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Author: Berger, Jacqueline Eve
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Berger, Jacqueline Eve |
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Essays In Labor Economics and Public Finance Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton University, 1996 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Earnings; Economics of Gender; Endogeneity; Gender Differences; Labor Economics; Labor Market Outcomes; Labor Supply; Social Security; Variables, Instrumental; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap The first essay investigates how a worker's labor market outcomes are related to the gender of the person who refers the worker to his or her job. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that information networks are highly segregated by sex. In addition, it is found that women who use male contacts have significantly higher wages than those who do not use contacts, and that women who use female contacts have significantly lower wages than those who do not use contacts. Both an instrumental variables technique and a three equation maximum likelihood method are used to address the concern that contacts are endogenous. The second essay examines the Social Security Earnings Test. Prior to 1990, individuals aged 62 to 69 lost one dollar of Social Security for every two dollars earned over the threshold. Starting in 1990, older workers aged 65 to 69 lost only one dollar of Social Security for every three dollars earned over the limit. A differences-in-differences analysis is used, with the 62 to 64 year-olds serving as a control. The results indicate that the reduction in the earnings test penalty leads to a reduction in labor supply for men, consistent with an income effect which dominates the substitution effect. Among single women, there is an increase in labor supply. Changes in marginal tax rates are calculated in order to estimate labor supply elasticities. The third essay examines the effect of an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit on participation in the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program. In 1990 families received a 14 percent credit, up to a maximum of $953. In 1994 the credit was 26.3 percent up to a maximum of $2038 for families with one child and 30 percent up to a maximum of $2528 for families with more than one child. Using a differences-in-differences analysis with one child families as a control group, I find that the increase in the EITC led to a 3.5 percentage point decrease in AFDC participation for single mothers with more than one child under the age of 18. |
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Bibliography Citation
Berger, Jacqueline Eve. Essays In Labor Economics and Public Finance. Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton University, 1996. |