Papers Under Review
[1]
Does It Matter Who Responded to the
Survey: Trends in the U.S. Gender Earnings Gap Revisited
(with
Sokbae Lee), February
2009. Revision Requested at Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
Presented at SOLE 2008.
[2]
Measuring Risk Attitudes Controlling for Personality
Traits
(with
Cary Deck,
Javier Reyes,
and Christopher Rosen), Revision Requested at Journal of Economic Behavior
and Organization.
Presented at ESA 2009.
[3]
Economic Bias of Private and
Public Weather Forecasting
(with Nejat Anbarci, Eric Floehr,
and Joon Jin Song),
Revision Requested at Regional Science and Urban Economics.
Presented at Spatial Econometrics Association
2008.
[4]
Detecting Racial Bias in Speed Discounting: Evidence from Speeding Tickets in Boston
(with Nejat Anbarci), IZA Working Paper. Under
Review.
Presented at U Florida, FSU, U Miami, Sogang,
Yonsei, Korea U.
[5]
The ART of Life: IVF or Child Adoption?
(with Gulcin Gumus). Under Review
Presented at Latin America Econometric Society
2009, ASSA 2010.
[6]
Risk Taking Behavior: An
Experimental Analysis of Individuals and Pairs
(with
Cary Deck,
Javier Reyes, and
Christopher Rosen). Under Review.
Presented at SEA 2009 and ESA 2010.
[7]
Personality and the Consistency of
Risk Taking Behavior: Experimental Evidence
(with
Cary Deck
and
Javier Reyes). Under Review.
Published Papers
[10]
Did Vietnam Era Draft Avoidance
Reduce the Education of Avoiders' Sisters? New Evidence of Household Level
Education Borrowing Constraints
(with Andrew Horowitz and Julie Trivitt),
Journal of Human Capital,
Volume 3, Number 3 (leading article), 2009, pp. 197-223.
Abstract: Most studies of U.S. education
borrowing constraints are based on an individual male household member and find
that they have little effect on educational attainment. We argue that the
correct unit of analysis is the attainment of all sibling intrahousehold
resource rivals. We use the male college attendance return shock associated with
Vietnam War conscription risk as a quasi-natural experiment. In
credit-constrained households, scarce education resources should shift toward
at-risk males and manifest in lower attainment by resource rival sisters. We
find significantly lower attendance among rival sisters. Our findings cast doubt
on assertions that borrowing constraints do not affect attainment.
[9]
American Idol: Evidence of
Same-Race Preferences
The B.E. Journal
of Economic Analysis & Policy. Volume 9, Issue 1 (Contributions),
Article 28, 2009.
Abstract: This paper examines whether viewers of the
popular television show, American Idol, exhibit racial preferences. We find
evidence on same-race preferences among black viewers only; when there are more
black contestants in the show, more black viewers are tuned in to watch it. The
finding is robust after we account for the endogeneity problem regarding the
contestants' racial composition, which arises due to the voting mechanism. Our
point estimate says that a 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of
black contestants increases viewership ratings for black households by 1.3
percentage points. The results are robust after we control for the color
of songs.
Media citation: Los Angeles Times, New York Post,
Clarion (Argentine).
[8]
Risk Attitudes in Large Stake Gambles: Evidence from a Game
Show
(with Cary Deck and Javier Reyes)
Applied Economics,
Volume 40, Issue 1, 2008, pp. 41-52.
Abstract: This article estimates the degree of risk aversion of contestants
appearing on 'Vas o No Vas', the Mexican version of 'Deal or No Deal'. We
consider both dynamic agents, who fully backward induct and myopic agents that
only look forward one period. Further, we vary the level of forecasting
sophistication by the agents. We find substantial evidence of risk aversion, the
degree of which is more modest than what is typically reported in the
literature.
[7] Sibling
Size and Investment in Children's Education: An Asian Instrument
Journal of Population Economics,
Volume 21, Issue 4, 2008, pp. 855-875.
Abstract: This study consistently estimates the trade-off between child
quantity and quality by exploiting exogenous variation in fertility due to son
preferences. Under son preferences, childbearing and fertility timing are
determined conditional on the first child's gender. For the sample of South
Korean households I find strong evidence of unobserved heterogeneity across
households. However, sibling size has adverse effects on per-child investment in
education, in particular when fertility is high.
