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This study investigates whether online homework improves learning in principles of microeconomics. It contributes to the related literature in two dimensions. First, it tests whether there is a positive association between students' performances on homework and exams. Importantly, it measures learning through exams that were given shortly after students completed the relevant homework, thereby avoiding a potential "decaying effect." Second, it tests whether the impact of homework varies by learning mode--face-to-face versus online. Results show that online homework improves learning. However, there is no significant difference in the impact of homework between the two learning modes.

The author analyzes differences in student performance in an economics course offered face to face (F2F) and online over a period of four semesters at a comprehensive public university. Apart from mode of delivery, the characteristics of the course stayed nearly identical throughout. Exam and homework assignment scores are used as measures of performance. Although mean comparisons and basic regressions indicate that online students outperform F2F students on exams, once self-selection is addressed, online students no more outperform F2F students. Furthermore, according to assessments that gauge higher levels of learning, there is evidence that online students underperform compared with F2F students.

The author uses data from two Principles of Microeconomics courses to examine differences in characteristics and performance of online versus face-to-face students. The analysis indicates that even in a traditional institution, the two delivery modes may be serving students with distinctly different backgrounds and characteristics. In terms of performance, students in the online section on average scored higher on assessments given at different points in the semester. The differential remains when accounting for potential selection bias arising from course choice and when using alternate models and measures of performance.

The use of private transfer and informal loans of the Ethiopian urban poor is examined with regard to how it helps households manage risks associated with uncertain incomes. Findings show that private transfers supply risk sharing purposes and that loans are controlled by household demand and lack risk sharing applications.

A study uses parametric analysis to examine the influence of age, education and location of people on the duration of unemployment in the urban regions of Ethiopia. The economic impact of unemployment is examined.

In this paper, we aim to provide robust estimates of wage returns to education in Ethiopia. Previous estimates vary widely based on the scope and size of the study sample, variables employed, and estimation method. We use two recent rounds of national labour force survey data and a pseudo- (or synthetic) panel framework to address the well-known potential endogeneity of schooling in wage regressions. Birth-year cohort based pseudo-panel estimate of the return to an additional year of education is between 14 percent and 16 percent, 4 to 5 percentage points higher than that from ordinary least squares (OLS). The significant downward bias in OLS is further confirmed by two-year pseudo-panel estimates and remains robust, to a large extent, as we use an alternate model, change the estimation sample, and address selection bias concurrently with endogenous schooling using a novel approach. We discuss some possible explanations in the context of Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines gender bias in the parental education-child status link using data from urban Ethiopia. Gender bias is defined here, specifically, as the differential impact of a parent's education on a child's status depending on the gender of the parent vis-à-vis the child. Children's status is measured by school enrolment and participation in market work. Results from a basic model point to same-gender bias - father-son, mother-daughter in school enrolment and father-son in market work. In an extended model, results show that father-son bias in market work may be particularly pertinent for middle- to later-born children. Policy interventions should be mindful of such differential effects, particularly if the aim is to address persistent gender disparities in children's status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests the full insurance and related hypotheses using data from urban households in Ethiopia. Whereas consumption insurance tests have focused on rural areas of developing countries, much less is known about the urban poor who remain precariously positioned in terms of consumption insurance—owing both to weak social bonding that undermines informal arrangements and thin formal insurance and financial markets. Results from OLS and GMM estimations provide evidence to this effect and show that full insurance is strongly rejected for various income and consumption categories even at the local level. The results do suggest however that partial insurance may be taking place though only among the most vulnerable. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]