American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Malaria Eradication in the Americas: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Exposure HoytBleakleyU Chicago 1 45 This study uses the malaria-eradication campaigns in the United States (circa 1920) and in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico (circa 1955) to measure how much childhood exposure to malaria depresses labor productivity. The campaigns began because of advances in health technology, which mitigates concerns about reverse causality. Malarious areas saw large drops in the disease thereafter. Relative to non-malarious areas, cohorts born after eradication had higher income as adults than the preceding generation. These cross-cohort changes coincided with childhood exposure to the campaigns rather than to pre-existing trends. Estimates suggest a substantial, though not predominant, role for malaria in explaining cross-region differences in income. (JEL I12, I18, J13, O15) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.1 10.1257/app.2.2.1 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2008-0126_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2008-0126_app.pdf American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Malaria Eradication and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Paraguay and Sri Lanka Adrienne M.LucasWellesley College 46 71 Mid-twentieth century malaria eradication campaigns largely eliminated malaria from Paraguay and Sri Lanka. Using these interventions as quasi-experiments, I estimate malaria's effect on lifetime female educational attainment through the combination of pre-existing geographic variation in malarial intensity and cohort exposure based on the timing of the national anti-malaria campaigns. The estimates from Sri Lanka and Paraguay are similar and indicate that malaria eradication increased years of educational attainment and literacy. The similarity of the estimates across the countries reinforces our confidence in the validity of the identification strategy. (JEL I12, I18, I21, J16, O15, O18) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.46 10.1257/app.2.2.46 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2007-0087_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Early-Life Malaria Exposure and Adult Outcomes: Evidence from Malaria Eradication in India DavidCutlerHarvard U WinnieFungHarvard U MichaelKremerHarvard U MonicaSinghalHarvard U TomVoglHarvard U 72 94 We examine the effects of exposure to malaria in early childhood on educational attainment and economic status in adulthood by exploiting geographic variation in malaria prevalence in India prior to a nationwide eradication program in the 1950s. We find that the program led to modest increases in household per capita consumption for prime age men, and the effects for men are larger than those for women in most specifications. We find no evidence of increased educational attainment for men and mixed evidence for women. (JEL I12, I18, I21, 015, 018) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.72 10.1257/app.2.2.72 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2007-0058_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2007-0058_app.pdf American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Ability, Gender, and Performance Standards: Evidence from Academic Probation Jason M.LindoU OR Nicholas J.SandersU CA, Davis PhilipOreopoulosU British Columbia 95 117 We use a regression discontinuity design to examine students' responses to being placed on academic probation. Consistent with a model of introducing performance standards, we find that being placed on probation at the end of the first year discourages some students from returning to school while improving the GPAs of those who do. We find heterogeneous responses across prior academic performance, gender, and native language, and discuss these results within the context of the model. We also find negative effects on graduation rates, particularly for students with the highest high school grades. (JEL I23, J16) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.95 10.1257/app.2.2.95 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2008-0202_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Modern Medicine and the Twentieth Century Decline in Mortality: Evidence on the Impact of Sulfa Drugs SeemaJayachandranStanford U AdrianaLleras-MuneyUCLA Kimberly V.SmithMathematica Policy Research, Princeton, NJ 118 46 This paper studies the contribution of sulfa drugs, a groundbreaking medical innovation in the 1930s, to declines in US mortality. For several infectious diseases, sulfa drugs represented the first effective treatment. Using time-series and difference-in-differences methods, we find that sulfa drugs led to a 24 to 36 percent decline in maternal mortality, 17 to 32 percent decline in pneumonia mortality, and 52 to 65 percent decline in scarlet fever mortality between 1937 and 1943. Altogether, sulfa drugs reduced mortality by 2 to 3 percent and increased life expectancy by 0.4 to 0.7 years. We also find that sulfa drugs benefited whites more than blacks. (JEL I12, L65, N32, N72) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.118 10.1257/app.2.2.118 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2008-0229_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2008-0229_app.pdf American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Information, Preferences, and Public Benefit Participation: Experimental Evidence from the Advance EITC and 401(k) Savings DamonJonesStanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford U and U Chicago 147 63 Within a field