Kristin F Butcher
Biographic Data
| ID | 950490 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kristin F Butcher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kristin F |
| FAMILY NAME | Butcher |
| SIGNATURE | BUTCHER K F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 114 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Women’s Colleges and Economics Major Choice
Many observers argue that diversity in Economics and STEM fields is critical, not simply because of egalitarian goals, but because who is in a field may shape what is studied by it. If increasing the rate of majoring in mathematically intensive fields among women is a worthy goal, then understanding whether women’s colleges causally affect that choice is important. Among all admitted applicants to Wellesley College, enrollees are 7.2 percentage p…
The Public Charge Rule and Program Participation Among U.S. Citizens
Use of public assistance by noncitizens is controversial. Before 2018, institutionalization and receipt of cash benefits were considered as evidence of whether immigrants were likely to become a “public charge” and, therefore, ineligible for citizenship. But a new rule—proposed in 2018 and finalized in 2020—also made participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicaid relevant as evidence. We examine whether participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medic…
Judge Effects, Case Characteristics, and Plea Bargaining
A growing literature uses random assignment of cases to judges to examine criminal sentencing. To extend this line of work, we directly examine how judicial “harshness” varies with the seriousness of criminal conviction. Using a model that respects the mix of cases and the noise produced by small caseloads, we find that case severity is best viewed as an endogenous outcome of bargaining. We also find that harsher judges have a higher share of cas…
Understanding recent trends in childhood obesity in the United States
The Effects of an Anti-Grade Inflation Policy at Wellesley College
Average grades in colleges and universities have risen markedly since the 1960s. Critics express concern that grade inflation erodes incentives for students to learn; gives students, employers, and graduate schools poor information on absolute and relative abilities; and reflects the quid pro quo of grades for better student evaluations of professors. This paper evaluates an anti-grade-inflation policy that capped most course averages at a B+. Th…
Childhood Obesity
The increase in childhood obesity over the past several decades, together with the associated health problems and costs, is raising grave concern among health care professionals, policy experts, children's advocates, and parents. Patricia Anderson and Kristin Butcher document trends in children's obesity and examine the possible underlying causes of the obesity epidemic. They begin by reviewing research on energy intake, energy expenditure, and "…
Maternal employment and overweight children
The Immigrant and Native-Born Wage Distributions
Recent studies document a large widening of the immigrant/native-born mean wage gap since about 1970, a trend that some observers ascribe to post-1965 changes in U.S. immigration policy. These studies are limited, however, by their exclusive focus on men, which ignores important gender differences in the wage gap, and by the inadequacy of the mean wage for characterizing the gap when, as in recent decades, the wage distribution dramatically chang…
Wage Effects of Unions and Industrial Councils in South Africa
Using data for 1995, the authors estimate union wage premia of about 20% for African workers and 10% for white workers in South Africa—roughly similar to estimates reported for other countries, including the United States. African nonunion workers who were covered by industrial council agreements received a premium of 6–10%; the premium was positive but not statistically significant for whites. Although the union/nonunion wage gap was smaller ins…
Cross‐city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime
Public concerns about the costs of immigration and crime are high, and sometimes overlapping. This article investigates the relationship between immigration into a metropolitan area and that area's crime rate during the 1980s. Using data from the Uniform Crime Reports and the Current Population Surveys, we find, in the cross section, that cities with high crime rates tend to have large numbers of immigrants. However, controlling for the demograph…
Cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime
Public concerns about the costs of immigration and crime are high, and sometimes overlapping. This article investigates the relationship between immigration into a metropolitan area and that area's crime rate during the 1980s. Using data from the Uniform Crime Reports and the Current Population Surveys, we find, in the cross section, that cities with high crime rates tend to have large numbers of immigrants. However, controlling for the demograph…
Recent Immigrants
This analysis of data from the 5% 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples shows that among 18-40-year-old men in the United States, immigrants were less likely than the native-born to be institutionalized (that is, in correctional facilities, mental hospitals, or other institutions), and much less likely to be institutionalized than native-born men with similar demographic characteristics. Furthermore, earlier immigrants were more likely to be…
