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Source: Ph.D. Dissertation (USE: Proquest Information & Learning after 2005)
Resulting in 10 citations.
1. Baumann, Robert William
Three Essays on the Appalachian Region
Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 2003. DAI-A 65/02, p. 636, Aug 2004
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Economics of Discrimination; Economics, Regional; Human Capital; Migration; Poverty; Racial Differences; Wage Levels

The literature has largely ignored white poverty, perhaps because discrimination, particularly institutionalized discrimination, is not a factor driving the process. White poverty is also more easily ignored because it is rarely concentrated to the same extent as central city black poverty. The major exception to the diffusion of white poverty is Appalachia, a region that for decades has experienced the greatest concentration of white poverty in the U.S. My goal is to evaluate the role played by differences in human capital and economic opportunity on the outcomes of both Appalachian and non-Appalachian poor whites. I argue that a main determinant in the Appalachia's relative economic deprivation is lower levels of overall human capital and economic opportunity than the rest of the U.S. The above analysis will be divided into three essays. In the first essay, I estimate a three-stage wage equation model with two additional endogenous regressors, migration and employment, to determine how much of the Appalachian wage gap can be explained by the effects of human capital and local conditions and to estimate returns to migration using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth, 1979. I find differences in human capital and economic opportunity account for all of the differences in employment and most of the difference in wages. Migration offers small absolute returns for Appalachians, but does not raise wages to the level of poor white non-Appalachians. The second essay uses the same data and model but simultaneously estimates the parameters using Maximum Simulated Likelihood (MSL) to achieve higher efficiency than the multi-step method. Human capital differences again explain almost all of the wage and employment gaps. Migration offers no return using MSL in this setting. The final essay decomposes the wage gap between Appalachia and the rest of the country into quantities and prices of human capital and industry and occupation shares, Data are taken from the Integrated Micro Public Use (IPUMS) census data project. The large increases in the wage gap during the 1980s were largely caused by changes in income inequality and skill prices unfavorable to Appalachians.
Bibliography Citation
Baumann, Robert William. Three Essays on the Appalachian Region. Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 2003. DAI-A 65/02, p. 636, Aug 2004.
2. Elliott, Marta E.
Work, Family and Self-Esteem During the Transition to Adulthood
Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, 1995
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Divorce; Family Studies; Food Stamps (see Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program); Labor Force Participation; Marriage; Parenthood; Self-Esteem; Transfers, Financial; Transition Rates, Activity to Work; Welfare; Women's Studies; Work Attitudes

This study assesses the impact of women's work and family roles on change in their self-esteem as they make the transition to adulthood. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), supplemented with information from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) are used to study the determinants of change in self-esteem between 1980 and 1987 among a sample of white women aged 22-29 in 1987. They show that self-esteem changes modestly as women make the transitions to work, marriage and parenthood in their twenties. Self-esteem drifted upward by about one-third of a standard deviation unit between 1980 and 1987. The strongest predictor of positive change in self-esteem was for the woman to be employed in 1987. Among employed women, those earning higher wages enjoyed greater gains in self-esteem, while those working more hours and/or doing relatively repetitive work experienced losses. Time out of the labor force depressed self-esteem, but only temporarily since self-esteem rebounded when women returned to work. Married women had higher self-esteem, on average, than non-married women, regardless of a history of divorce, separation or widowhood. Being a mother, however, led to loss of self-esteem over the 7 year period. This effect increased in strength the longer a woman had children. Among women who were employed, however, the negative impact of motherhood was much weaker, suggesting that the employee role protects mothers from social isolation and financial strains. Receipt of government transfer payments had a continuous and accumulating toll on self-esteem, in that the longer a woman received unemployment compensation or food stamps, the lower her self-esteem became. These effects, unlike that of being out of the labor force, did not disappear when women stopped receiving government assistance, indicating that being a welfare recipient has a lasting negative impact on self-image. The results of this study have implications for how women may combine work and family to optimize their overall psychological well-being. Furthermore, the findings underscore the importance for society of improving opportunities for all women to participate in the paid labor force.
Bibliography Citation
Elliott, Marta E. Work, Family and Self-Esteem During the Transition to Adulthood. Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, 1995.
3. Hudson, Julie Lorrain
Welfare and Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing
Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, 2000. DAI 60,11A (2000): 4123
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Abortion; Childbearing; Family Studies; Fertility; First Birth; Heterogeneity; Marital Status; Marriage; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Modeling, Probit; Parents, Single; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Racial Differences; Transfers, Financial; Welfare

