In this paper, we examine the specification tests which have been proposed for fixed effects in binary panel data model, using several different data generating processes to evaluate the performance of the specification test in different situations. By simulations, we find the specification test based on moment conditions is able to outperform the Lagrange multiplier test proposed by Gurmu (199...

This study examines the effects of taxes on the real exchange rate through their marginal impacts on economic activity. We develop a model that shows that an increase in the capital interest tax rate leads to real domestic currency depreciation while an increase in wage or consumption tax rates lead to a real domestic currency appreciation. These theoretical findings are supported by an empiric...

The authors address the issue of estimation and inference in dependent nonstationary panels of small cross-section dimensions. The main conclusion is that the best results are obtained applying bootstrap inference to single-equation estimators, such as fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares. Seemingly unrelated regression estimators perform badly, or are even u...

We consider a bivariate Poisson model that is based on the lognormal heterogeneity model. Two recent applications have used this model. We suggest that the correlation estimated in their model frameworks is an ambiguous measure of the correlation of the variables of interest, and may substantially overstate it. We conclude with a detailed application of the proposed method using the data employ...

We use data from the Irish census and exploit regional and temporal variation in infant mortality rates over the 20th century to examine effects of early life conditions on later life health. Our main identification is public health interventions which eliminated the Irish urban infant mortality penalty. Estimates suggest that a unit decrease in mortality rates at time of birth reduces the prob...

The association between types of food access and rising adult obesity rates is increasingly recognized, as a complement to the effects of declining physical activity. Previous studies have examined the effects on obesity of only a limited set of store types, such as grocery stores, fast food restaurants and big-box retailers, and they have ignored that certain behavioral factors, such as could ...

By using panel data, this study examines the effect of unemployment on various types of individual health-related behavior, namely physical exercise, dietary habits, smoking, drinking, and sleep duration among Japanese men aged 20 –40 years. The results indicate that the effect of unemployment on health-related behavior varies. It is found that exercise habits and sleep duration are affected by...

This experiment investigates the social preferences and choices of economists and physicians for treating patients and compares the choices with those in a congruent neutrally framed allocation problem. The potential recipients differ with respect to their minimum needs as well as to their ability to profit from the receipt. Using the theoretical solutions, we classify the distributors as selfi...

This paper concentrates on the complex interplay between poverty, wealth and life satisfaction. Main areas of life are quantified in a multidimensional approach of poverty and wealth: Individual income, current health, occupational autonomy or employment status and life satisfaction. The analyzed data was taken from the German Socio Economic Panel Study (SOEP) at the German Institute for Econom...

We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effects of classmate characteristics on economic and social outcomes of students. The unique structure of the Add Health allows us to estimate these effects using comparisons across cohorts within schools, and to examine a wider range of outcomes than other studies that have used this identificatio...