* Cited by T. Paul Schultz (2008) Population Policies, Fertility,
Women's Human Capital, and Child Quality in Handbook of Development Economics,
Volume 4.
[6] Outlier
Aversion in Performance Evaluation: Evidence from World Figure Skating
Championships
Journal of Sports Economics,
Volume 9, Number 2, 2008, pp. 141-159.
Abstract:
The quality of subjective performance evaluation is dependent on the incentive structures evaluators face. Figure skating
competitions provide a unique opportunity to study subjective
evaluation. Using scoring data from World Figure Skating Championships between 2001 and 2003, I test for the existence of outlier
aversion in which subjective evaluators avoid submitting outlying
judgments. I find that judges manipulate scores to achieve a targeted
level of agreement with the other judges. Agreement may not be a good
criterion for the validity of an evaluation system, consistent with
the recent applied psychology and management literature.
[5]
Stressed Out on Four Continents: Time Crunch or Yuppie
Kvetch?
(with
Daniel Hamermesh) The Review of Economics and Statistics,
Volume 89, Number 2, 2007, pp. 374-383.
Abstract: Social commentators have pointed to problems of workers who face
time stress-an absence of sufficient time to accomplish all their tasks.
An economic theory views time stress as reflecting how tightly the time
constraint binds households. Time stress will be more prevalent in households
with higher full earnings and whose members work longer in the market or on
required homework. Evidence from Australia (2001), Germany (2002), the
United States (2003), and Korea (1999) corroborates the theory. Adults in
households with higher earnings perceive more time stress for the same amount of
time spent in market work and household work. The importance of higher full
earnings in generating time stress is not small, particularly in the United
States-much is yuppie kvetch.
* Media citation: New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
Newsweek,
Washington Post, Sidney Morning Herald, The Age, Globe and Mail.
[4]
Marriage, Sharing Rule, and Pocket Money: The Case of Korea
Economic
Development and Cultural Change,
Volume 55, Issue 3, 2007, pp. 557-582.
Abstract: Using longitudinal data on
private consumption from South Korea, this
article examines the marital balance of
power between spouses in a dynamic setting
by allowing for unobserved heterogeneity at
the household level and spouses'
time-constant unobserved bargaining power. I
find that unobserved power plays a
significant role in intrahousehold resource
allocation. The income pooling hypothesis is
no longer rejected after accounting for
unobserved power. Relative spousal earnings
may be a good proxy for the long-term
balance of power to an extent that
cross-sectional variation in relative
earnings across households reflects the
pattern of spousal matching. However
within-marriage changes in relative earnings
do not induce any significant resource
transfer between spouses. The balance of
bargaining power is stable within
marriage.
[3]
Intrahousehold Allocation of Financial Resources: Evidence from
Individual Bank Account Data
(with Mark Pocock)
Review of Economics of the Household,
Volume 5, Number 1, 2007, pp. 41-58.
Abstract: Using individual bank account data from South Korea, where joint
accounts are rare and the legal system emphasizes the individuality of financial
transactions, we examine the distribution of financial resources between spouses
within households. We find that each member’s share of household savings depends
on the balance of bargaining power. We also find that the wife’s bargaining
power increases total household savings. The findings deviate from the unitary
model.
[2]
Sex Preferences and Fertility in South Korea during the Year of the
Horse
(with Myungho Paik)
Demography,
Volume 43, Number 2, 2006, pp. 269-292.
Abstract: Since antiquity, people in several East
Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, have believed that a
person is destined to possess specific characteristics according to the sign of
the zodiac under which he or she was born. South Koreans, in particular, have
traditionally considered that the year of the Horse bears inauspicious
implications for the birth of daughters. Using monthly longitudinal data at the
region level in South Korea between 1970 and 2003, we found that in the year of
the Horse, the sex ratio at birth significantly increased while fertility
decreased.
* Media citation: Washington Post.
[1]
Marriage, Female Labor Supply, and Asian Zodiac
Economics Letters,
Volume 87, Issue 3, 2005, pp. 428-432.
Abstract: Marital
status and labor supply decisions could be correlated on the unobservable. Using
South Korean data, this paper exploits exogenous selection into marriage caused
by an eccentric cultural phenomenon—preferences for wives' zodiacal signs—to
estimate the causal effect of marital status on female labor force participation