http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4919 2013-05-24T15:57:03Z 2013-05-24T15:57:03Z Hansen, Mary Eschelbach http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4967 2009-02-19T08:46:04Z 2005-12-01T00:00:00Z

Using Subsidies to Promote the Adoption of Children from Foster Care Hansen, Mary Eschelbach Since 1980 the federal government has implemented a variety of programs to promote the adoption of children from foster care. A key part of these programs has been the use of subsidies to lower the cost of adopting and parenting children from foster care. Although subsidies are a key part of federal policy there has been relatively little empirical research on the effect of subsidies on adoption rates. This paper uses data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis System to estimate the impact of subsidy rates on adoption rates. Subsidies to families that adopt children from foster care have a positive and statistically significant effect on adoption rates. A one percent increase in average subsidies increases adoption rates by as much as 0.20 percent. Working Paper No. 2005-15. 46 pages.

2005-12-01T00:00:00Z Hansen, Mary Eschelbach Hansen, Bradley A. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4966 2009-02-19T08:45:58Z 2005-12-01T00:00:00Z

The Role of Path Dependence in the Development of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, 1880-1938 Hansen, Mary Eschelbach; Hansen, Bradley A. This paper provides an illustration of the mechanisms that can give rise to path dependence in legislation. Specifically it shows how debtor-friendly bankruptcy law arose in the United States as a result of a path dependent process. The 1898 Bankruptcy Act was not regarded as debtor-friendly at the time of its enactment, but the enactment of the law gave rise to changes in interest groups, beliefs about the purpose of bankruptcy law, and political party positions on bankruptcy that set the United States on a path to debtor-friendly bankruptcy law. Analysis of the path dependence of bankruptcy law produces an interpretation that is more consistent with the evidence than the standard interpretation that debtor-friendly bankruptcy law was the result of a political compromise in 1898. Working Paper No. 2005-14. 37 pages.

2005-12-01T00:00:00Z Hansen, Bradley A. Hansen, Mary Eschelbach http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4965 2009-02-19T08:45:48Z 2005-10-01T00:00:00Z

Don’t Put the Cart before the Horse: Teaching the Economic Approach to Empirical Research Hansen, Bradley A.; Hansen, Mary Eschelbach When students are taught how to do original research in courses outside economics, they are taught to begin with the collection of data. This is not the approach followed by economists, who typically begin an answer to a research question by developing a model. The model then guides the search for evidence. We argue that the economic approach is more likely to lead to the development of a persuasive argument, and that greater awareness of the contrast between the economic approach and its alternatives can enable economists to improve the teaching of the research process. Working Paper No. 2005-12. 22 pages.

2005-10-01T00:00:00Z Hansen, Mary Eschelbach Hansen, Bradley A. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4964 2009-02-19T08:46:03Z 2005-09-01T00:00:00Z

New Evidence on Race Discrimination under “Separate but Equal” Hansen, Mary Eschelbach; Hansen, Bradley A. Recently uncovered 1906 Virginia teacher-salary data allow for more precise and consistent estimation of marginal returns to certification and formal education than available in previous studies. Virginia’s “separate but equal” educational system paid black teachers in rural counties lower wages than it paid white teachers and on average paid a lower premium to blacks for certification and formal education that it paid to whites. In incorporated cities, returns to certification and normal school education were about the same for black teachers and white teachers, although average salaries were lower for black teachers. Working Paper No. 2005-11. 17 pages.

2005-09-01T00:00:00Z Hansen, Mary Eschelbach Hansen, Bradley A. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4963 2009-02-19T08:46:02Z 2005-09-01T00:00:00Z

The Economics of Adoption of Children from Foster Care Hansen, Mary Eschelbach; Hansen, Bradley A. Federal initiatives since 1996 have intensified the efforts of states to achieve adoption for children in foster care with the case goal of adoption. For many waiting children, the path to adoption is long. We offer an economic analysis of adoption from foster care, with an emphasis on the reasons why it may be so difficult to achieve the goal of adoption for all waiting children. We then estimate the determinants of adoptions from foster care across the states using data for fiscal years 1996 and 1997. Adoption assistance subsidy rates stand out as the most important determinant of adoptions from foster care, followed by utilization of alternatives such as intercountry adoption. Adoptive matching on the basis of race does not appear to prevent adoptions from foster care in the aggregate, leaving flaws in the matching process (such as a lack of information and difficulty utilizing the ICPC) as a primary reason why children wait. Working Paper No. 2005-10. 28 pages.

2005-09-01T00:00:00Z Feinberg, Robert M. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4962 2009-02-19T08:46:02Z 2005-08-01T00:00:00Z

Patterns and Determinants of Entry in Rural County Banking Markets Feinberg, Robert M. Recent work on entry has focused on structural determinants of the number of firms in a market rather than on the role of profits; profits are viewed as both difficult to measure accurately and less relevant in explaining equilibrium numbers of firms in a market. In this paper I consider 115 rural markets in the U.S., and both describe and explain patterns of bank and thrift entry over the past 10 years, with particular interest in the decisions of top bank holding companies to enter rural markets and the influence their presence has on entry of smaller banking institutions. The paper explores several dimensions of entry and competition in rural banking markets. One descriptive feature of interest is the surprisingly small number of markets in which monopoly banking is likely to be a concern. In terms of explaining both numbers of banks across markets and gross and net entry within markets, market size and its growth seem to be major factors, consistent with recent literature. The role of leading bank holding companies is found to be important in stimulating entry of smaller rivals. This result is consistent with earlier work suggesting that merger and acquisition activity tends to stimulate de novo entry, while also with the view that large firm presence may be a signal to potential entrants of future growth prospects in the market. Working Paper No. 2005-07. 27 pages.

2005-08-01T00:00:00Z Meurs, Mieke Feinberg, Robert M. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4961 2009-02-19T08:45:57Z 2005-06-01T00:00:00Z

Market Reform and Infrastructure Development in Transition Economies Meurs, Mieke; Feinberg, Robert M. This paper presents an econometric analysis of the determinants of investments in physical infrastructure over the first decade of market reform in Central and Eastern Europe and other former Soviet economies. While our econometric specifications are quite simple – limited in part by the data requirements for a large cross-section of developing economies – they strongly suggest that market reform has had a positive impact on both traditional and newer (“high-tech”) measures of infrastructure, with a stronger impact on the newer types of infrastructure more likely to be market-derived. There is also the strong suggestion that market reform is more likely to push investors to develop infrastructure when political/institutional reforms are accomplished in tandem. Working Paper No. 2005-06. 23 pages.

2005-06-01T00:00:00Z Hertz, Tom http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/4960 2009-02-19T08:46:01Z 2005-08-01T00:00:00Z

The Effect of Minimum Wages on the Employment and Earnings of South Africa’s Domestic Service Workers Hertz, Tom Minimum wages have been in place for South Africa’s one million domestic service workers since November of 2002. Using data from seven waves of the Labour Force Survey, this paper documents that the real wages, average monthly earnings, and total earnings of all employed domestic workers have risen since the regulations came into effect, while hours of work per week and employment have fallen. Each of these outcomes can be linked econometrically to the arrival of the minimum wage regulations. The overall estimated elasticities suggest that the regulations should have reduced poverty somewhat for domestic workers, although this last conclusion is the least robust. Working paper No. 2005-04. 62 pages.

2005-08-01T00:00:00Z