This paper estimates how much changes in employment and hours worked for family heads and spouses contributed to the rise in the family income inequality between 1969 and 1989. Change in labor market activity of family heads accounts for half of the increase in the income gap between the top and...

A Traditional explanation for the fall in the labor force participation of older males in the era of industrialization is that it was in part produced by the decline in agriculture. A number of recent studies rejected this view based on the result that farmers were no less likely to retire than...

This study explores the effect of farm value on retirement decisions of farm owners in the early twentieth century. The average farm value per acre of county, as of either 1900 or 1910, and the growth rate over the decade had a strong positive effect on the probability of retirement of farm...

This paper explores the labor market status of older males in the early twentieth century, focusing on the question of whether their departure from employment was forced or voluntary. A comparison of the hazard of retirement across occupations shows that men who had better occupations in terms...

The evidence that demonstrates the negative effects of maternal psychological stress during pregnancy on a wide variety of offspring outcomes is growing. Animal studies suggest that negative influences of maternal stress during pregnancy persist across multiple generations, but the direct...

Sex ratios at birth in South Korea reached 116.5 boys per 100 girls in 1990, but have since declined. In 2007, sex ratios were almost normal, a development heralded as a sign that son preference and sex choice have vanished. However, normal sex ratios imply neither. We show that over the last 60...

This paper examines how the proportion of US saving that represents life-cycle accumulation changed over the last century. As individuals retire earlier and live longer than before, the expected length of male retirement has increased by more than six-fold since 1850. According to life-cycle...