scholarly journals Alcohol and Self-Control: A Field Experiment in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 1290-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Schilbach

This paper studies alcohol consumption among low-income workers in India. In a 3-week field experiment, the majority of 229 cycle-rickshaw drivers were willing to forgo substantial monetary payments in order to set incentives for themselves to remain sober, thus exhibiting demand for commitment to sobriety. Randomly receiving sobriety incentives significantly reduced daytime drinking while leaving overall drinking unchanged. I find no evidence of higher daytime sobriety significantly changing labor supply, productivity, or earnings. In contrast, increasing sobriety raised savings by 50 percent, an effect that does not appear to be solely explained by changes in income net of alcohol expenditures. (JEL C93, D14, I12, J22, J24, J31, O12)

Author(s):  
Alexandra E. Hill ◽  
Izaac Ornelas ◽  
J. Edward Taylor

The labor supply response to agricultural wages is critical to the viability of crop production in high-income countries, which hire a largely foreign farm work force, as well as in low-income countries, where domestic workers move off the farm as the agricultural transformation unfolds. Modeling agricultural labor supply is more challenging than modeling the supply of other agricultural inputs or of labor to other sectors of the economy owing to unique features of agricultural production and farm labor markets. Data and econometric challenges abound, and estimates of agricultural labor supply elasticities are sparse. This review explains the importance and challenges of modeling farm labor supply and describes researchers’ efforts to address these challenges. It summarizes estimates of agricultural labor supply elasticities over the last 80 years, provides insights into variation in these estimates, identifies priority areas for future research, and reviews the most influential empirical work related to this important topic. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (5) ◽  
pp. 1549-1574
Author(s):  
Richard Domurat ◽  
Isaac Menashe ◽  
Wesley Yin

We experimentally varied information mailed to 87,000 households in California’s health insurance marketplace to study the role of frictions in insurance take-up. Reminders about the enrollment deadline raised enrollment by 1.3 pp (16 percent) in this typically low take-up population. Heterogeneous effects of personalized subsidy information indicate misperceptions about program benefits. Consistent with an adverse selection model with frictional enrollment costs, the intervention lowered average spending risk by 5.1 percent, implying that marginal respondents were 37 percent less costly than inframarginal consumers. We observe the largest positive selection among low income consumers, who exhibit the largest frictions in enrollment. Finally, we estimate the implied value of the letter intervention to be $25 to $53 per month in subsidy dollars. These results suggest that frictions may partially explain low take-up for marketplace insurance, and that interventions reducing them can improve enrollment and market risk in exchanges. (JEL C93, G22, G52, H75, I13)


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Goldberg

I use a field experiment to estimate the wage elasticity of employment in the day labor market in rural Malawi. Once a week for 12 consecutive weeks, I make job offers for a workfare-type program to 529 adults. The daily wage varies from the tenth to the ninetieth percentile of the wage distribution, and individuals are entitled to work a maximum of one day per week. In this context (the low agricultural season), 74 percent of individuals worked at the lowest wage, and consequently the estimated labor supply elasticity is low (0.15), regardless of observable characteristics. (JEL C93, J22, J31, O15, O18, R23)


2014 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen P Lindgren ◽  
Clayton Neighbors ◽  
Erin Westgate ◽  
Elske Salemink

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Carolyn Arcand

The attainment of postsecondary credentials holds particular promise in improving economic security for low-income single mothers. However, the type of school attended may matter when determining whether postsecondary credentials will foster positive labor market outcomes and financial stability for former students. This paper describes the pre-test of a field experiment to examine whether the school type listed on a job applicant’s resume has an impact on receiving a call for a job interview, in fields commonly pursued by low-income women. School types tested were for-profit schools and community colleges. Results revealed little difference in outcomes for job seekers with credentials from each school type. However, more reliable results could be obtained by repeating this study in a stronger economy, using job candidates with minimal applicable experience, applying to a greater number of positions, and selecting occupations for which an academic credential is widely seen as a prerequisite for entry.DOI:10.2458/azu_jmmss_v5i1_arcand


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakiko Yamaguchi ◽  
Raphael Lencucha ◽  
Thomas Gordon Brown

