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4312. The Role of Perceived Opportunity in Fertility Choice: Evidence from Latin America
- Author:
- Louise C. Keely and Margaret MacLeod
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- We hypothesize that the perceived returns to human capital and to income uncertainty are important determinants of recent cross-sectional variation in Latin American fertility. An empirical study of cross-country individual level data supports the hypothesis. In particular, we find that a higher perceived return to human capital and higher income uncertainty both lead to higher fertility, all else equal. We interpret the evidence to suggest that increasing economic opportunity in Latin America should be accompanied by institutions that provide social protection in order to promote further decreases in fertility toward the replacement rate.
- Topic:
- Economics, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- South America, Latin America, Central America, and Caribbean
4313. Well Being and Unemployment in Russian in the 1990's: Can Society's Suffering Be Individuals' Solace?
- Author:
- Andrew; Gaddy Eggers
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- This paper studies the effect of regional unemployment rates on subjective well-being in post-Soviet Russia. Research conducted in Europe and the United States has documented that higher unemployment rates lead to lower reported life-satisfaction. By contrast, our Russian study finds a small but significant effect in the other direction. We estimate that du ring the period of our study (1995-2001), each percentage point increase in the local unemployment rate was correlated with the average well-being of people in the region increasing by an amount equivalent to moving 2% of the population up one level in life satisfaction measured on a five-point scale. Our intuition is that the so-called comparison effect drives this result: when individuals observe their peers suffering in a troubled economy, they lower their standards of what is good enough. All else equal, they thus perceive themselves to be better off in worse times. In highlighting the dependence of subjective well-being scores on expectations and reference groups, we sound a note of caution against using happiness data from economies in crisis to draw macroeconomic policy conclusions.
- Topic:
- Economics and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union
4314. The Challenge of Achieving High Work Participation Rates in Welfare Programs
- Author:
- LaDonna Pavetti
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Efforts to reform the welfare system over the last two decades have largely focused on reducing welfare dependency by getting welfare recipients to work. By the time the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was created by the welfare reform law of 1996, there was widespread agreement in the states that welfare recipients should be required to look for work and to do so shortly after (or even before) they began receiving cash assistance. Once TANF was implemented, work became a central focus of local welfare offices. However, as shown by the recent debates on the reauthorization, consensus on work requirements remains elusive.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Human Welfare, and Poverty
4315. Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning from Diverse Perspectives
- Author:
- Audrey Singer and Anna Paulson
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Policymakers and academics are now catching up to financial institutions in their desire to understand how and why immigrants use U.S. financial markets. “Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning from Diverse Perspectives,” a conference co-sponsored by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program formerly the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, was held at the Chicago Fed on April 15-16, 2004. It included presentations from scholars and practitioners who discussed recent research on the financial practices of immigrants as well as the practical experiences of for-profit and nonprofit institutions working to provide financial services to the immigrant community.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- United States and Chicago
4316. Law of the Sea Convention: Should the U.S. Join?
- Author:
- David B. Sandalow
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The United States has vital interests in the oceans. U.S. national security depends on naval mobility. U.S. prosperity depends on underwater energy resources. Ocean fisheries help feed the United States and much of the world. On February 25, 2004, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously recommended that the United States accede to the Law of the Sea Convention, which sets forth a comprehensive framework of rules for governing the oceans. The recommendation followed two hearings in which the committee heard testimony supporting the Convention from the Bush administration, the armed services, ocean industries, and environmental groups, among others. Following the favorable report from Foreign Relations, other congressional committees held hearings at which several lawmakers raised concerns about the treaty. The United States should promptly join the Law of the Sea Convention. Doing so would help protect U.S. national security, advance U.S. economic interests, and protect the marine environment. Prompt action is needed to ensure that the United States is a party by November 2004, when the Convention is open to amendment for the first time.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States
4317. Offshoring, Import Competition, and the Jobless Recovery
- Author:
- Charles L. Schultze
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Until the end of 2003, the United States had been experiencing a “jobless” recovery, with employment stagnating at levels well below those in 2000. A widespread perception has arisen that a major culprit behind the dearth of jobs was the growing practice of U.S. firms to relocate part of their domestic operations to lower-wage countries abroad. “Offshoring” presumably caused a reduction in U.S. output and a corresponding loss of jobs.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States
4318. Improving the Saver's Credit
- Author:
- William G. Gale and Peter R. Orszag
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- For decades, the U.S. private pension system has provided preferential tax treatment to employer-provided pensions, 401(k) plans, and individual retirement accounts relative to other forms of saving. The effectiveness of this system of subsidies is controversial. Despite the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth in pension accounts, concerns persist about the ability of the pension system to raise private and national saving, and in particular to improve saving outcomes among those households most in danger of inadequately preparing for retirement.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States
4319. Development and Foreign Investments: Lessons Learned from Mexican Banking
- Author:
- Jacob Steinfeld
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) HAS TRANSFORMED MEXICO'S BANKING SYSTEM during the past decade, making it the second largest in Latin America with $165 billion in commercial assets in 2003. In the past four years, Mexico received $25.3 billion of FDI into its financial sector. This composes nearly 40 percent of total FDI inflows into the country. As a result of FDI flowing into the country's financial sector, the Mexican banking system has the highest ratio of foreign ownership in Latin America.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Mexico
4320. Job Anxiety Is Real-And It's Global
- Author:
- Sandra Polaski
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- These are not normal times. Two changes in the past decade have produced a huge global oversupply of labor and intense competition for an expanding array of jobs. First, the Cold War's end threw millions of workers, who formerly produced only for the socialist bloc, onto the global labor market. And second, that market has become integrated by technological change that now permits outsourcing of service as well as manufacturing jobs. The current economic recovery will not solve the resulting global mismatch of supply and demand, and it cannot be addressed by the United States alone. Many current policies aggravate the problem. This paper proposes that the United States revise its policies and devote a concerted effort to get the major countries to work together to expand employment at that global level.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States