WORKING PAPERS
Gender Norms and Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Export Shocks in Vietnam
with Hyejin Ku
Received BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant
Awarded Best Paper at the 18th Applied Econometrics Conference (Osaka, 2023)
In the context of reunified Vietnam, we study the relationship between economic development and female labor force participation, and the role of social norms in shaping this relationship. Exploiting quasi-random variation in provincial exports during 2002-2018, we find that positive shocks to the local economy led to a significant decline in women’s labor market engagement, especially for married women with husbands in skilled occupations. The pattern is more pronounced in the South (once capitalist) than in the North (always socialist), and among native Southerners than among Northerners who were forcibly migrated to the South. This highlights the significance of gender role attitudes in determining how women respond to rising incomes.
The age gradient in the effects of poverty alleviation program on schooling. Evidence from the Vietnam Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction program
with Marco Bertoni and Lorenzo Rocco
R&R at Economics of Education Reviews, IZA Discussion Paper No. 12747
This paper estimates the effect of the Vietnam Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction (HEPR) program on school enrollment, and shows how it changes by age at first treatment. Using longitudinal data that span over 15 years and a difference-in-differences research design, we find that early treatment (age 8) increases enrollment by 9.9 percentage points. In contrast, the enrolment of children receiving treatment at later ages (age 12 and 15) is either unaffected or even reduced in rural areas, where it is paralleled by an increase in labor market participation. These divergent results by age and area of residence depend on two components: first, the effect of subsidizing education declines with the age of first treatment; second, starting from age 15, HEPR beneficiaries residing in rural areas are entitled with free access to the Vocational Training Program, which favors a prompt transition to the labor market.
PUBLICATIONS
Paying (and paving) my way: extra class participation and rent extraction
Labour Economics (2024)
Extra classes, or private tutoring offered by schoolteachers to their pupils, are a widespread phenomenon, particularly in developing countries. This educational arrangement might leave room for distorted incentives. Using data from Vietnam, I find that teachers grant higher school grades to pupils attending extra classes, but extra-class attendance does not yield higher scores on standardized achievement tests. I interpret these results as evidence of opportunistic behavior, whereby teachers exploit their arbitrariness in awarding grades, which count for secondary school admissions, to extract rents. The extent of grade inflation is higher in institutionally underdeveloped settings. Attending extra classes also generates a gap in pupils’ self-concept. These findings provide relevant policy implications
to align this informal sector with the country’s education system.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Revisiting Attitudes towards Immigration: 20 years of the European Social Surveys with C. Brell, C. Dustmann and I. Preston
Domestic Migrant Workers and Labor Market Performance of NativeWomen with S. Samutpradit
Religion and the Price of Holding on to Your Believe with T. Huynh
Export Demand Shock and Spillover Effects on Domestic Supply Chain with V. Tran