Andrea Repetto | Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (original) (raw)
Papers by Andrea Repetto
American economic journal. Applied economics, Apr 1, 2024
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Sep 1, 2000
Journal of International Development, Dec 27, 2023
Expectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour mark... more Expectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour market decisions. This paper uses data from a survey of youths in seven Latin American and Caribbean countries to explore the role of expected returns to education on schooling decisions. We find substantial variation in subjective expectations partly explained by youths' socioeconomic characteristics. Also, we find that enrolment in tertiary education is positively related to perceived education returns. Furthermore, the association of expectations with schooling choices differs across individuals in relevant domains, including gender, skills, and socioeconomic background. Our results suggest that public policies might impact choices and reduce socioeconomic gaps in schooling by providing information on education returns.
National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000
Princeton University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2003
Urquidi brindaron en distintas fases y temas del proyecto. Deseamos agradecer en especial a Mikel... more Urquidi brindaron en distintas fases y temas del proyecto. Deseamos agradecer en especial a Mikel A. Alcázar por coordinar la edición, estrategia de comunicación y diseminación de este proyecto. Alfredo Alvarado, Belén Conde y María Ignacia Contreras brindaron un excelente apoyo como asistentes de investigación del proyecto.
Intertemporal preferences are difficult to measure. We estimate time preferences using a structur... more Intertemporal preferences are difficult to measure. We estimate time preferences using a structural buffer stock consumption model and the Method of Simulated Moments. The model includes stochastic labor income, liquidity constraints, child and adult dependents, liquid and illiquid assets, revolving credit, retirement, and discount functions that allow short-run and long-run discount rates to differ. Data on retirement wealth accumulation, credit card borrowing, and consumption-income comovement identify the model. Our benchmark estimates imply a 40% short-term annualized discount rate and a 4.3% long-term annualized discount rate. Almost all specifications reject the restriction to a constant discount rate. Our quantitative results are sensitive to assumptions about the return on illiquid assets and the coefficient of relative risk aversion. When we jointly estimate the coefficient of relative risk aversion and the discount function, the short-term discount rate is 15% and the long-term discount rate is 3.8%.
Coyuntura Económica, 1993
Economics of Education Review, Jun 1, 2009
This paper estimates the impact of private education on the academic achievement of low-income st... more This paper estimates the impact of private education on the academic achievement of low-income students in Chile. To deal with selection bias, we use propensity score matching to compare the test scores of reduced-fee paying, low-income students in private voucher schools to those of similar students in public schools and free private voucher schools. Our results reveal that students in fee-charging private voucher schools score slightly higher than students in public schools. The difference in standardized test scores is approximately 10 points, a test score gain of 0.2 standard deviations. We find no difference in the academic achievement of students in the private voucher-fee charging treatment group relative to their counterparts in free private voucher schools. JEL C lassifications : I200, I210.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Mar 1, 2013
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2006
This paper estimates the impact of private education on low-income students in Chile. We attempt ... more This paper estimates the impact of private education on low-income students in Chile. We attempt to reduce selection bias by using reduced-tuition paying, lowincome students in private schools as the treatment group, based on our finding that these students were, to some extent, randomly selected out of the public school control group. Propensity score matching is then used to calculate the difference in academic achievement of students in the treatment group versus their counterpart in the control group. Our results reveal that students in private voucher schools with tuition score slightly higher than students in public schools. The difference in standardized test scores is approximately 8 points, a test score gain of almost 0.15 standard deviations.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Jul 1, 2014
This paper examines the relationship between aggregate labor productivity dispersion, adjustment ... more This paper examines the relationship between aggregate labor productivity dispersion, adjustment costs and the volatility of shocks. A growing literature has identified the extent of misallocation from the variation in inputs’ marginal productivity across establishments. The available estimates suggest that improvements in resource allocation can bring about large total factor productivity gains. This literature, however, typically equates productivity dispersion with explicit policies that favor some firms over others. In this paper we claim that an important additional factor behind productivity dispersion is a volatile environment combined with adjustment costs. After a shock, firms that face adjustment costs experience a temporary gap between the value of inputs’ marginal productivity and their market price. The higher adjustment costs and volatility are the higher nominal productivity dispersion is. Using plant-level data for the Chilean manufacturing sector, we analyze the evolution of labor productivity dispersion over years 1990 to 2007. We relate this evolution to changes in the speed of adjustment of firms and changes in the volatility of the shocks firms face. In explaining labor productivity dispersion, we empirically find a role for both the speed at which firms adjust their employment levels and the volatility of the credit, energy and exchange rate markets, i.e., the uncertainty of the operating environment.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Oct 1, 2011
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Aug 11, 2004
This paper provides an empirical analysis of individual earnings using data from the Encuesta Sup... more This paper provides an empirical analysis of individual earnings using data from the Encuesta Suplementaria de Ingresos. We find that the predictable component of income is hump-shaped over the life-cycle, and that there are strong education effects. The unpredictable component of income can be described by a very persistent permanent shock and a transitory shock. Our estimates are built from a panel of cohorts, so we use US data from the PSID to provide a magnitude for the underestimation of the estimated variances. Surprisingly, we find that the variance of the permanent shock is almost 4 times smaller in Chile than in the US, a result, perhaps, of the relative rigidity of the Chilean labor market. JEL classification: D12 (Consumer economics: empirical analysis), D89 (Information and uncertainty), H54 (National government expenditures and welfare programs).
