ECON4331
Suggested topics:
Human capital
1. How is occupational skill level related to reading skills in different countries (STEP, PIAAC)?
2. How are reading skill levels in different countries over time related to educational attainment (DHS)?
3. How does the wage return to education vary between rich and poor countries (IPUMS)?
4. Is the return to education different when measured in wages or in consumption levels? (IFLS)*?
5. What is the relationship between reading skills and parental education in rich and poor countries (PISA, PIAAC)?
6. How are reading and numeracy skills related to gaps in native vs foreign born labor market outcomes (PIAAC)?
7. How does female labor force participation and development across space, time, and different individual charateristics (IPUMS, PWT)
8. How do reading skills vary across cohorts in Vietnam, South Korea, and Kenya. (STEP/PIAAC)
Income
9. Construct poverty measures from household surveys and relate them to education and household size. (LSMS)
10. Use household survey to explore how regional education levels are related to regional consumption levels (LSMS).
11. Use household surveys to construct an inequality measure of household consumption levels.
12. Measure how share of expenditure put on food vary with overall consumption (LSMS, CEX).
13. Construct food price indexes in rural and urban areas and compare difference between real and nominal incomes as measured in food (IFLS)?*
Structural change/urban versus rural
14. Differences in consumption levels between urban and rural areas (IFLS).
15. Agricultural yields and size of plots (LSMS-ISA)
16. Agricultural yields and fertilizer use in Africa. (LSMS-ISA)
17. Differences in amenities between urban and rural areas (IPUMS)
18. Marriage rates by age and gender in urban and rural areas.
19. The income elasticity of food consumption (LSMS).
Politics
20. What is the relationship between education and pro-democratic values in Africa? (Afrobarometer)
Gender
21. How do attitudes to female empowerment as measured in the DHS depend on individual and country characteristics? (DHS)
22. How has the age of first marriage across and countries? (IPUMS; DHS)
23. How does the employment rate of women vary across rich and poor countries, and across households with different characteristics (e.g. marital status)? (IPUMS)
Demographics
24. How does income vary by age in countries with different income levels (IPUMS, LSMS)?
25. How has the relationship between mother’s education and fertility changed over time (IPUMS)?
26. How do birth rates vary across urban and rural areas across countries with different income levels? (IPUMS, DHS)
27. Use DHS to construct a measure of total fertility rates in different countries and over time. (DHS)
Health
28. What is the relationship between infant mortality rates and mother’s education level (DHS).
29. What is the relationship between infant mortality rates and birth spacing (DHS).
30. Child health and mother’s education level (DHS).
31. How do child and maternal health depend on knowledge of and/or access to family planning services (DHS)?
32. How does health behavior (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, drug use, nutrition) vary across households with different characteristics (e.g., education, income level) (IPUMS, DHS)?
33. Rural and urban gap in health care access and utilization (IPUMS)
34. How does medical expenditure vary across age, sex, and income level? How has this relationship changed over time? (IPUMS, MEPS)