A recent IZA Discussion Paper by Reto Odermatt and Alois Stutzer shows that smoking bans increase the happiness of smokers who recently failed to quit smoking. Other than that bans are not related to subjective well-being. The authors analyze data for 40 European countries and regions between 1990 and 2011 and exploit the staggered introduction of bans to tease out the effect of smoking base on individual well-being. They also find that higher cigarette prices reduce the life satisfaction of likely smokers.
Economists agree on key economic questions
Ask two doctors and you get two opinions, ask two economists and you get three. It often seems that professional economists are not even able to agree on key economic questions: Is immigration beneficial? Are ethanol requirements in gasoline fuel-inefficient? Could the financial crisis in Greece trigger bank runs in peripheral countries of the Eurozone? Recent evidence evaluated by Roger Gordon and Gordon B. Dahl suggests that this perception is wrong: The authors find a broad consensus on many different economic issues, particularly when the past economic literature on the question is large. Moreover, they do not find that partisan preferences have an impact on an economist’s answer.
Who joins a drug-selling gang?
A new paper by Leandro Carvalho and Rodrigo R. Soares analyzes the members of drug-trafficking gangs in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The paper shows that individuals from lower socioeconomic background and with no religious affiliation show a higher probability of joining a gang. Students that have problems at school and take drugs at early ages join gangs at younger ages. Wages within the gang do not depend on education, but on seniority. Moreover, the more violent a member is, the better he is paid. The authors also look at the risk of death: Each additional experience of gun fight is associated with an increase of 2 percentage points in the probability of death in the following two years. Individuals with personality traits associated with aggressiveness and lack of control are also more likely to die.
Newspapers make governments more efficient
The key democratic task of the press is to be a watchdog for governments and politicians. Do the media carry out their duty? A recent IZA Discussion Paper by Francesco Drago, Tommaso Nannicini and Francesco Sobbrio suggests they do. The authors use the presence (or absence) of local newspapers in Italian cities to analyze the effect of media coverage on political outcomes. They find that the entry of newspapers improves the efficiency of the municipal government – especially if the mayor will run again for office. Also, more local newspapers lead to higher participation in municipal elections and increase the probability for incumbent mayors to be reelected.
Girls, take maths and boost your career!
A recent IZA working paper by Juanna Schrøter Joensen and Helena Skyt Nielsen suggests that taking more Math courses in high school can boost girls’ professional careers. The authors show that an institutional change in the Danish high school system that made girls more likely to take Math had positive effects on the girls’ later labor market success: Taking advanced high school math accelerated graduation, attracted girls to high-paid or traditionally male-dominated career tracks and to CEO positions, and as a consequence lead to higher wages for women.