American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article Are There Missing Girls in the United States? Evidence from Birth Data JasonAbrevayaU TX 1 34 We offer evidence of gender selection within the United States. Analysis of comprehensive birth data shows unusually high boy-birth percentages after 1980 among later children (most notably third and fourth children) born to Chinese and Asian Indian mothers. Based upon linked data from California, Asian Indian mothers are found to be significantly more likely to have a terminated pregnancy and to give birth to a boy when they have previously only given birth to girls. The observed boy-birth percentages are consistent with over 2,000 "missing" Chinese and Indian girls in the United States between 1991 and 2004. (JEL J11, J16) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.1 10.1257/app.1.2.1 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2008-0039_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article Does the Media Matter? A Field Experiment Measuring the Effect of Newspapers on Voting Behavior and Political Opinions Alan S.GerberYale U DeanKarlanYale U and Innovations for Poverty Action, New Haven, CT DanielBerganMI State U 35 52 We conducted a field experiment to measure the effect of exposure to newspapers on political behavior and opinion. Before the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial election, we randomly assigned individuals to a Washington Post free subscription treatment, a Washington Times free subscription treatment, or a control treatment. We find no effect of either paper on political knowledge, stated opinions, or turnout in post-election survey and voter data. However, receiving either paper led to more support for the Democratic candidate, suggesting that media slant mattered less in this case than media exposure. Some evidence from voting records also suggests that receiving either paper led to increased 2006 voter turnout. (JEL D72, L82) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.35 10.1257/app.1.2.35 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/data/2007-0007_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article Income Inequality and Progressive Income Taxation in China and India, 1986-2015 ThomasPikettyParis School of Economics NancyQianBrown U 53 63 This paper evaluates income tax reforms in China and India. The combination of fast income growth and under-indexed tax schedule in China implies the fraction of the Chinese population subject to income tax has increased from less than 0.1 percent in 1986 to about 20 percent in 2008, while it has stagnated around 2-3 percent in India. Chinese income tax revenues, as a share of GDP, increased from less than 0.1 percent in 1986 to about 1.5 percent in 2005 and 2.5 percent in 2008, while the constant adaptation of exemption levels and income brackets in India have caused them to stagnate around 0.5 percent of GDP. (JEL D31, H24, 015, 023, P23, P35) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.53 10.1257/app.1.2.53 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/data/2007-0004_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2007-0004_app.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article What Determines Giving to Hurricane Katrina Victims? Experimental Evidence on Racial Group Loyalty Christina M.FongCarnegie Mellon U Erzo F. P.LuttmerHarvard U 64 87 We investigate the role of racial group loyalty on generosity in a broadly representative sample of the US adult population. We use an audiovisual presentation to manipulate beliefs about the race, income, and worthiness of Hurricane Katrina victims. Respondents then decide how to divide $100 between themselves and Katrina victims. We find no effects of victims' race on giving on average. However, respondents who report feeling close to their racial or ethnic group give substantially more when victims are of the same race, while respondents who do not feel close to their group give substantially less. (JEL D64, J15, Q54) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.64 10.1257/app.1.2.64 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2007-0098_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article Do Labor Market Rigidities Have Microeconomic Effects? Evidence from within the Firm FrancineLafontaineU MI JagadeeshSivadasanU MI 88 127 We exploit a unique outlet-level dataset from a multinational chain with over 2,500 outlets in 43 countries to investigate the effects of labor regulations that protect employment. The dataset contains information on output, materials, and labor costs at a weekly frequency over several years, allowing us to examine the consequences of labor market rigidity at a much more detailed level than has been possible to date. We find that higher labor market rigidity is associated with significantly higher levels of hysteresis. We also find some evidence that labor costs are less responsive to sales revenue in more highly regulated markets. (JEL: E24, J08, J23, K31, M51) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.88 10.1257/app.1.2.88 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2007-0021_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2007-0021_app.pdf American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article A Cautionary Tale about the Use of Administrative Data: Evidence from Age of Marriage Laws Rebecca M.BlankBrookings Institution Kerwin KofiCharlesU Chicago James M.SalleeU Chicago 128 49 This paper demonstrates that administrative data may be inferior to survey data under particular circumstances. We examine the effect of state laws governing the minimum age of marriage in the United States. The estimated effects of these laws are much smaller when based on retrospective reports from census versus administrative records from Vital Statistics data. This discrepancy appears due to systematic avoidance behavior of two kinds. Some young people marry in states with less restrictive laws; others appear to have misrepresented their age on their marriage certificate. Our results have important implications regarding legal avoidance and the use of administrative data. (JEL J12 K36) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.128 10.1257/app.1.2.128 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2008-0014_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2008-0014_app.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article A Biological Model of Unions MichaelKremerHarvard U and Center for Global Development Benjamin A.OlkenMIT 150 75 This paper applies principles from evolutionary biology to the study of unions. We show that unions that implement the preferred wage and organizing policies of workers will be displaced in evolutionary competition by unions that either extract less from firms, allowing them to live longer, or spend more on union organizing, or both. This implies that unions with constitutional incumbency advantages that allow leaders to depart from members' preferences may have a selective advantage, allowing them to grow at the expense of unions lacking such provisions. Evidence from the history of American unions supports these predictions. (JEL A12, J51) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.150 10.1257/app.1.2.150 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2007-0003_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2007-0003_app.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article History Matters: The Long-Term Impact of Colonial Public Investments in French West Africa EliseHuilleryParis School of Economics and IRD, Paris 176 215 To what extent do colonial public investments continue to influence current regional inequalities in French-speaking West Africa? Using a new database and the spatial discontinuities of colonial investment policy, this paper gives evidence that early colonial investments had large and persistent effects on current outcomes. The nature of investments also matters. Current educational outcomes have been more specifically determined by colonial investments in education rather than health and infrastructures, and vice versa. I show that a major channel for this historical dependency is a strong persistence of investments; regions that got more at the early colonial times continued to get more. (JEL H41, H54, N37, N47, 016) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.176 10.1257/app.1.2.176 American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 1 2 April 2009 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=1&issue=2 Journal Article Front Matter i ii http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.1.2.i 10.1257/app.1.2.i