We investigate within a model of cultural transmission the conditions under which increased social diversity within a population - e.g. due to the inflow of immigrants - raise the potential for conflict as opposed to harmonious social diversity. Drawing on evidence from psychological studies, we...

We investigate within a model of cultural transmission how policies or shocks that affect social diversity within a population affect social cohesion and segregation. We develop the concept of `bridging identity', an individual trait that: (i) positively affects utility in culturally diverse...

Anti-poverty policy in developing countries has focused mainly on the measurement and location of poverty and the targeting of policy towards those who are currently poor. Recently, the research effort has been extended to cover those judged to be not poor at present but vulnerable to poverty in...

We use an econometric model of fertility and children’s activities to examine the causal effects of fertility on a child’s activities taking the endogeneity of fertility into account. Our specification is nonlinear and simultaneous and uses latent factors to allow for unobserved influences...

We analyze the evolution of culture when parents socialize children to the cultural variants that maximize child lifetime utility. Parents invest in cultural transmission taking into account that children are also influenced by peers. We model the influence of peers by assuming that children...

Head Start and other publicly supported preschools are required to spend substantial funds promoting family engagement, which is a key element of improving child skills. Yet, parent engagement with preschools tends to be low. To increase parental attendance at school-sponsored family-engagement...

This paper estimates the impact of the extension of compulsory schooling in Turkey from 5 to 8 years on the marriage and fertility behavior of teenage women in Turkey using the 2008 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. We find that the new education policy reduces the probability of marriage...

The financial troubles of professional athletes are an ongoing topic of intrigue. In general, the zealousness brought to private equity schemes are a common factor in observed financial insolvency. Considering the behavioral attribute of self-confidence I propose a simple model which explains...

This paper examines if the effect of parental labor market shocks on child development depends on the age of the child at the time of the shock. To address this question, we leverage rich Norwegian population-wide register data and exploit mass layoffs and establishment closures as a source of...