Papers - Findings Flashcards
(39 cards)
Hanna & Linden (2012) Discrimination in Grading
Teachers subconsciously downgrade lowcaste pupils, reinforcing social stratification even in the absence of ability differences. Bias lessens when teachers have more information or time, suggesting that rapid, subjective assessments embed discrimination that can widen longrun educational inequality.
Lavy (2008) Do Gender Stereotypes Reduce Girls or Boys Human Capital Outcomes?
Teachers consistently rate girls more favourably, inadvertently boosting female progression and widening male underachievement. Because internal grades feed into highstakes credentials, gendered perceptionsnot actual performancehelp shape later educational and labourmarket gaps, pointing to grading reforms as levers for equity.
Alesina et al. (2024) Revealing Stereotypes: Evidence from Immigrants in Schools
Personalised bias feedback raises immigrant scores, lowers native, halving passrate gap; effect strongest for highly biased teachers.
Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?
Recruiters systematically favour applicants with Whitesounding names and reward credentials more generously for them, showing that resumescreening practices amplify racial inequality before interviews occur. Conventional humancapital advice alone cannot close these gaps, highlighting the need for blind or structured hiring.
Altonji, Bharadwaj & Lange (2012) Changes in the Characteristics of American Youth
Although young Americans became slightly more educated and cognitively skilled, offsetting demographic trendsparticularly more singleparent families and immigrationdiluted these gains. Future wage inequality is therefore unlikely to shrink without targeted policies that improve skills at the lower end.
Abramitzky & Lavy (2014) How Responsive is Investment in Schooling to Changes in Returns?
When monetary rewards for education rise sharply, studentsespecially from disadvantaged backgroundsstay in school longer and aim for higherstakes exams. This confirms that incentives matter, but also that credible information and supportive structures are essential for translating higher returns into humancapital growth.
Altonji, Bharadwaj & Lange (2008) The Anemic Response of Skill Investment to Skill Premium Growth
Rising college wage premiums failed to spur proportional enrolment because tuition costs, borrowing constraints and uncertainty muted students responses. Addressing financial barriers and information gaps could unlock a larger supply of skilled labour when demand surges.
Jensen (2010) The Perceived Returns to Education and the Demand for Schooling
Simply telling students how much more educated workers earn encourages those able to finance schooling to persist, while the poorest remain constrained. Accurate information is a lowcost lever for boosting enrolment, but must be paired with financial support for the very poor.
Acemoglu, Johnson & Robinson (2002) Reversal of Fortune
Formerly prosperous colonies that received extractive institutions now lag economically, whereas sparsely populated regions given inclusive rules prospered. Institutional quality, not geography, best predicts modern income differences, underscoring the long shadow of colonial governance choices.
Acemoglu, Johnson & Robinson (2001) The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development
Colonial environments shaped settlers institutional choices, which in turn determine todays income: places safe for Europeans adopted propertyrights protections that still foster growth. Geography matters mainly through the institutions it permitted, making institutional reforms pivotal for development.
Nunn & Qian (2011) The Potatos Contribution to Population and Urbanization
Adopting the potato expanded food supply, enabling sustained population and urban growth without lowering living standards. Simple biological innovations can thus produce profound demographic and economic transformations when societies adapt agriculture to new opportunities.
Imberman, Kugler & Sacerdote (2012) Katrinas Children: Peer Effects from Hurricane Evacuees
Sudden inflows of lowachieving evacuees did not uniformly harm incumbent students; effects depended on existing peer composition, challenging linear peereffect models. Schools can absorb shocks if resources and classroom dynamics accommodate diverse newcomers.
Lavy & Schlosser (2011) Mechanisms and Impacts of Gender Peer Effects at School
Adding girls improves overall classroom achievement and climate, benefiting boys most. Gender composition shapes learning through environmental channels rather than changing individual effort, suggesting balanced classes as a scalable, lowcost way to raise outcomes.
Lavy & Sand (2018) Social Networks and Student Outcomes
Quality of friendships matters: mutual friends support academic and emotional success, whereas unilateral ties can distract. Structuring classes to foster reciprocal networks could enhance achievement and wellbeing, particularly during disruptive school transitions.
Gould, Lavy & Paserman (2004) Immigrating to Opportunity: School Quality for Ethiopian Israelis
Early exposure to higherquality schools yields persistent educational benefits for immigrant children, proving that school resources and peer environments have longlasting impacts. Dispersal policies must therefore consider school quality, not just geographic placement.
Duflo & Hanna (2005) Monitoring Works: Getting Teachers to Come to School
Linking pay to attendance halves absenteeism and modestly raises pupil learning, outperforming costlier interventions. Reliable, objective monitoring therefore offers an effective route to improve service delivery in lowaccountability settings.
Lavy (2009) Performance Pay and Teachers Effort, Productivity and Ethics
Groupbased bonuses encourage teachers to increase instruction and tailor support without inducing cheating, leading to better student performance. Carefully designed merit pay can raise productivity when incentives are transparent and collaborative.
Katz & Murphy (1992) Changes in Relative Wages, 19631987: Supply and Demand Factors
Longterm wage inequality stems mainly from skillbiased technological change rather than institutional erosion. Education supply only partially offset rising demand, indicating that training policies must keep pace with technology to moderate inequality.
Autor, Levy & Murnane (2003) Skill Content of Recent Technological Change
Information technology substitutes for routine tasks while complementing analytic and interactive work, shifting labour demand toward collegeeducated and socialskillintensive occupations. Taskbiased change explains much of the modern rise in skill premiums.
Goos, Manning & Salomons (2014) Explaining Job Polarization
Technological advances that replace routine work hollow out middleskill jobs, expanding both highskill and lowskill employment. Offshoring contributes further but is secondary. Policies must reskill displaced workers or risk entrenched polarization.
Autor & Dorn (2013) Growth of LowSkill Service Jobs and US Polarization
Automation of routine manufacturing and clerical tasks pushes lesseducated workers into inperson service roles, intensifying Ushaped employment and wage patterns across cities. Local adaptation to technology drives differential inequality trajectories.
Deming (2017) Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market
Demand for jobs combining technical and social abilities has surged, with wages rising fastest where teamwork and communication matter. Education systems that pair cognitive training with softskill development better prepare workers for modern labour markets.
Cavounidis et al. (2024) Nature of Technological Change 19602016
Productivity grew fastest in routine activities early but has since favoured social and nonroutine skills, explaining both worker mobility between jobs and adjustments within occupations. Lifelong learning must focus on adaptable, interpersonal capabilities.
Cavounidis et al. (2024) Obsolescence Rents: Truckers & Impending Computerization
Workers in jobs facing impending automation temporarily earn higher wages as new entrants avoid risky occupations, then suffer sharp declines postadoption. Anticipatory dynamics mean career guidance should incorporate future automation risks.