Dramatic increases in out-of-wedlock childbearing in the U.S. between 1940 and 1993 are often blamed in part on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), a Federal cash transfer program offering cash benefits to low income single parent families through 1996. Research attempting to link benefits and childbearing spans over 30 years and generally finds mixed results. This dissertation addresses several issues in the literature in two separate essays using data from the 1994 National Longitudinal Survey for Youth. The first chapter investigates the use of state fixed effects in a non-marital fertility framework. Recent work in the childbearing literature suggests the need for state effects, as omitted state factors may be correlated with both benefit levels and fertility outcomes. A nested logit model extends the work of Lundberg and Plotnick (1994), allowing investigation of the various decisions leading to non-marital birth (pregnancy, abortion and marriage) rather than focusing on the dichotomous choice of whether a nonmarital birth occurs or not. I find a positive effect of AFDC benefits on non-marital birth for both black and non-black teens. This relationship is primarily fueled by marriage decisions, as single women are less likely to legitimize births. I also find evidence of a change in social norms, as teens born to later cohorts are more likely to respond to welfare incentives. Finally, welfare results for non-black teens are robust to state effects, while those for blacks are not. The second chapter addresses the issues surrounding "family cap" laws. These laws make welfare recipients ineligible for an increase in benefits if they have additional children while on welfare. The chapter investigates the effect of benefit increments on subsequent birth in hazard models for non-marital and marital birth. Random effects control for potential unobserved heterogeneity in the sample. I find positive welfare effects for whites, but none for nonwhites. Regular probit models suffer from unobserved heterogeneity but do not bias the welfare results. Marital status at first birth is found to be a strong predictor of marital status at the time of second birth and controls for unobserved heterogeneity found in regular probit specifications.
Bibliography Citation
Hudson, Julie Lorrain. Welfare and Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing. Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, 2000. DAI 60,11A (2000): 4123.
4. Kazarosian, Mark Vahram
Precautionary Savings - A Panel Study
Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston College, 1991
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Assets; Income; Life Cycle Research; Occupations; Wealth

This dissertation is an empirical exploration of precautionary savings. Knowing the extent of the precautionary motive is important for gauging the responsiveness of saving to government programs that reduce income uncertainty. Unemployment compensation, welfare, and advance notices of plant closings may reduce personal savings by curbing income risk but it is also important to determine the strength of the precautionary motive relative to other motives, such as bequests or saving for retirement. Empirical evidence about precautionary savings sheds light on the nature of consumer preferences and attitudes toward risk. The main innovation of this study is that it estimates asset accumulation using measures of the individual's income uncertainty and permanent income from panel data. Using longitudinal data in a pooled cross-sectional, time-series framework makes these measures possible because actual income movements over time are observed for each individual. The data are from the Older Men cohort of the NLS. The author models permanent income as the individual's position, at a standardized age, on his age-income profile. The author proxies uncertainty using the standard deviation of the error of each individual's estimated log-income/age profile. This measure controls for the individual's income growth rate so that the proxy reflects income uncertainty, rather than both predictable changes in human capital and income uncertainty. Findings are as follows: (1) Uncertainty has a substantial effect on asset accumulation. A doubling of uncertainty is associated with a 53% increase in asset accumulation. (2) The strength of the precautionary motive depends on occupation, most likely due to differences in risk preferences. (3) The intent to leave a bequest has no significant effect on asset accumulation as a proportion of permanent income. (4) The estimates support the life-cycle prediction of the hump-shaped profile of asset accumulation, and predict a wealth to permanent income ratio peak at age 57.
Bibliography Citation
Kazarosian, Mark Vahram. Precautionary Savings - A Panel Study. Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston College, 1991.
5. Klassen, Peter T.
Placing the Community College Effect in Context: An Institution Serving Uncertainty and Marginality
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1990
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): College Dropouts; College Education; College Graduates; Colleges; Educational Attainment