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 1997
Supporting Information: Determinants of participation in the sample. Table S1. Probability of par... more Supporting Information: Determinants of participation in the sample. Table S1. Probability of participating in the baseline survey sample. (DOCX 39 kb)
It has been traditionally argued that unemployment insurance programs are responsible for higher ... more It has been traditionally argued that unemployment insurance programs are responsible for higher unemployment rates, due to the moral hazard of individuals reducing their search efforts when receiving unemployment benefits that are conditional on remaining unemployed. More recently, Chetty (2006) has argued that the duration effect of traditional UI benefits may be partly due to credit constraints that are relaxed by the system. In addition, a number of authors, most notably Stiglitz and Yun (2005) and Feldstein and Altman (2007), have argued that a system of individual accounts can help overcome the moral hazard problem because of the individual ownership of the account. However, liquidity might still be relevant under these types of programs. In this paper we take advantage of two natural experiments within the Chilean UI system, a system mainly based on individual accounts. Both natural experiments provide extra liquidity to the unemployed, by front loading benefits that are financed by the individual account, without changing the present value of the stream of benefits. Based on the predictions of a stylized search model, these experiments allow us to test both whether there are incentive effects in an individual account system and whether these effects are driven by liquidity. Our findings are mixed. Our preferred results, those that take advantage of a 2009 legislation reform, show that front loading the benefits is correlated with a less intense search effort, consistent with the hypothesis of liquidity effects. However, these estimated effects are neither economically nor statistically significant. On the other hand, our results based on a regression discontinuity approach exhibit a positive effect of significantly frontloading benefits (going from two payments to only one) on search effort during the first two months. These differences could be explained by the different margins being identified by the two strategies.
American economic journal. Applied economics, Apr 1, 2024
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Sep 1, 2000
Journal of International Development, Dec 27, 2023
Expectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour mark... more Expectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour market decisions. This paper uses data from a survey of youths in seven Latin American and Caribbean countries to explore the role of expected returns to education on schooling decisions. We find substantial variation in subjective expectations partly explained by youths' socioeconomic characteristics. Also, we find that enrolment in tertiary education is positively related to perceived education returns. Furthermore, the association of expectations with schooling choices differs across individuals in relevant domains, including gender, skills, and socioeconomic background. Our results suggest that public policies might impact choices and reduce socioeconomic gaps in schooling by providing information on education returns.
National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000
Princeton University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2003
Urquidi brindaron en distintas fases y temas del proyecto. Deseamos agradecer en especial a Mikel... more Urquidi brindaron en distintas fases y temas del proyecto. Deseamos agradecer en especial a Mikel A. Alcázar por coordinar la edición, estrategia de comunicación y diseminación de este proyecto. Alfredo Alvarado, Belén Conde y María Ignacia Contreras brindaron un excelente apoyo como asistentes de investigación del proyecto.
Intertemporal preferences are difficult to measure. We estimate time preferences using a structur... more Intertemporal preferences are difficult to measure. We estimate time preferences using a structural buffer stock consumption model and the Method of Simulated Moments. The model includes stochastic labor income, liquidity constraints, child and adult dependents, liquid and illiquid assets, revolving credit, retirement, and discount functions that allow short-run and long-run discount rates to differ. Data on retirement wealth accumulation, credit card borrowing, and consumption-income comovement identify the model. Our benchmark estimates imply a 40% short-term annualized discount rate and a 4.3% long-term annualized discount rate. Almost all specifications reject the restriction to a constant discount rate. Our quantitative results are sensitive to assumptions about the return on illiquid assets and the coefficient of relative risk aversion. When we jointly estimate the coefficient of relative risk aversion and the discount function, the short-term discount rate is 15% and the long-term discount rate is 3.8%.