Abstract Background Alcohol control has garnered attention from the global health community in recent years. This attention is partly prompted by increasing exposure of nefarious alcohol industry practices, coupled with the recognition that many governments have not yet put in place alcohol control policies, leaving populations vulnerable to industry influence. The Peruvian Andean highland has seen the change of the Andean practice of collective drinking in response to the increased availability of alcohol and the experience of political violence. This study seeks to merge the broader political economy with local experience and culture in order to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic between global processes and local realities.Methods We conducted focus group interviews (n=19) with community participants, teachers, and health workers, and key informant interviews (n=28). Thematic analysis identified patterns of individual and collective meaning and social, political and economic factors. Results Local perspectives regarding loss of control over alcohol highlight the complex patterns of power and meaning exerted and experienced by different actors, shaping both understanding and behaviour. Participants’ focus on parents’ lack of control over alcohol use by some “abandoned” children reflects the structural vulnerability of some Andean families struggling with economic hardships. Another focus was on the money spent by men to engage in problem drinking. Participants interpreted alcohol consumption in this context as a way that men demonstrate their masculine identity and symbolic power as the breadwinner who controls the household economy. The third focus is superimposed onto the market economy. Participants expressed that the expansion of the alcohol market and perceived absence of government control coupled with macroeconomic conditions shaped patterns of alcohol consumption.Conclusion Participants’ perspectives illustrate how problem drinking is shaped not simply by an individual drinker’s lack of self-control but also shaped by an environment that enables the unrestrained marketing of alcohol products and the creation of a culture of consumption. Harmful consumption is mediated by the reshaping of the Andean cultural practice of collective drinking. Attending to local perspectives is essential for policies and interventions that connect structural dynamics with the cultural and experiential aspects of alcohol consumption.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e16166-e16166
Author(s):  
Jennifer Dominguez ◽  
Bonnie Macario ◽  
Rixci Ramirez ◽  
Mario Daniel Castro

e16166 Background: Worldwide, every year, there are nearly 905,000 patients diagnosed with liver cancer; it is the sixth most common malignancy and the third most lethal malignancy. Almost three quarters of new patients live in areas with low and medium-income country. Guatemala has the highest mortality and incidence of liver cancer. Objectives: Describe the clinical characteristics, main risk factors, treatment and outcomes of patients with hepatocarcinoma (HCC) in Guatemala. Methods: A retrospective review was performed among patients with HCC from January 2002 to December 2019 in the Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social (IGSS). Kaplan Meier curves, Cox regression and log-rank test were used to calculate overall survival (OS) and mortality. Results: 140 patients with HCC were analyzed, 114 women and 26 men with a median age of 60 years (20 - 99), 102 patients (73%) have history of excessive alcohol consumption and 11 (8%) has history of chronic hepatitis B or C virus infection. All of the patients have liver cirrhosis, Child-Pugh A 100 patients (71%), B 34 (24%) and C 6 (5%). 10 patients (7%) have HCC BCLC A, 0 (0%) BCLC B, 121 (81%) BCLC C and 9 (6%) BCLC D. All patients with HCC BCLC A received surgical treatment with a median OS of 123 months (95% CI 89 - 156 p < 0.001). 122 patients (89%) received target therapy with Sorafenib with a median OS of 17 months (95% CI 12 - 21 p < 0.001) and 8 patients (6%) underwent to chemoembolization with a median OS of 32 months (95% CI 12 - 52 p < 0.001). At this time, 111 patients (79%) died from the disease, 11 (8%) are alive with the disease and 8 (6%) are alive without disease. Conclusions: The most frequent risk factor for HCC is the excessive alcohol consumption, survival of patients with HCC are associated with treatment at the beginning of the disease.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget Hoffmann ◽  
Juan Pablo Rud

We study labor supply decisions on days with high levels of air pollution in Mexico City's metropolitan area using hourly levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) air pollution at the locality level. We document a negative, non-linear relationship between PM 2.5 levels and daily labor supply, with strong effects on days with extremely high pollution levels. On these days, the average worker experiences a reduction of around 7.5% of working hours. Workers partially compensate for lost hours by increasing their labor supply on days that follow high pollution days. We provide evidence that income constraints may play an important role in workers labor supply decisions, as we find more moderate responses among informal and low-income workers.


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