Labor Market Signaling and Self-Confidence: Wage Compression and the Gender Pay Gap

I extend Spence's signaling model by assuming that some workers are overconfident-they underestimate their marginal cost of acquiring education-and some are underconfident. Firms cannot observe workers' productive abilities and beliefs but know the fractions of high-ability, overconfident, and underconfident workers. I find that biased beliefs lower the wage spread and compress the wages of unbiased workers. I show that gender differences in self-confidence can contribute to the gender pay gap. If education raises productivity, men are overconfident, and women underconfident, then women will, on average, earn less than men. Finally, I show that biased beliefs can improve welfare.

Essays on the Economics of Conflict and Migration

Les conflits civils sont des événements dramatiques qui poussent les individus hors de leurs pays d'origine. Mais si l'émigration était elle-même une force pacificatrice? Dans les deux premiers chapitres, je me suis intéressée à l'impact de l'émigration sur l'incidence des conflits civils dans les pays d'origine. Tout d'abord, je construis un modèle théorique d'équilibre général, dans lequel le niveau de conflit d'équilibre est déterminé par la ratio de combattants dans l'économie. Dans ce modèle, l'émigration décourage les conflits en réduisant les gains d'une rébellion, tout en augmentant le coût d'opportunité des combats. La principale prédiction du modèle est que le conflit diminue avec le niveau du salaire étranger net des coûts de migration. Dans le deuxième chapitre, je teste cette prédiction empiriquement. En utilisant une variable instrumentale, je démontre que l'émigration vers les pays développés diminue l'incidence de guerres civiles dans les pays d'origine. Ces résultats prouvent qu'en ouvrant leurs frontières, les pays d'accueil pourraient contribuer à sauver des vies, aussi bien celles des migrants que celles des habitants restés dans leur pays. De plus, les conflits civils tendent à détruire des sociétés en traumatisant les personnes touchées, augmentant ainsi le risque des conflits futurs. Afin de mieux comprendre ce cercle vicieux et de pouvoir y remédier, le troisième chapitre détermine si les enfants ayant vécu la guerre ont une tendance à être plus violent que des co-nationaux nés après la guerre. L'analyse se concentre sur les demandeurs d'asile en Suisse : Cette population est intéressante puisque l'allocation des demandeurs d'asile entre cantons est aléatoire, ce qui prévient le choix d'un canton avec un taux de criminalité plus élevé. Les résultats démontrent un effet de traumatisme causé par la guerre augmentant ainsi le risque de criminalité dans la vie adulte. Cependant, l'analyse de politiques publiques montre que la mise en place de politiques judicieuses permet d'éviter les conséquences de l'exposition à la guerre. En particulier, en offrant aux nouveaux arrivants l'accès au marché de travail ainsi que des perspectives à long-terme, la Suisse peut éliminer complètement l'effet du traumatisme sur la criminalité.

Effect of supplementation with MgCO3 and L-tryptophan on the welfare and on the carcass and meat quality of two halothane pig genotypes (NN and nn)

Sixty-one animals with different Halothane genes (homozygous halothane positive, n=34; and homozygous halothane negative, n=27) were fed with three diets (controlgroup, with no supplement; magnesium (Mg) group with 1.28g MgCO3/kg and tryptophan (Trp) group with 5g L-Trp/kg) during the last 5 days before slaughter. Animals were submitted to minimal stress ante mortem conditions. Pig behaviour was recorded at the experimental farm, raceway to the CO2 stunning system and during the stunning period. Corneal reflexes were recorded after stunning as well. There were no differences in feed intake among diets (p>0.05) during the 5 days of treatment. Thehalothane positive (nn) group had lower intake than the halothane negative (NN) group(p<0.01). The behaviour of the pigs in the raceway did not differ (p>0.05) among treatments or halothane genotype. A significant (p<0.001) interaction diet*halothane was found in the time to appear the first retreat attempt during the exposure to the CO2 system. In the nn group, the time of performing the first retreat attempt was later in the Mg (p<0.05) than the Control group. Moreover, in the Mg group, the nn had a later (p<0.05) first retreat attempt than the NN. Thus, Mg supplementation could have a positive effect on welfare of nn pigs. The nn had a lower proportion of animals thatshowed corneal reflexes after stunning than NN, indicating a higher effectiveness of thestunning method in nn pigs. Neither Mg nor Trp affected carcass quality and meat quality parameters, although significant differences were found between genotypes

An analysis of the determinants in economics and business publications by spanish universities between 1994 and 2004

The objective of this study consists, firstly, of quantifying differences between Spanish universities’ output (in terms of publications and citations), and secondly, analysing its determinants. The results obtained show that there are factors which have a positive influence on these indicators, such as having a third-cycle programme, with public financing obtained in competitive selection procedures, having a large number of full-time researchers or involvement in collaborations with international institutions. However, other factors which appear to have the opposite effect were also noted. These include a higher number of students per lecturer or a lower proportion of lecturers with recognised six-year periods.

