Since 1972, the General Social Survey has periodically asked whether people are happy with Yes, Maybe or No type answers. Here I use a net "happiness" measure, which is percentage Yes less percentage No with Maybe treated as zero. Average happiness is around +20 on this scale for all respondents...

We examine whether financial incentives affect fertility and family planning. We use a reform reducing child benefits paid to larger families together with Danish longitudinal register data on the universe of legal abortions and birth control pill purchases to address this question. We find that...

In unified growth models, the evolving nexus between population dynamics and technological change is key to achieving sustained economic growth. This paper uses genealogical records of 23,449 males and their spouses to investigate this interplay-the intergenerational transmission of reproduction...

This paper evaluates the impacts of trade liberalization on the marital and fertility choices of women in Vietnam. Applying a regional exposure approach, we leverage the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) as an exogenous and positive shock to the nation’s export growth. Our results...

There has been an increase in fertilizer use among farmers in the semi-arid Tigray region of Ethiopia during 2006-2015. Our household panel data covering nine years show that the average fertilizer adoption rate had increased from about 31% of plots in 2006 to almost 67% in 2015. Likewise,...

This paper examines how access to informal insurance shapes family responses to reductions in social welfare benefits, and how these adjustments affect children's development. In 2003, Israel reformed its child allowance program, significantly reducing unconditional cash benefits for large...

The motherhood penalty is well-documented, but what happens at the other end of the reproductive spectrum? Menopause - a transition often marked by debilitating physical and psychological symptoms - also entails substantial costs. Using population-wide Norwegian and Swedish data and...

This study employs a cluster randomized controlled trial and administrative health center data to investigate the effects of authorizing community health workers to deliver a new generation of contraceptive injections directly to women during routine home visits following comprehensive training....

Synthetic fertilizers are essential to sustaining the world's population, but their production is responsible for 1.8-2.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clean hydrogen holds growing potential (amid falling costs) to decarbonize fertilizer production. Hydrogen produces synthetic...

We study the effect of having an older sister on the likelihood that girls in sub-Saharan Africa marry before reaching adulthood. Relying on the randomness of the firstborn sibling's sex, we show that having an older sister (as opposed to an older brother) reduces the likelihood of marrying...

This paper examines how access to informal insurance shapes family responses to reductions in social welfare benefits, and how these adjustments affect children's development. In 2003, Israel reformed its child allowance program, significantly reducing unconditional cash benefits for large...

The transition to parenthood is a critical period that exacerbates gendered economic inequality, with mothers more likely than their partners to experience employment disruptions and income losses. This study examines individual poverty risk among partnered indivduals (N=1,237) in Germany from a...

This paper examines the impact of a Swedish policy allowing manufacturing firms to influence the curricula of local educational institutions. Our analysis shows that the program has contributed to a significant reduction in youth unemployment, as well as an increase in marriage rates and male...

Calvert et al. (2023) meta-analyzed effect estimates from interrupted time series (ITS) analyses of changes in preterm birth- and stillbirth rates following the first four months lockdown in various countries. Evidence for small relative reductions was reported regarding preterm birth rates in...

We document the dynamics of career paths around parenthood, capturing worker advancement within firms and across firms with differing pay rates. Using a new linkage between administrative data on U.S. workers' fertility and labor market histories, we show that the parental earnings gap is partly...

Accurate demographic data are essential for effective policy design, yet private costs may deter individuals from truthfully reporting sensitive information. We examine this market failure and its implications in the context of child motherhood. Using administrative records from Brazil, Mexico,...

Menopause marks a crucial juncture in women's lives and careers. We provide novel evidence on the effects of menopause onset on labor and health outcomes. Combining Norwegian register with survey data from the HUNT study on self-reported menopause age, we apply a stacked...

The motherhood penalty is well-documented, but what happens at the other end of the reproductive spectrum? Menopause - a transition often marked by debilitating physical and psychological symptoms - also entails substantial costs. Using population-wide Norwegian and Swedish data and...

The composition and quality of the child care workforce may be uniquely sensitive to changes in the complementarities between home production and market work. This paper examines whether the expansion of oral contraceptives and abortion access throughout the 1960's and 1970's influenced the...

Fertility rates have declined dramatically across almost all highincome countries over the past decades. This has raised concerns about future economic prospects. Indeed, fully- and semi-endogenous growth models imply that a shrinking workforce would lead to declining income growth and perhaps...

This paper exploits an education policy in India generated by a 2010 schooling reform to examine the effect of education on women's family planning decisions. The key element of the reform was that it required students to complete eight years of primary education (age 6-14 years). I employ an...

Long-term projections are the bedrock of any analysis looking at the sustainability of public finances. This paper computes the changes in economic growth in individual European Union (EU) countries needed for government debt-to-GDP ratios to stay on their baseline trajectories (taken from the...

Debates about immigration’s role in addressing population aging typically concentrate on immigrant fertility rates. Moreover, standard projections account for migration’s impact on overall population growth while largely overlooking how immigration might affect native fertility. In contrast,...

Debates about immigration's role in addressing population aging typically concentrate on immigrant fertility rates. Moreover, standard projections account for migration's impact on overall population growth while largely overlooking how immigration might affect native fertility. In contrast, we...

I study the effect of educational policy in the host economy on human capital accumulation and growth. The analysis is performed in a two-country growth model with endogenous fertility. I show that providing additional free educational services for immigrant children can increase the...