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Source: University of California - Berkeley

Resulting in 5 citations.

1.	Karasek, Deborah
1.	Reproductive Decision-making under Uncertainty: Exploring the Relationship of Economic Preferences and Reproductive Health Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, 2017. Also: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4t84067t Cohort(s): NLSY97 Publisher: University of California - Berkeley Keyword(s): Contraception; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Risk-Taking; Sexual Behavior Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Drawing on behavioral economics, this dissertation expands understanding of uncertainty and reproductive health decision-making in several steps. My three papers examine if there are general decision-making constructs, including risk-taking propensity and degree of present bias that may extend beyond financial decisions to health behavior and ultimately reproductive health outcomes. In the first paper, I review the state of the literature on temporal and risk preferences and sexual and reproductive health. Next, I examine how risk preferences are related to sexual behavior and contraceptive use in the National Longitudinal of Youth (NLSY97). Finally, I examine the relationship between national economic uncertainty and pregnancy intentions and outcomes in the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). This work draws on economics, psychology, and social epidemiology.
	Bibliography Citation Karasek, Deborah. Reproductive Decision-making under Uncertainty: Exploring the Relationship of Economic Preferences and Reproductive Health. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, 2017..

2.	Kuhnen, Camelia M. Melzer, Brian
2.	Non-Cognitive Abilities and Loan Delinquency: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Avoiding Financial Distress Presented: Berkeley, CA, Haas School of Business Research Seminar, University of California Berkeley, April 22, 2015 Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult Publisher: University of California - Berkeley Keyword(s): Assets; Debt/Borrowing; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Pearlin Mastery Scale; Risk Perception; Risk-Taking Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Research on household financial decisions has largely focused on the importance of cognitive abilities in decision-making, emphasizing that IQ and mathematical ability predict stock market participation and the avoidance of financial mistakes. This paper takes a broader perspective by exploring the role of non-cognitive abilities in household finance decisions. Within the fields of labor and education economics, non-cognitive traits such as self-efficacy – which measures the extent to which people believe they can influence future outcomes through their actions – predict substantial differences in school achievement and employment outcomes. Using longitudinal household survey data, here we show that people's self-efficacy measured in childhood predicts differences in the likelihood of being in financial distress during adulthood. Individuals with better self-efficacy scores early in life are significantly less likely as adults to be delinquent on loans, to have assets repossessed, or to lose access to credit. These effects of self-efficacy are not explained by differences in time or risk preferences, demographic characteristics, cognitive ability, educational attainment or income. Note: This paper was also presented at the Frontiers in Finance conference, Banff, Alberta, June 2015.
	Bibliography Citation Kuhnen, Camelia M. and Brian Melzer. "Non-Cognitive Abilities and Loan Delinquency: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Avoiding Financial Distress." Presented: Berkeley, CA, Haas School of Business Research Seminar, University of California Berkeley, April 22, 2015.

3.	Levine, Ross Rubinstein, Yona
3.	Does Entrepreneurship Pay? The Michael Bloombergs, the Hot Dog Vendors, and the Returns to Self-Employment Working Paper, Haas School of Business, University of California--Berkeley, September 2012 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: University of California - Berkeley Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Educational Attainment; Entrepreneurship; Illegal Activities; Occupational Aspirations; Occupational Choice; Risk-Taking; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Self-Employed Workers; Self-Esteem; Wages Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. We use the classification of the self-employed into incorporated and unincorporated to separate between “entrepreneurs” and other business owners. Using data from the CPS and the NLSY79, we find, in contrast to a large body of research, that entrepreneurs earn much more per hour and work many more hours than their salaried and unincorporated counterparts. Moreover, the incorporated self-employed have distinct cognitive and noncognitive traits: they are more educated, and even as teenagers, they score higher on learning aptitude tests, exhibit greater self-esteem, and engage in more aggressive, illicit, risk-taking activities. And, these traits are much more important for entrepreneurial success than they are for success in other employment activities.
	Bibliography Citation Levine, Ross and Yona Rubinstein. "Does Entrepreneurship Pay? The Michael Bloombergs, the Hot Dog Vendors, and the Returns to Self-Employment." Working Paper, Haas School of Business, University of California--Berkeley, September 2012.

4.	Smith, Sandra Susan
4.	Searching For Work with a Criminal Record Working Paper, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkeley, March 2012. Also: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7d56c799 Cohort(s): NLSY97 Publisher: University of California - Berkeley Keyword(s): Arrests; Incarceration/Jail; Job Search; Unemployment Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. To date, researchers have been very attentive to how the stigma of criminality informs employers’ hiring decisions, and, in the process, diminishes the employment opportunities afforded to jobseekers so stigmatized. Few researchers, however, have investigated the extent to which criminal records also shape jobseekers’ search strategies in ways that either attenuate or amplify the effects of their negative credentials. We fill this gap in the literature by investigating how arrest, conviction, and incarceration affect the scope of jobseekers’ search efforts as well as the specific methods they deploy. We then examine the extent to which gaps in job search success can be attributed to stigmatized jobseekers’ search strategies. Analysis of the NLSY97 reveals that arrestees and former prisoners (but not ex-convicts) are disadvantaged both by the scope of their search efforts and by the specific methods they use. Arrestees are less likely than non-offenders to find work during the search process because they use fewer search methods, and because they over-invest in ineffective methods while under-investing in more effective methods. Although former prisoners are also disadvantaged by over- and under-investing, we primarily attribute their lower odds of search success to the differential impacts of their search strategies. Even when the scope and nature of their searches mirror those of non-offenders, their searches are less likely to end successfully. By bringing “search” into debates on punishment and inequality, we provide a new and complementary way to understand how a criminal record negatively affects jobseekers’ chances of finding work.
	Bibliography Citation Smith, Sandra Susan. "Searching For Work with a Criminal Record." Working Paper, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkeley, March 2012.

5.	Xia, Xiaoyu
5.	Essays on Decision Making in the Labor and Housing Market Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 2014. Also: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5v70g5vd Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: University of California - Berkeley Keyword(s): College Major/Field of Study/Courses; Earnings; Expectations/Intentions; Kinship; Occupations; Parental Influences; Siblings Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. The first chapter studies how college students learn about the earning opportunities associated with different majors. I use data from two major longitudinal surveys to develop and estimate a learning model in which students update their expectations based on the contemporaneous earning realizations of older siblings and parents. Reduced-form models show that the probability of choosing a major that corresponds to the occupation of an older sibling or parent is strongly affected by whether the family member is experiencing a positive or negative earnings shock at the time the major choice is made. Building on this finding, I estimate a model of major choice that incorporates learning from family-based information sources. The results imply that students overestimate the predictive power of family members' earnings: the decision weight placed on family wage realizations is much larger than can be justified by the empirical correlation between their own earnings and their family members' earnings.
	Bibliography Citation Xia, Xiaoyu. Essays on Decision Making in the Labor and Housing Market. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 2014..

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