Research networks and scientific production in Economics: The recent spanish experience

This paper studies Spanish scientific production in Economics from 1994 to 2004. It focuses on aspects that have received little attention in other bibliometric studies, such as the impact of research and the role of scientific collaborations in the publications produced by Spanish universities. Our results show that national research networks have played a fundamental role in the increase in Spanish scientific production in this discipline.

An analysis of the determinants in economics and business publications by spanish universities between 1994 and 2004

The objective of this study consists, firstly, of quantifying differences between Spanish universities' output (in terms of publications and citations), and secondly, analysing its determinants. The results obtained show that there are factors which have a positive influence on these indicators, such as having a third-cycle programme, with public financing obtained in competitive selection procedures, having a large number of full-time researchers or involvement in collaborations with international institutions. However, other factors which appear to have the opposite effect were also noted. These include a higher number of students per lecturer or a lower proportion of lecturers with recognised six-year periods.

Empirical welfare analysis: when preferences matter

Fleurbaey and Maniquet have proposed the criteria of conditional equality and of egalitarian equivalence to assess the equity among individuals in an ordinal setting. Empirical applications are rare and only partially consistent with their framework. We propose a new empirical approach that relies on individual preferences, is consistent with the ordinal criteria and enables to compare them with the cardinal criteria. We estimate a utility function that incorporates individual heterogeneous preferences, obtain ordinal measures of well-being and apply conditional equality and egalitarian equivalence. We then propose two cardinal measures of well-being, that are comparable with the ordinal model, to compute Roemer’s and Van de gaer’s criteria. Finally we compare the characteristics of the worst-off displayed by each criterion. We apply this model to a sample of US micro data and obtain that about 18% of the worst-off are not common to all criteria.

In Google we trust?

In a micro-founded model, we derive novel incentives for a monopoly search engine to distort its organic and its sponsored results on searches for online content and offline products. Distorting organic results towards content publishers with less effective display advertising and/or distorting sponsored results towards higher margin merchants (by underweighting consumer relevance in search auctions) increase per capita revenues but lower participation. The interplay of these incentives determines search bias and welfare. We also characterize how the welfare consequences of integration into display advertising, as intermediary or publisher, depend on asymmetries, monopolization and targeting.

Kinship foster care: a study from the perspective of the of the caregivers, the children and the child welfare workers

In the last twenty years, in most Western countries, kinship foster care has become an integral part of childcare systems,growing progressively with regard to the numbers of children involved and relative weight as a care resource within thesystem; indeed, in some countries it is even more common than other placement options, such as non-kinship foster careand residential care. Research on this phenomenon is still recent and scarce, and there are few programmes targeting thispopulation. In this article we present the results of a descriptive study on kinship foster care in the city of Barcelona,including information and data from the different stakeholders involved. From a quality of life research perspective weanalyze the perceptions, evaluation and expressed satisfaction of caregivers, children and practitioners from the specialistChild and Adolescent Teams (EAIAs) responsible for the study and follow-up of kinship foster care cases. The researchpresented results are in line with those of current research in this field, and lays the basis for the future development ofkinship foster care programmes

Acogimiento en familia extensa: un estudio desde la perspectiva de los acogedores, de los niños y niñas acogidos y de los profesionales que intervienen. = Kinship foster care: a study from the perspective of the caregivers, the children and the child welfare workers

Desde hace aproximadamente dos décadas, en la mayoría de los países occidentales, los acogimientos en familia extensa han entrado a formar parte de los sistemas de protección infantil, siguiendo una evolución creciente en cuanto a número y peso especifico como recurso de acogimiento. Las investigaciones sobre este fenómeno son aún recientes y escasas como también lo son los programas dirigidos a esta población. En el presente artículo presentamos los resultados de un estudio descriptivo sobre los acogimientos en familia extensa en la ciudad de Barcelona, donde se recogen datos de los principales agentes implicados en este fenómeno. Desde la perspectiva de los estudios de la calidad de vida se analizan las percepciones, evaluaciones, y satisfacción expresada, por parte de los acogedores, los niños/as acogidos y los profesionales de los Equipos de Atención a la Infancia y Adolescencia (EAIA) que se encargan del estudio y seguimiento de estos acogimientos. La investigación presenta unos resultados acordes con los estudios que actualmente se realizan en este ámbito y sienta las bases para el despliegue futuro de programas dirigidos a los acogimientos en familia extensa