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
CAGE-AMES Workshop - Jiaqi Li
Title: Divorce Expectation, Human Capital, and Life Cycle of Female Labor Supply
Abstract: There is a puzzle in economics and sociology that Black women have a higher labor supply than white women in the US. This paper shows the gap is driven by married Black women with high wages returning to work quickly after childbirth. I develop a life cycle model of female labor supply, human capital, consumption, and savings with marriage uncertainty. The structural model demonstrates that Black women stay in the workforce to maintain human capital and hedge against marital instability. Furthermore, this paper shows structural estimates of human capital depreciation in the labor literature are likely biased without sample selection correction for exclusive restriction.
Title: Minimum Wage, Marriage, and Fertility
Abstract: Exploiting state-varying minimum wage in the US from 1975 to 2016, this paper shows the causal effect of minimum wage on marriage, divorce, and fertility. An increase in state minimum wage by 1 dollar significantly increases the marriage rate by 0.6 percentage points, reduces the divorce rate by 0.4 percentage points, and increases the fertility rate by 0.5 percentage points. I develop an equilibrium life cycle model of marriage, fertility, labor supply, and consumption to decompose the causal effects by complementarity in leisure time among partners, and substitutability in child production. This paper demonstrates that labor market policy has significant spillovers on the marriage market.