction, quality of life and the propensity to migrate between IRA and IRI; second, to quantify how job satisfaction influences the academic brain drain propensity and the quality of life. Our research reveals a dual state of Italian academic job satisfaction. Those researchers who live abroad report satisfaction for all the four dimensions of job satisfaction, which influences positively their quality of life and decreases their propensity to return to Italy. In contrast, researchers that remain in Italy adapt to the system and record negative perception of job satisfaction, low quality of life and show propensity to emigrate abroad. The Italian academic environment must improve its status with an emphasis on organisational and job satisfaction. This can be done through a direct intervention in organisational administration favouring streamlined procedures, functional research productivity, harmony of academic standards and a meritocratic reward process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In neo-classical theory, evidences are found that human capital is a progressive contributor of economic growth. However, empirically the relationship may not always hold across the countries. The present study can (1) strengthen the role of human capital in accounting for current scenario (2) reunite the prevailing conditions for economic growth and (3) investigates complementary or substitutionary effects of trade openness, inflation and human capital with institutions on economic growth. The results divulge that human capital alone may not be a significant contributor to economic growth in selected Asian Countries. Institutions reinforce the impact of human capital on economic growth; as they provide necessary conditions to amplify the impact of human capital development. The sufficient condition is the presence of high-quality institutional structure with trade openness and human capital as complementary effect on per capita GDP growth. The impact of inflation (proxy of macro-economic policies) has substitutionary effect with institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between immigrant status and institutional choice in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The EHEA addresses employability of graduates as a key area for action. In practice, universities vary in the degree to which they embed employability into their curricula. Using these differences as a basis for university-type classification, we examine whether institutional choices differ between native and second-generation immigrant students. The results of a survey of first-semester students reveal that more than half of the institutions with a strong professional profile are challenged by heterogeneous entry cohorts. One quarter of students enroll at these universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]