Mar 2021
Wed 24, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
- Speaker: M. Sartarelli (ICAE-UCM)
- Title: The Psychological Effect of a Math Signal
- Invited by: C. Rodríguez-Alvarez (ICAE-UCM)
- Abstract: This paper tests whether barely obtaining a pass score in at least one of two midterm tests has an effect on subsequent achievement in a Math course. To estimate the effect, we created a novel dataset by linking administrative and survey data on students at a medium size Spanish University and used a regression discontinuity design in which the cutoff is 5, i.e. the pass score in the national grading system. Although obtaining a score just equal to or barely greater than 5 in midterm tests has no immediate consequence for students, it may have a psychological effect by acting as a (de)motivating signal to study and pass the course, with the sign of the effect being unclear ex-ante. We find that obtaining a pass score in at least a midterm has a positive effect on the final exam score. The result can be rationalised by students’ ability to obtain a final exam score that when averaged along with the midterm tests scores leads to a pass score in the course, a proxy for rationality. Overall, our results suggest that partly unexplored psychological mechanisms may help us deepen our understanding of the determinants of achievement in Math.
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Wed 17, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
Wed 10, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
- Speaker: Judit Vall Castello (Universitat de Barcelona & Researcher at @FundacioIEB & at CRES-UPF)
- Title: Living at the peak: Health and public finance during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Invited by: M. Sartarelli (ICAE-UCM)
- Abstract: This paper provides novel evidence for the determinants of preferences for public health and the willingness to pay for health services using a survey experiment implemented during the third week of the lock-down in Spain (first wave) as well as during the last days of July (second wave). At the time of our experiment the confirmed COVID-19 cases reached the 100k mark in Spain and 1 million worldwide. We collect information on several health outcomes, which we are able to benchmark with results from previous surveys. Results show a substantial deterioration of mental health, which is more pronounced in groups of the population with less stable income sources and the younger group of individuals. Furthermore, we implement two information treatments about the fatality rate across age groups and the incidence rate across regions. In the first case, the treatment is stronger for those in, or with relatives in the risk group. The fact that regions are on different parts of the trajectory creates variation across regions in the second treatment. We ask participants about their preferred budget allocation, which we can again benchmark against the enacted budget and previous surveys. Results suggest that preferences for health care expenditures have almost doubled. Furthermore, we ask respondents about their willingness to pay for one out of three randomly assigned health care improvements. Contributions for more ICU beds are significantly higher compered to medical treatments and a vaccine
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Wed 3, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
- Speaker: Warn Lekfuangfu (UC3M)
- Title: Raised by grandparents: the effects of growing up in skipped generation households on later-life educational attainment" (with Tanyamat Srungbunmee, Khonkaen University, Thailand)
- Invited by: M. Sartarelli (ICAE-UCM)
- Abstract: This paper explores the long-run effects of parental absence during multiple stages of childhood on later-life educational attainment. We look at the specific case of children in skipped generation families who grew up in households where grandparents are primary caregiver, and both parents were absent for an extended period. To deal with the endogeneity of family choices and parental migration, we exploit a plethora of fixed effect estimations (locality, birth cohort and sibling fixed effects) and instrumental variable design. Using a longitudinal household survey, the Townsend Thai Data, our estimates show that early childhood experience of growing up in skipped generation households harms schooling outcomes later in life. We provide evidence that grandparent-headed households with parental absence also spent less on children’s education despite having received higher remittances.
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Feb 2021
Wed 17, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
- Speaker: Socorro Puy (U. de Málaga)
- Title: Constitutions, Federalism and National Integration
- Invited by: C. Rodríguez-Alvarez (ICAE-UCM)
- Abstract: A constitution defines a vertical and horizontal division of power. The vertical division is the power that regions transfer to the national government; the horizontal division is the relative power of each region in the national legislature. We explore what combinations of vertical and horizontal division of power arise when forming a nation or a union, and which combinations reduce the risk of dissolution. We present a new model of political bargaining among heterogeneous regions that design a common constitution. We show that scale economies translate into higher centralized systems, whereas cultural and political heterogeneity translate into more decentralized federal systems. Interestingly, the constitutions that minimize the risk of secession compensate with proportionally more power in the national legislature those regions that have less to gain economically from national integration. Such division of power contrast with other widely used that assign equal power to each region or power in proportion to population size. Our results suggest that compensations in the constitutional process need not be accomplished through direct transfers; it can be accomplished through the legislative process.
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Wed 3, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
Jan 2021
Wed 27, 2021 @ 15:00. Webinar!!! Moved to 15:00!!
Wed 20, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
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Gallery:
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Wed 13, 2021 @ 13:00. Webinar!!!
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Gallery:
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