Studies of the educational attainment process cite an apparent negative effect on educational attainment of students beginning their college experience at the community college. This deficit has been labeled the "community college effect." Placing the community college effect in context requires examination of three problems. First, identify and describe high school students making the transition to two-year and four-year colleges, and identify how the students at two-year colleges differ from those at four-year colleges. Second, distinguish the effect of institutional type on college persistence of two-year and four-year students from the effect of individual input characteristics. Third, distinguish the effect of institutional type on educational progress of two-year and four-year students from the effect of individual input characteristics. Using data from the NLSY, the author analyzes (1) the high school to college transition for students graduating from high school in 1983 and (2) patterns of college persistence and educational progress between 1984 and 1985 for students at both community and four-year colleges. Descriptive statistics indicate that students attending two-year colleges are significantly different on nine characteristics from both individuals not attending college and students attending four-year colleges. Results indicate educational goals and high school educational achievement are more important than income and family background in determining high school to college placement; that the primary difference between two-year and four-year entering students is their educational achievement; that employment, residence, and aptitude are more important than college type in determining college persistence. In contrast to these findings, other results indicate college type, educational values, and aptitude are important in determining transfer versus continuation at the same school enrollment patterns. Finally, lower educational values and full-time employment are most important in increasing the probability of being a dropout versus being a stopout (leaving then returning). Results from a LISREL analysis indicate college type is significant as a determinant of college progress for non-minority males and Afro-American females, but not for their complements nor for Hispanics. These results provide a foundation for challenging interpretation of the community college in that this effect results from community college students' involvement in conflicting social role sets which result in marginal commitments to the student role rather than from an institutional process.
Bibliography Citation
Klassen, Peter T. Placing the Community College Effect in Context: An Institution Serving Uncertainty and Marginality. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1990.
6. Lee, Chung-Won
Non-Clinical Risk Factors of Hysterectomy
Ph. D. Dissertation, Utah State University, 2001. DAI-A 62/19, p.3577, Apr 2002
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Attitudes; Economic Well-Being; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Women

In the United States, hysterectomy is one of the most commonly performed operations for women that is not related with pregnancy. However, not enough attention has been paid to how women's exposure to the surgery differs according to their social characteristics as well as attitudinal/behavioral factors. Using cohort data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Women, this study investigated two aspects: (1) the association between socioeconomic status and hysterectomy and (2) the impact of women's attitudinal/behavioral characteristics on hysterectomy. With Cox proportional hazards analyses, this study found that women's exposure to hysterectomy significantly differs according to their social and attitudinal standings. Social characteristics that were found to be statistically significant risk factors of hysterectomy include women's education, employment status, and marital status. Among attitudinal and behavioral factors, women's locus of control and number of children were identified as statistically significant risk factors. These findings may be used to enhance consumer awareness of hysterectomy and aid in policy reconstruction.
Bibliography Citation
Lee, Chung-Won. Non-Clinical Risk Factors of Hysterectomy. Ph. D. Dissertation, Utah State University, 2001. DAI-A 62/19, p.3577, Apr 2002.
7. Parrow, Alan A.
Labor Sectors and the Status Attainment Process: Race and Sex Comparisons
Ph.D. Dissertation, Duke University, 1981
Cohort(s): Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Discrimination, Sex; Dual Economic Theory; Mobility; Occupational Attainment; Occupational Segregation; Racial Differences; Simultaneity; Training, Occupational

A large body of research in both sociology and economics has attempted to explain race and sex differences in placement within the American stratification system. Grounded in functionalist and neo-classical theories, prior empirical studies have focused almost exclusively on individual characteristics as sources of explanation of attainments. The present research goes well beyond these efforts by including measures of structural constraints on attainment in addition to the standard measures of individual characteristics. Of particular interest are hypotheses about the long term consequences of sectoral placement in a segmented (dual) labor market. Using eight year panel data from the NLS of Young Men and Women, simultaneous equation models and dynamic models of mobility are used to compare the career processes of black and white men and women. The empirical evidence from these analyses does not support the notion of a strict bimodal division of the industrial economy into primary and secondary sectors. Mobility exists between the sectors and the earnings structure shows only minimal evidence of bipolarization. Nor is there any evidence that the underlying processes by which wages are assigned to given levels of occupational achievement in the two sectors differ. Finally, despite the DLM stress on institutional factors which impede mobility, the present data seem to suggest the lack of any long term effects on occupational training or employment stability within careers. What is revealed by the study is a distinct pattern of discrimination even within sectors of the economy. Though race discrimination continues to exist, sex discrimination appears to be far more striking and pervasive. This sex discrimination appears to occur primarily as a result of occupational segregation and industrial segregation at a level too fine to be captured by a gross dichotomization of industries. A call is given for more research wherein the unit of analysis is the industry or firm
Bibliography Citation
Parrow, Alan A. Labor Sectors and the Status Attainment Process: Race and Sex Comparisons. Ph.D. Dissertation, Duke University, 1981.
8. Shackett, Joyce Reynolds
Experience and Earnings of Young Women
Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1982
Cohort(s): Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Dual Economic Theory; Earnings; Educational Returns; Occupational Aspirations; Part-Time Work; Sex Roles; Transfers, Family

