Applied Microeconomics
Applied Microeconomics
The Applied Microeconomics research group unites researchers working on a broad array of topics within such areas as labour economics, economics of education, health economics, family economics, urban economics, environmental economics, and the economics of science and innovation. The group operates in close collaboration with the CAGE Research Centre.
The group participates in the CAGE seminar on Applied Economics, which runs weekly on Tuesdays at 2:15pm. Students and faculty members of the group present their ongoing work in two brown bag seminars, held weekly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 1pm. Students, in collaboration with faculty members, also organise a bi-weekly reading group in applied econometrics on Thursdays at 1pm. The group organises numerous events throughout the year, including the Research Away Day and several thematic workshops.
Our activities
Work in Progress seminars
Tuesdays and Wednesdays 1-2pm
Students and faculty members of the group present their work in progress in two brown bag seminars. See below for a detailed scheduled of speakers.
Applied Econometrics reading group
Thursdays (bi-weekly) 1-2pm
Organised by students in collaboration with faculty members. See the Events calendar below for further details
People
Academics
Academics associated with the Applied Microeconomics Group are:
Research Students
Events
CWIP (CAGE Work in progress) - Victor Lavy
Title: Child Endowment and the Demand for Children@ Revisiting the Quantity-Quality Model of Fertility (joint with Yeshaya Nussbaum – Hebrew University)
Abstract: China’s one-child policy or Past research has tested the quantity-quality model of fertility by studying a shock to quantity, typically by exploiting the birth of twins or China’s one-child policy. We take an alternative approach and study the effect of a quality shock on the QQ trade-off, which we conceptualize as the birth of a child with an extreme level of intellectual endowment. Theory predicts that a rise in child endowment increases parental demand for children through an increase in family income and a decline in the shadow price of children. The opposite is true for a fall in child endowment. Using two quasi-experiments, we test these predictions and estimate the reduced-form effect of a positive or negative change in endowment on family size. The first experiment estimates the effect of a first-born high-endowment child on further fertility in a sample including families with either a first- or second-born high-endowment child and at least two children. Similarly, we estimate the effect of a second-born high-endowment child on further fertility in a sample including families with either a second or third-born high-endowment child and at least three children. We use Israeli data on families and their children and measure high endowment by giftedness or exceptional scores on early cognitive tests. We find that the birth of a high-endowment child increases the probability of an additional child in both quasi-experiments. In addition, as the information on child endowment becomes noisier, parents' ability to recognize the endowment is a condition for its effect. On the other hand, the birth of a low-endowment child, measured as enrolment in a special-education class, negatively affects family size in both quasi-experiments. However, this effect is smaller and less significant in the first experiment, estimating the effect of a first-born low-endowment child. This last result is consistent with families' preference for a child with a regular endowment, which offsets the negative income and price effects activated by a low-endowment child. Overall, our results point to child endowment as an important factor affecting fertility choice.
This workshop is hybrid, here is a Teams link . https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OWE3ZDAyNWYtYTgzMS00NTUxLWI2ZDktMWYxZjFkYjQyZTUy%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2209bacfbd-47ef-4465-9265-3546f2eaf6bc%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22d235acba-bb89-4eff-a07c-515e0b711c79%22%7d