experiment, I present a treatment group with reductions in information, administrative, stigma, and procrastination costs associated with the Advance EITC. The treatment increases Advance participation from 0.3 to 1.2 percent. Another treatment simultaneously encourages 401(k) savings, increasing 401(k) participation from 46 to 50 percent. However, there is no additional increase in Advance participation when coupled with the 401(k) treatment, casting doubt on a long-term forced savings motive. The results indicate that EITC recipients actively forgo the Advance. Further work is needed to identify what underlies these preferences. Possible explanations include uncertainty and/or short-term forced savings motives. (JEL D14, D82, H23, H24, H31) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.147 10.1257/app.2.2.147 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2008-0124_app.pdf American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Promoting Healthy Choices: Information versus Convenience JessicaWisdomCarnegie Mellon U Julie S.DownsCarnegie Mellon U GeorgeLoewensteinCarnegie Mellon U 164 78 Success in slowing obesity trends would benefit from policies aimed at reducing calorie consumption. In a field experiment at a fast-food sandwich chain, we address the effects of providing calorie information, mimicking recent legislation, and test an alternative approach that makes ordering healthier slightly more convenient. We find that calorie information reduces calorie intake. Providing a daily calorie target does as well, but only for non-overweight individuals. Making healthy choices convenient reduces intake when the intervention is strong. However, a milder implementation reduces sandwich calories, but does not reduce total calories due to compensatory effects on side orders and drinks. (JEL I12, I18, L81) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.164 10.1257/app.2.2.164 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2008-0129_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Disclosure by Politicians SimeonDjankovWorld Bank RafaelLa PortaDartmouth College FlorencioLopez-de-SilanesEDHEC Business School AndreiShleiferHarvard U 179 209 We collect data on the rules and practices of financial and conflict disclosure by members of Parliament in 175 countries. Although two-thirds of the countries have some disclosure laws, less than one-third make disclosures available to the public, and less than one-sixth of potentially useful information is publicly available in practice, on average. Countries that are richer, more democratic, and have free press have more disclosure. Public disclosure, but not internal disclosure to parliament, is positively related to government quality, including lower corruption. (JEL J13, I21, I12) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.179 10.1257/app.2.2.179 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2009-0187_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Gap in Mathematics Roland G.FryerHarvard U Steven D.LevittU Chicago 210 40 We document and analyze the emergence of a substantial gender gap in mathematics in the early years of schooling using a large, recent, and nationally representative panel of US children. There are no mean differences between boys and girls upon entry to school, but girls lose more than two-tenths of a standard deviation relative to boys over the first six years of school. The ground lost by girls relative to boys is roughly half as large as the black-white test score gap that appears over these same ages. We document the presence of this gender math gap across every strata of society. We explore a wide range of possible explanations in the data, including less investment by girls in math, low parental expectations, and biased tests, but find little support for these theories. Moving to cross-country comparisons, we find earlier results linking the gender gap in math to measures of gender equality are sensitive to the inclusion of Muslim countries, where, in spite of women's low status, there is little or no gender gap in math. (JEL I23, J26) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.210 10.1257/app.2.2.210 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2009-0195_data.zip American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Identification of Social Interactions through Partially Overlapping Peer Groups GiacomoDe GiorgiStanford U MichelePellizzariBocconi U and IGIER SilviaRedaelliBocconi U 241 75 In this paper, we demonstrate that, in a context where peer groups do not overlap fully, it is possible to identify all the relevant parameters of the standard linear-in-means model of social interactions. We apply this novel identification structure to study peer effects in the choice of college major. Results show that one is more likely to choose a major when many of her peers make the same choice. We also show that peers can divert students from majors in which they have a relative ability advantage, with adverse consequences on academic performance, entry wages, and job satisfaction. (JEL I23, J24, J31, Z13) http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.241 10.1257/app.2.2.241 http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2009-0137_data.zip http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2009-0137_app.pdf American Economic Association Nashville, TN 1945-7782 1945-7790 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/ 2 2 April 2010 http://www.aeaweb.org/issue.php?journal=APP&volume=2&issue=2 Journal Article Front Matter and Editor's Note i iv http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.2.i 10.1257/app.2.2.i