The data used for this study were derived from the NLS of Young Women and Young Men. The first topic was the issue of male-female wage differentials and the returns to education and experience for men and women. Second, the issue of special characteristics of the labor market experience of women was investigated, concentrating on the role and implications of part-time work for women, along with occupational stratification and labor market interruptions. The third matter investigated was the impact of sample selection bias on the earnings equations estimated for women. The final topic was the intergenerational transfer of human capital. The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows. Contrary to popular belief, the returns to education are as strong for young women as for young men. There is still a substantial wage advantage for men, attributable to the continuous labor force experience of men. Men have almost twice as many years of experience than do women for a given age. Men observe a positive return to age while women observe a negative return that, at least in part, reflects the perceived depreciation of human capital during labor force interruptions. Women spend a substantial portion of their time in the labor force at part-time work. However, while working part-time has a low return compared to the return for full-time work, it at least avoids the depreciation of human capital or negative return associated with periods out of the labor force. Finally, there is evidence indicating that background works differently for men and women. Background has similar indirect effects in the prediction of schooling, but not for experience. Within the same family, male and female children receive different cultural and socialization patterning which is reflected in different wage earning potential for brothers and sisters.
Bibliography Citation
Shackett, Joyce Reynolds. Experience and Earnings of Young Women. Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1982.
9. Wityak, Nancy Lynn
Occupational Attainment Resources and the Life Cycle Patterns of Young Women
Ph.D. Dissertation, George Washington University, 1982
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Age at First Marriage; Career Patterns; Education; Employment; Life Cycle Research; Marriage; Occupational Attainment; Occupations

This study is directed toward two primary objectives: the identification of ordering patterns characterizing the female transition to adulthood, and the development of models to explain the female occupational attainment process. The transition to adulthood is argued to reflect social expectations in the form of normative patterns for ordering three key life cycle events: completion of full-time education, marriage, and entry into the labor force. Six possible female ordering patterns are hypothesized including a Female Normative pattern and a Male Normative pattern. Young women complete the transition to adulthood according to the Female Normative pattern when they first complete their education, then marry, and last enter the labor force. The Male Normative pattern occurs when young women reverse the order of marriage and entry into the labor force. Using data from the NLS Young Women's cohort (ages 14-24 in 1968), it is demonstrated that the Female Normative pattern most frequently characterizes young women's ordering of transition events, while the Male Normative pattern is the second most frequently evidenced method of ordering events in the transition to adulthood. After establishing the temporal sequence of events, the theoretical possibility that different ordering patterns produce variation in the process of occupational attainment is examined. The findings demonstrate the continuing importance of early attainments as bases for later occupational attainments in both the Female and Male Normative models. The marital family has a greater impact on later occupational attainments in the Female Normative model, and the effects operate primarily through husband's socioeconomic status, the absence of children in the marital family, and post-marital education. Male Normative orderers do obtain significant advantages from husband's socioeconomic status as well. In both models, age at first marriage is found to have a negative effect on occupational attainment in 1977. The results of the study demonstrate the usefulness of employing a life cycle perspective to elaborate the variable order of events prior to the development and testing of occupational attainment models for women.
Bibliography Citation
Wityak, Nancy Lynn. Occupational Attainment Resources and the Life Cycle Patterns of Young Women. Ph.D. Dissertation, George Washington University, 1982.
10. Wong, Odalia Ho
A Survival Analysis of First Marriage Postponement
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1987
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Age at First Marriage; Career Patterns; Educational Attainment; Employment; Marriage; Parental Influences; Work Attitudes

This dissertation analyzes the determinants of the age at first marriage of young women. The empirical analysis is performed on a sample of white women born between the late 1940s and the mid-1950s which is taken from the NLS of Young Women. The proportional hazards model, which is ideal for analyzing panel data, is used in our analysis. The relationships between the age at first marriage and the women's personal characteristics such as educational attainment, school enrollment, employment, income, future plan at age 35 and SMSA residence are examined. In addition, the relationships between the age at first marriage and the women's family background characteristics such as parental education level, father's occupational level, mother's employment and living arrangement at age 14 are also examined. Our analysis shows that late marriers are generally more highly educated, employed, have higher income, and plan to work later in life. This lends support to our hypothesis that young women are taking the opportunities to achieve in the economic world more seriously by placing more emphasis and spending more time on the pursuits of a better education and a working career. The finding that higher education and employment only reduce the likelihood of marriage for women under age 20 but not for women over age 24 is an important one. It indicates that the pursuits of higher education and/or a career is incompatible only with early marriage, but not with a young woman's plans to eventually have her own family. In other words, the recent increase in the median age at first marriage of the bride should not be taken as a sign that young women are foregoing marriage. Rather, it is an indication that young women are postponing marriage until education is completed, employment is secured and savings accumulated. [UMI ADG05-61995]
Bibliography Citation
Wong, Odalia Ho. A Survival Analysis of First Marriage Postponement. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1987.