Jungmin Lee's Research

[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.

(with Cary Deck, Javier Reyes, and Christopher Rosen), Revision Requested at Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

(with Nejat Anbarci, Eric Floehr, and Joon Jin Song), Revision Requested at Regional Science and Urban Economics.

[4] Detecting Racial Bias in Speed Discounting: Evidence from Speeding Tickets in Boston

[7] Personality and the Consistency of Risk Taking Behavior: Experimental Evidence

[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.

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.

(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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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