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Omicron Delta Epsilon Graduate Student Session

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 6, 2017 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM

Sheraton Grand Chicago, Mayfair
Hosted By: Omicron Delta Epsilon
  • Chair: Stacey Jones, Seattle University

The Effects of Dating Violence During Adolescence on Educational Attainment and Labor Market Outcomes

Jacqueline Strenio
,
University of Utah

Abstract

In 2013 about 1 in 10 high school students in the US reported physical abuse and 1 in 10 reported sexual abuse from a dating partner according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This dating violence [DV] is a form of intimate partner violence [IPV] that consists of physical, sexual, psychological, and/or emotional violence in adolescent and young adult dating relationships. Research has documented a range of adverse mental, physical, and sexual/reproductive health outcomes of DV, many of which continue long past the period of victimization, as do the accompanying costs associated with elevated healthcare utilization among victims. A more insidious concern is that DV victimization can do more than leave bruises in its wake, but also adversely alter life trajectories by reducing educational attainment and thus affecting labor market outcomes. Research has shown that women suffering from IPV have more trouble paying attention in school, withdraw both from work and while at work, and have reduced productivity. This indicates that DV results not only in private costs borne by victims, but also causes societal spillover costs affecting educational institutions, businesses, and economic growth as a whole. This study investigates the long-run effects of experiencing such physical, sexual, and psychological abuse during adolescence on educational attainment and labor market outcomes using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health [Add Health]. The Add Health is a nationally representative sample following adolescents over fourteen years, from high school to young adulthood. Such research fills a gap in the literature on the costs of dating violence and its spillover effects on both an individual’s ability to attain economic security and the larger ramifications for economic development at the community and national level.

Valuing Carbon Abatement Benefits of Intermittent Renewable Energy

Miguel Castro
,
Michigan State University

Abstract

Using historical data on the randomness of solar and wind generation, I estimate how much carbon is abated when adding variable renewable energy (VRE) to the electric grid in California, a worldwide leader in its adoption. This requires identifying the marginal emissions offsets related to the instantaneous displacement of the highest marginal cost generator (merit order effect) but also the indirect hydropower reallocation that occurs due to VRE effects on locational marginal prices. Controlling for this indirect effect via a dynamic model renders sensible estimates of wind and solar marginal emissions offsets in electric grids powered by a significant share of hydropower. The proposed dynamic approach could also be applied to grids with increasing adoption of storage technologies.

Foreign Direct Investment and Collective Intellectual Property Protection in Developing Countries

Michael A. Klein
,
Indiana University

Abstract

This paper analyzes spillovers related to intellectual property rights (IPRs) in developing countries, and investigates how these spillovers influence the desirability of IPRs reform. I provide evidence that the IPRs of a developing country influences foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into that country, as well as FDI flows into adjacent developing countries. This finding suggests the presence of multilateral effects related to IPRs that existing models do not account for. I develop a general equilibrium international product cycle model to accommodate these effects, and find that the short-run benefits of unilateral IPRs reform spills over to neighboring countries, creating an individual incentive to maintain weak IPRs. However, reciprocal IPRs reform improves welfare among all reforming countries. I argue that this finding suggests a novel justification of the TRIPS agreement as a harmonization of IPRs among developing countries, which allows developing countries to achieve mutual benefit through collective reform.

The Impact of Health Insurance on Heart Attack Outcomes

Rachel G. Childers
,
University of Kansas

Abstract

I use administrative data and a new methodology developed by Currie, MacLeod and Van Parys [2015] to investigate whether health insurance status has an impact on survival and admission probabilities for heart attack patients presenting through the emergency department. Heart attack patients are frequently used to evaluation the impact of insurance status as they nearly always require immediate emergency treatment. This suggests the decision to seek emergency treatment could be independent of the decision to purchase health insurance and relieves some concerns about endogeneity problems.
To accomplish this, the paper uses a methodology from Currie, MacLeod and Van Parys [2015] to evaluate whether the differences across different types of health insurance. This methodology further addresses potential endogeneity concerns because it compares the predicted outcomes for each visit if every visit were fully insured to the realized outcomes. Using data from the 2006-2011 HCUP NEDS, I estimate patterns in the predicted and realized probability of death, hospital admission and leaving against medical advice on patients with a primary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack.
I also analyze these results independently for each year to investigate whether the patterns change as the economy fell into and recovered from the Great Recession. During this time period, private insurance became increasingly characterized by high deductible plans; average deductibles for employer sponsored insurance plans have nearly doubled in the years since 2006. Changes to private insurance plans may have affected the way treatment interacts with insurance status and yearly analysis should examine whether this is true.
Discussant(s)
Miguel Castro
,
Michigan State University
Rachel G. Childers
,
University of Kansas
Michael A. Klein
,
Indiana University
Jacqueline Strenio
,
University of Utah
JEL Classifications
  • A1 - General Economics