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My Research
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Effects
of Enforcement on Illegal Markets: Evidence from Migrant Smugglers Along the
Southwestern Border, Journal of Public Economics, 92, 10-11
(2008): 1926-1941. The
paper analyzes the effects of tighter border control on the illegal crossing
market between Mexico and the United States. Combining panel data on illegal
migrants with enforcement statistics, the effects of enforcement are found to
be moderate: prices of border smugglers (`coyotes') increased by only 17
percent, while the demand for smugglers has remained unchanged. Enforcement
has however shifted illegal migrants to remote crossing places. Border
crossing is now more time-intensive with higher prices for coyotes and risk
of death. This geographic substitution raised migration costs by $140, more
than twice the effect of enforcement on smuggling prices. An
earlier version was published as IZA Discussion Paper No. 1004. How General is Human Capital? A
Task-Based Approach (with Uta
Schönberg), Journal of Labor Economics,
conditionally accepted. This
paper studies how portable skill accumulated in the labor market are. Using
rich data on tasks performed in occupations, we propose the concept of
task-specific human capital to measure the transferability of skills
empirically. Our results on occupational mobility and wages show that labor
market skills are more portable than previously considered. We find that
individuals move to occupations with similar task requirements and that the
distance of moves declines with time in the labor market. We also show that
task-specific human capital is an important source of individual wage growth,
in particular for university graduates. For them, at least 40 percent of
overall wage growth over a ten year period can be attributed to task-specific
human capital. For the low- and medium-skilled, task-specific human capital
accounts for at least 35 and 25 percent of overall wage growth respectively. Evaluating
Recent Changes in US Welfare Policy: Addressing Policy Endogeneity and
Multidimensionality, (with Latika Chaudhary), new version coming soon. Gorbachev’s
Anti-Alcohol Campaign and the Russian Mortality Crisis (with Grant
Miller), coming soon. Financial
support for this project from a National Institute of Health/National
Institute of Aging Seed Grant is gratefully acknowledged. Understanding
Changes in Relative Wages during East Germany's Transition How do Electoral Systems Affect
Fiscal Policy? Evidence from State and Local Governments 1890 to 2005
(with Patricia Funk). Does Direct Democracy Reduce the Size
of Government? New Evidence from Historical Data, 1890-2000 (with
Patricia Funk). A
detailed data appendix can be found here. From Privateering to Navy: How Sea Power
Became a Public Good (with Henning Hillmann). Financial
support for this project from the National Science Foundation (SES-0550848)
is gratefully acknowledged. A
detailed data appendix can be found here. Estimating
the Effect of Direct Democracy on Policy Outcomes: Preferences Matter! (with
Patricia Funk). Gender Gaps in Policy Making:
Evidence from Direct Democracy in Switzerland (with Patricia
Funk). This
paper circulated previously under the title: "What Women Want: Suffrage,
Gender Gaps in Voter Preferences and Government Expenditures". Voting Against Reform? Individual
Uncertainty and Political Reforms during Economic Transition, new version coming soon. In progress: Unbundling
the Electoral System: District Magnitude versus Electoral Rule From
Plurality to Proportionality: Explaining Changes in Constitutional Design Specialization,
Turnover and Wages (with Uta Schönberg) Making
Social Policy: Evidence from the Welfare Reform in 1996, (with Latika
Chaudhary)
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