Ross McKenzie

Abstract This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.

New working paper out with Yue Gu and Sisi Sung: The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women's Education and Occupational Choice

Open to feedback!

ssrn.com/abstract=539...

Check out our new working paper!

Abstract This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.

New working paper out with Yue Gu and Sisi Sung: The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women's Education and Occupational Choice

Open to feedback!

ssrn.com/abstract=539...

Thank you!

Excellent post exploring the immigrant fiscal contributions by visa category. Important to note that it is overall positive without even considering indirect positive effects on UK born as my own research shows: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Are recent immigrants a "ticking time bomb" for British public finances? At a few recent policy events, I keep hearing that dependents on visas are a Problem.

You know how everyone is freaking about how bad new immigrants are for public finances?

I did the math and: even considering only new Boriswave immigrants, the average new immigrant salary was still higher than the average British national.

On Substack: www.laurenpolicy.com/p/are-recent...

Our paper (@econzach.bsky.social Ed Kosack) is forthcoming! We use high-frequency data to identify the magnitude, timing, and persistence of conflict-induced migration during the Mexican Revolution.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Does the provision of universal free school meals improve school attendance? We examine the effects of universal free school meal (UFSM) policies on school attendance and health-related absences. We leverage UFSM implementation…

Very happy to see our recent research on the effects of free school meals on school attendance featured in the @unesconow.bsky.social Health and Education Resource Centre's monthly newsletter: bit.ly/3Zq9JEM

For the published paper (open access) please see: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

JMP by Yannis Kastis with @hillaryvipond.bsky.social

It's both an immigration paper & an adoption-of-technology paper. I didn’t know this: immigration of Jewish tailors from the Pale was very important in the rise of mass garment production in Victorian England
jkastis.github.io/yanniskastis...

More and more migration-and-development economists are here! Please suggest yourself or others for me to add. #EconSky

New paper:
“(In-kind) Wages and labour relations in the Middle Ages: It’s not (all) about the money” with @vincentdelabastita.bsky.social and Spike Gibbs is now out in
Explorations in Economic History

The paper is open access and here is a summary 🧵 (1/16)
doi.org/10.1016/j.ee...

Evidence for policymakers in real time: a blueprint - ESCoE By Thiemo Fetzer, Christina Palmou and Jakob Schneebacher The last two decades have seen a […]

How can researchers provide the nuanced, fast evidence policymakers need to make policy in real time?

@trfetzer.com, Christina Palmou and I have written an ESCoE blog based on our recent working paper: www.escoe.ac.uk/evidence-for...

Very excited to see our paper (with @bodanieli.bsky.social ) on forced migration and local economic development published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Link to the paper (open access) here: doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...

Would be great to be added thanks!

Also suggest:

@descamillag.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/rmck...

#econsky 📉📈

bsky.app/profile/rmck...

#econsky 📉📈

Very excited to see our paper (with @bodanieli.bsky.social ) on forced migration and local economic development published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Link to the paper (open access) here: doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...

This article estimates the effect of immigration into an occupation on the wages of natives working in other, better-paid occupations. Using Annual Population Survey data from the UK we rank occupations by the Standard Occupation Classification provided by the ONS and find that increases in the migrant/native ratio raise average wages of natives working in the next higher ranked occupation by around 0.332%. Our findings have important implications for policy and public discourse. They suggest that debates over the economic impacts of migration often ignore the potential spill-over benefits that a migrant can bring to the outcomes for native workers elsewhere in the wage distribution, particularly in lower wage occupations.

Increasing the minimum income threshold to £38k ignores spillover benefits migrants can bring to UK-born workers. My research with Graeme Roy & Marco Alfano shows that migration into a lower skilled occupation can have a positive effect on UK wages in an adjacent higher skilled occupation. /1

By increasing the minimum income threshold by 1/3rd the UK risks reducing productivity spillovers and harming real wage growth for UK-born workers. /5 Open Access to full article: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Using a shift-share IV we find that a 1% increase in migration into ‘below’ occupations increases UK-born wages in an adjacent occupation by 0.332% on average. These effects are concentrated in low-paid occupations. Results are robust to ordering occupations by real wages /4

For example if occupations are ranked as 1. managers, 2. professionals and 3. associate professionals then we estimate the effect of associate professional migration on UK born professional wages and professional migration on UK born manager wages. /3

We begin by ranking 9 broad occupation categories from highest skilled to lowest skilled using the SOC2010. We then estimate the effect on UK-born wages of immigration into an occupation one rank below that of the UK born worker. /2

This article estimates the effect of immigration into an occupation on the wages of natives working in other, better-paid occupations. Using Annual Population Survey data from the UK we rank occupations by the Standard Occupation Classification provided by the ONS and find that increases in the migrant/native ratio raise average wages of natives working in the next higher ranked occupation by around 0.332%. Our findings have important implications for policy and public discourse. They suggest that debates over the economic impacts of migration often ignore the potential spill-over benefits that a migrant can bring to the outcomes for native workers elsewhere in the wage distribution, particularly in lower wage occupations.

Increasing the minimum income threshold to £38k ignores spillover benefits migrants can bring to UK-born workers. My research with Graeme Roy & Marco Alfano shows that migration into a lower skilled occupation can have a positive effect on UK wages in an adjacent higher skilled occupation. /1

A wide river with trees on each side

Had a great time attending the CEMIR Junior Economist Workshop on Migration Research at the ifo Institute. First time in Germany and can't wait to go back!

I applied and had a really great experience -- recommended.

“Regulatory barriers to climate action: evidence from conservation areas in England”

Housing stock with special area based planning requirements in England may result in higher avoidable CO2 emissions.

Speaks to key policy issues in the UK using an interesting research design.