The Effect of Sibling Sex Composition on Women's Education and Earnings
This paper documents the impact of siblings on the education of men and women born in the United States between 1920 and 1965. We examine the effect of the number and sex composition of a boy or girl's siblings on that child's educational attainment. We find that throughout the century women's educational choices have been systematically affected by the sex composition of her siblings, and that men's choices have not. Women raised only with broth…
Black Immigrants in the United States
This analysis of 1980 Census data shows that in 1979 immigrant black men had higher employment rates than native-born black men, but the wages of employed members of the two groups were nearly the same. Further, the wage differences that did exist between these groups appear to have stemmed from the selection process associated with migration, not (as has been argued by-some) from differences between the cultural traditions of immigrant and nativ…
Black Immigrants in the United States
This analysis of 1980 Census data shows that in 1979 immigrant black men had higher employment rates than native-born black men, but the wages of employed members of the two groups were nearly the same. Further, the wage differences that did exist between these groups appear to have stemmed from the selection process associated with migration, not (as has been argued by-some) from differences between the cultural traditions of immigrant and nativ…
Recent Immigrants
This analysis of data from the 5% 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples shows that among 18-40-year-old men in the United States, immigrants were less likely than the native-born to be institutionalized (that is, in correctional facilities, mental hospitals, or other institutions), and much less likely to be institutionalized than native-born men with similar demographic characteristics. Furthermore, earlier immigrants were more likely to be…
The Immigrant and Native-Born Wage Distributions
Recent studies document a large widening of the immigrant/native-born mean wage gap since about 1970, a trend that some observers ascribe to post-1965 changes in U.S. immigration policy. These studies are limited, however, by their exclusive focus on men, which ignores important gender differences in the wage gap, and by the inadequacy of the mean wage for characterizing the gap when, as in recent decades, the wage distribution dramatically chang…
The Effects of an Anti-Grade Inflation Policy at Wellesley College
Average grades in colleges and universities have risen markedly since the 1960s. Critics express concern that grade inflation erodes incentives for students to learn; gives students, employers, and graduate schools poor information on absolute and relative abilities; and reflects the quid pro quo of grades for better student evaluations of professors. This paper evaluates an anti-grade-inflation policy that capped most course averages at a B+. Th…
Wage Effects of Unions and Industrial Councils in South Africa
Using data for 1995, the authors estimate union wage premia of about 20% for African workers and 10% for white workers in South Africa—roughly similar to estimates reported for other countries, including the United States. African nonunion workers who were covered by industrial council agreements received a premium of 6–10%; the premium was positive but not statistically significant for whites. Although the union/nonunion wage gap was smaller ins…
The Public Charge Rule and Program Participation Among U.S. Citizens
Use of public assistance by noncitizens is controversial. Before 2018, institutionalization and receipt of cash benefits were considered as evidence of whether immigrants were likely to become a “public charge” and, therefore, ineligible for citizenship. But a new rule—proposed in 2018 and finalized in 2020—also made participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicaid relevant as evidence. We examine whether participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medic…
The Effect of Sibling Sex Composition on Women's Education and Earnings
This paper documents the impact of siblings on the education of men and women born in the United States between 1920 and 1965. We examine the effect of the number and sex composition of a boy or girl's siblings on that child's educational attainment. We find that throughout the century women's educational choices have been systematically affected by the sex composition of her siblings, and that men's choices have not. Women raised only with broth…
Black Immigrants in the United States
This analysis of 1980 Census data shows that in 1979 immigrant black men had higher employment rates than native-born black men, but the wages of employed members of the two groups were nearly the same. Further, the wage differences that did exist between these groups appear to have stemmed from the selection process associated with migration, not (as has been argued by-some) from differences between the cultural traditions of immigrant and nativ…
Cross‐city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime
Public concerns about the costs of immigration and crime are high, and sometimes overlapping. This article investigates the relationship between immigration into a metropolitan area and that area's crime rate during the 1980s. Using data from the Uniform Crime Reports and the Current Population Surveys, we find, in the cross section, that cities with high crime rates tend to have large numbers of immigrants. However, controlling for the demograph…
Cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime
Public concerns about the costs of immigration and crime are high, and sometimes overlapping. This article investigates the relationship between immigration into a metropolitan area and that area's crime rate during the 1980s. Using data from the Uniform Crime Reports and the Current Population Surveys, we find, in the cross section, that cities with high crime rates tend to have large numbers of immigrants. However, controlling for the demograph…
Recent Immigrants
This analysis of data from the 5% 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples shows that among 18-40-year-old men in the United States, immigrants were less likely than the native-born to be institutionalized (that is, in correctional facilities, mental hospitals, or other institutions), and much less likely to be institutionalized than native-born men with similar demographic characteristics. Furthermore, earlier immigrants were more likely to be…
Wage Effects of Unions and Industrial Councils in South Africa
Using data for 1995, the authors estimate union wage premia of about 20% for African workers and 10% for white workers in South Africa—roughly similar to estimates reported for other countries, including the United States. African nonunion workers who were covered by industrial council agreements received a premium of 6–10%; the premium was positive but not statistically significant for whites. Although the union/nonunion wage gap was smaller ins…
The Immigrant and Native-Born Wage Distributions
Recent studies document a large widening of the immigrant/native-born mean wage gap since about 1970, a trend that some observers ascribe to post-1965 changes in U.S. immigration policy. These studies are limited, however, by their exclusive focus on men, which ignores important gender differences in the wage gap, and by the inadequacy of the mean wage for characterizing the gap when, as in recent decades, the wage distribution dramatically chang…
Maternal employment and overweight children
Childhood Obesity
The increase in childhood obesity over the past several decades, together with the associated health problems and costs, is raising grave concern among health care professionals, policy experts, children's advocates, and parents. Patricia Anderson and Kristin Butcher document trends in children's obesity and examine the possible underlying causes of the obesity epidemic. They begin by reviewing research on energy intake, energy expenditure, and "…
The Effects of an Anti-Grade Inflation Policy at Wellesley College
Average grades in colleges and universities have risen markedly since the 1960s. Critics express concern that grade inflation erodes incentives for students to learn; gives students, employers, and graduate schools poor information on absolute and relative abilities; and reflects the quid pro quo of grades for better student evaluations of professors. This paper evaluates an anti-grade-inflation policy that capped most course averages at a B+. Th…
Understanding recent trends in childhood obesity in the United States
Judge Effects, Case Characteristics, and Plea Bargaining
A growing literature uses random assignment of cases to judges to examine criminal sentencing. To extend this line of work, we directly examine how judicial “harshness” varies with the seriousness of criminal conviction. Using a model that respects the mix of cases and the noise produced by small caseloads, we find that case severity is best viewed as an endogenous outcome of bargaining. We also find that harsher judges have a higher share of cas…
Women’s Colleges and Economics Major Choice
Many observers argue that diversity in Economics and STEM fields is critical, not simply because of egalitarian goals, but because who is in a field may shape what is studied by it. If increasing the rate of majoring in mathematically intensive fields among women is a worthy goal, then understanding whether women’s colleges causally affect that choice is important. Among all admitted applicants to Wellesley College, enrollees are 7.2 percentage p…
The Public Charge Rule and Program Participation Among U.S. Citizens
Use of public assistance by noncitizens is controversial. Before 2018, institutionalization and receipt of cash benefits were considered as evidence of whether immigrants were likely to become a “public charge” and, therefore, ineligible for citizenship. But a new rule—proposed in 2018 and finalized in 2020—also made participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicaid relevant as evidence. We examine whether participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medic…
Economics (11 works) · Demographic economics (10 works) · Political science (7 works) · Demography (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Immigration (5 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Geography (4 works) · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality (4 works)