Language ability may not only affect the earnings of the individual, but the participation to participate in the labor market or becoming employed as well. It may also affect selection of people into economic sectors and occupation. In this paper the effects of language ability on earnings are...

We apply a semi-parametric latent variable model to estimate selection and sorting effects on the evolution of private returns to schooling for college graduates during China’s reform between 1988 and 2002. We find that there were substantial sorting gains under the traditional system, but...

Using an exhaustive database with labour, accounting and financial market information on French firms (1994-2000), the authors analyse the causes and the consequences of a workforce reduction in 1996 - the year chosen as reference - on firms' performance in a long term perspective. One important...

Using a large annual data base of French firms (1994-2000), this article examines the determinants of a workforce reduction of publicly-listed and non-listed companies and their consequences on firm performance. Firstly, workforce reduction appears to be a defensive response to an adverse...

Journals favor rejections of the null hypothesis. This selection upon results may distort the behavior of researchers. Using 50,000 tests published between 2005 and 2011 in the AER, JPE and QJE, we identify a residual in the distribution of tests that cannot be explained by selection. The...

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) program measures value added in colleges and universities, by testing the ability of freshmen and seniors to think logically and write clearly. The program is popular enough that it has attracted critics. In this paper, we outline the methods used by the...

We explore two unexpected changes in flight regulations to identify the causal effect of aircraft noise on health. Detailed yearly noise metrics are linked with panel data on health outcomes using exact address information. Controlling for individual and spatial heterogeneity, we find that...

This paper provides new estimates of the effect of Catholic school attendance on high schoolcompletion and university commencement and completion for Australian students. First, an instrumental variables approach is adopted where the probability of Catholic affiliation is used as an instrument....

We examine the impact of explanatory variables such as load, weather and capacity constraints on the occurrence and magnitude of price spikes in regional Australian electricity markets. We apply the so-called Heckman correction, a two-stage estimation procedure that allows us to investigate the...

New models of delivering primary care are being implemented in various countries. In Quebec, Family Medicine Groups (FMGs) are a team-based approach to enhance access to, and coordination of, care. We examined whether physicians’ and patients’ characteristics predicted their participation in...