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Kristin Mammen - Research

"Fathers' Time Investments in Children: Do Sons Get More?" by Kristin Mammen. Journal of Population Economics. 2011.
Abstract: Evidence suggests that, from birth, fathers treat sons differently than daughters in the U.S., as well as in developing countries. Fathers' time investments in children are one channel through which differential treatment by gender may affect children's outcomes. This paper uses data from the 2003 American Time Use Survey to explore three questions about paternal time in married two-parent families: Does the gender composition of his children affect the amount of time a father spends with them? If so, does the gender of the individual child have an additional effect? And is a girl advantaged or disadvantaged by the presence of brothers in spending time with her father? Father-level and child-level regressions examine the effects of gender composition and gender. Family fixed effects specifications show that gender is important within families as well as across families. Overall, boys get more of fathers' time in certain types of activities, compared to girls in all-girl families and to girls with brothers. Although the contribution of this time to children's development cannot be directly measured, to the extent that these investments of fathers' time affect children's outcomes, it appears that girls are at a disadvantage, especially girls in all-girl families. Girls with brothers do receive more of fathers' time than girls with only sisters, but this is primarily in television watching, so whether it is an advantage or not is open to question.

"The Effect of Children’s Gender on Living Arrangements and Child Support" (e-AER) by Kristin Mammen. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings. May 2008.
Abstract: Previous evidence suggests that the gender composition of a family’s children – specifically, the presence of sons – affects a number of parental behaviors, including marriage formation, marriage disruption, and living arrangements. Using the March Current Population Survey from 1988 to 2006, this paper examines whether girls are at a double disadvantage in terms of living in single mother homes, and in the likelihood of receiving child support from absent fathers. The findings show that girls are indeed more likely to live in single mother homes and boys are overrepresented in married parent homes with a father or stepfather, and in single father families. However, the child support results suggest if anything that single mothers are slightly disadvantaged by having sons.

"Rearranging the Family? Income Support and Elderly Living Arrangements in a Low Income Country" by Eric Edmonds, Kristin Mammen and Douglas Miller. Journal of Human Resources, Winter 2005.

Abstract: Despite the importance of living arrangements for well-being and production, the effect of changes in household income on living arrangements is not well understood. This study overcomes the identification problems that have limited the study of the link between income and living arrangements by exploiting a discontinuity in the benefit formula for the social pension in South Africa. In contrast to the findings of the existing literature on wealthier nations, we find no evidence that pension income is used to maintain the independence of elders in South Africa. Rather, potential beneficiaries alter their household structure. Prime working age women depart, and we observe an increase in children under 5 and young women of childbearing age. These shifts in co-residence patterns are consistent with a setting where prime age women have comparative advantage in work away from extended family relative to younger women. It appears that the additional income from old age support induces a change in living arrangements to exploit this advantage.

"Women's Work and Economic Development" (e-JEP) by Kristin Mammen and Christina Paxson. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 2000.

Abstract: This paper used both a cross-country dataset and microdata from India and Thailand to examine how women's work status changes with economic development. Several clear patterns emerged: women's labor force participation first declines and then rises with development; women move from work in family enterprises to work as paid employees; fertility declines; and gender gaps in education narrow. Women's education levels, and those of their spouses, appear to be important determinants of women's labor market activities. Broad welfare indicators, such as mortality rates and education levels, indicate that women's well-being improves on average with development, both in absolute terms and relative to men.

"All for One or Each for Her Own: Do Polygamous Families Share and Share Alike?" 2009. (Revise and Resubmit)

Abstract: This paper compares unitary and collective models of investment in children in the context of a polygynous family structure (with multiple wives) using a Living Standards Measurement Survey from Côte d’Ivoire. I examine whether the mother’s rank in the household - whether she is a senior (first) or junior wife - influences her child’s school enrollment, school expenditures, work activities, and educational attainment in early adulthood. I find that being the child of a senior wife positively affects enrollment and school expenditures at the middle school ages, relative to being the child of a junior wife. The children of junior wives participate more in home production, suggesting they are performing tasks that allow the children of senior wives to attend school. Senior children accumulate an additional year of education by their early twenties, leaving junior children at a long term educational disadvantage. The results of fixed effects regressions which take account of unobserved heterogeneity of the fathers are consistent with the evidence of the OLS estimates although imprecisely estimated. This evidence that rank affects investments in children is consistent with the credit-constrained collective model presented in the paper.

"Children's Gender and Investments from Nonresident Fathers" 2011. (Revise and Resubmit).
Abstract: Evidence suggests that fathers have stronger ties to sons than daughters, which may result in differential investments in their children. This paper investigates whether girls’ gender restricts their access to fathers' presence, in the form of coresidence, and to contributions from fathers if they no longer live together. The data used are the 1994-2008 March/April Match Current Population Survey Child Support Supplements, a large, nationally representative sample which identifies child support eligible mothers of all marital statuses and collects information on nonresident fathers’ financial and social investments in their children. Results indicate that being a girl increases the likelihood of living in a single mother home. Small but suggestive effects of child gender are found on fathers’ post-dissolution investments, but these effects disadvantage boys rather than girls. Results for court-ordered outcomes such as the existence and amounts of child support orders show that courts do not allocate child support differentially by child gender.

"The Long Term Effects of the Divorce Revolution: Health, Wealth, and Labor Supply" 2010.
Abstract: During the 'Divorce Revolution' of the late 1960s and early 1970s, a large number of states passed laws allowing for unilateral divorce, which made divorce easier by requiring the consent of only one spouse to dissolve a marriage. During the same period, the United States divorce rate doubled. This paper examines the long term effects of divorce law liberalization on the well-being of men and women who were young adults when the laws were changing. Respondents in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were aged 17 and up in 1970, and the data include detailed health and financial status and labor supply measures beginning at age 51. I find that experiencing a law changes at ages 16-25 increased labor supply and financial status at older ages for women, but is associated with poorer health, relative to women who lived in states which never changed their laws and to women who experienced a law change at older ages. Men exposed to the law change as young adults also have higher financial status and lower health later in life, but there is no effect on their labor supply. The results suggest that the policy change affected long-term outcomes even for those who did not divorce, with one channel being increased labor supply for young women around the time of the reform.