Coyuntura Económica, 1993
Economics of Education Review, Jun 1, 2009
This paper estimates the impact of private education on the academic achievement of low-income st... more This paper estimates the impact of private education on the academic achievement of low-income students in Chile. To deal with selection bias, we use propensity score matching to compare the test scores of reduced-fee paying, low-income students in private voucher schools to those of similar students in public schools and free private voucher schools. Our results reveal that students in fee-charging private voucher schools score slightly higher than students in public schools. The difference in standardized test scores is approximately 10 points, a test score gain of 0.2 standard deviations. We find no difference in the academic achievement of students in the private voucher-fee charging treatment group relative to their counterparts in free private voucher schools. JEL C lassifications : I200, I210.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Mar 1, 2013
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2006
This paper estimates the impact of private education on low-income students in Chile. We attempt ... more This paper estimates the impact of private education on low-income students in Chile. We attempt to reduce selection bias by using reduced-tuition paying, lowincome students in private schools as the treatment group, based on our finding that these students were, to some extent, randomly selected out of the public school control group. Propensity score matching is then used to calculate the difference in academic achievement of students in the treatment group versus their counterpart in the control group. Our results reveal that students in private voucher schools with tuition score slightly higher than students in public schools. The difference in standardized test scores is approximately 8 points, a test score gain of almost 0.15 standard deviations.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Jul 1, 2014
This paper examines the relationship between aggregate labor productivity dispersion, adjustment ... more This paper examines the relationship between aggregate labor productivity dispersion, adjustment costs and the volatility of shocks. A growing literature has identified the extent of misallocation from the variation in inputs’ marginal productivity across establishments. The available estimates suggest that improvements in resource allocation can bring about large total factor productivity gains. This literature, however, typically equates productivity dispersion with explicit policies that favor some firms over others. In this paper we claim that an important additional factor behind productivity dispersion is a volatile environment combined with adjustment costs. After a shock, firms that face adjustment costs experience a temporary gap between the value of inputs’ marginal productivity and their market price. The higher adjustment costs and volatility are the higher nominal productivity dispersion is. Using plant-level data for the Chilean manufacturing sector, we analyze the evolution of labor productivity dispersion over years 1990 to 2007. We relate this evolution to changes in the speed of adjustment of firms and changes in the volatility of the shocks firms face. In explaining labor productivity dispersion, we empirically find a role for both the speed at which firms adjust their employment levels and the volatility of the credit, energy and exchange rate markets, i.e., the uncertainty of the operating environment.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Oct 1, 2011
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Aug 11, 2004
This paper provides an empirical analysis of individual earnings using data from the Encuesta Sup... more This paper provides an empirical analysis of individual earnings using data from the Encuesta Suplementaria de Ingresos. We find that the predictable component of income is hump-shaped over the life-cycle, and that there are strong education effects. The unpredictable component of income can be described by a very persistent permanent shock and a transitory shock. Our estimates are built from a panel of cohorts, so we use US data from the PSID to provide a magnitude for the underestimation of the estimated variances. Surprisingly, we find that the variance of the permanent shock is almost 4 times smaller in Chile than in the US, a result, perhaps, of the relative rigidity of the Chilean labor market. JEL classification: D12 (Consumer economics: empirical analysis), D89 (Information and uncertainty), H54 (National government expenditures and welfare programs).
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 1997
Supporting Information: Determinants of participation in the sample. Table S1. Probability of par... more Supporting Information: Determinants of participation in the sample. Table S1. Probability of participating in the baseline survey sample. (DOCX 39 kb)
It has been traditionally argued that unemployment insurance programs are responsible for higher ... more It has been traditionally argued that unemployment insurance programs are responsible for higher unemployment rates, due to the moral hazard of individuals reducing their search efforts when receiving unemployment benefits that are conditional on remaining unemployed. More recently, Chetty (2006) has argued that the duration effect of traditional UI benefits may be partly due to credit constraints that are relaxed by the system. In addition, a number of authors, most notably Stiglitz and Yun (2005) and Feldstein and Altman (2007), have argued that a system of individual accounts can help overcome the moral hazard problem because of the individual ownership of the account. However, liquidity might still be relevant under these types of programs. In this paper we take advantage of two natural experiments within the Chilean UI system, a system mainly based on individual accounts. Both natural experiments provide extra liquidity to the unemployed, by front loading benefits that are financed by the individual account, without changing the present value of the stream of benefits. Based on the predictions of a stylized search model, these experiments allow us to test both whether there are incentive effects in an individual account system and whether these effects are driven by liquidity. Our findings are mixed. Our preferred results, those that take advantage of a 2009 legislation reform, show that front loading the benefits is correlated with a less intense search effort, consistent with the hypothesis of liquidity effects. However, these estimated effects are neither economically nor statistically significant. On the other hand, our results based on a regression discontinuity approach exhibit a positive effect of significantly frontloading benefits (going from two payments to only one) on search effort during the first two months. These differences could be explained by the different margins being identified by the two strategies.
This paper examines how improving dental health affects economic, social, and psychological outco... more This paper examines how improving dental health affects economic, social, and psychological outcomes. In a randomized experiment, we provide a low-income group in Chile free dental care, including prostheses, and find significant and persistent impacts on men's and women's dental and self-perceived mental health. For women, treatment generates steady improvement in selfesteem, significant impact on appearance, short-run improvements in employment and earnings, and improvement in partner interactions. We find no impact for men in any of these dimensions. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that treatment effects on labor market outcomes are larger for women with more severe visible dental issues at baseline. In summary, we find that increasing access to dental care, including cosmetic elements, improves important aspects of people's lives.
Expectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour mark... more Expectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour market decisions. This paper uses data from a survey of youths in seven Latin American and Caribbean countries to explore the role of expected returns to education on schooling decisions. We find substantial variation in subjective expectations partly explained by youths' socioeconomic characteristics. Also, we find that enrolment in tertiary education is positively related to perceived education returns. Furthermore, the association of expectations with schooling choices differs across individuals in relevant domains, including gender, skills, and socioeconomic background. Our results suggest that public policies might impact choices and reduce socioeconomic gaps in schooling by providing information on education returns.