Economists’ wariness of data mining may be misplaced, even in cases where economic theory provides a well-specified model for estimation. We discuss how new data mining/ensemble modeling software, for example the program TreeNet, can be used to create predictive models. We then show how for a...

At critical moments in their careers, men and women make different choices—and those choices have consequences for the heights they ultimately attain.

Latin American countries are generally characterized as displaying high income and earnings inequality overall along with high inequality by gender, race, and ethnicity. However, the latter phenomenon is not a major contributor to the former phenomenon. Using household survey data from four...

This report examines male gender issues and their potential negative impact on male development. It finds that HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, occupational injury, violence, and incarceration and other forms of institutionalization is proportionately affect men. Moreover, changing work patterns have...

Decisions about childbearing and market work are significantly interrelated. Although there are many estimates of the effects of fertility on labor supply, few of them have adequately addressed the problems of simultaneity inherent in these choices. In our research we use exogenous variations in...

In pre-modern societies the residence of a newly-wedded couple is often decided by custom. We formulate a theory of optimal post-marital residence rules based on contracting problems created by the nature of pre-marriage human capital investments. We argue that a fixed post-marital residence...

The “tipping” phenomenon, whereby an occupation switches from dominance by one demographic group to dominance by another, has occurred in various occupations. Multiple causes have been suggested for such switches, including several related to technological change, both through effects on the...

In The Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray (1994) claim, based on evidence from cross-sectional regressions, that differences in wages in the U.S. labor market are predominantly explained by general intelligence. Cawley, Heckman, and Vytlacil (1999), using evidence from random effects panel...

In premodern societies, the residence of a newly wedded couple is often decided by custom. We formulate a theory of optimal postmarital residence rules based on contracting problems created by the nature of premarriage human capital investments. We argue that a fixed postmarital residence rule...