Dennis Wesselbaum
Biographic Data
| ID | 2553826 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dennis Wesselbaum |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dennis |
| FAMILY NAME | Wesselbaum |
| SIGNATURE | WESSELBAUM D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Otago |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2701-6689 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Who Gains From Minimum Wage Increases? A Gender‐Based Distributional Analysis
This paper examines the distributional effects of minimum wage changes in the U.S., focusing on gender differences. Using CPS Merged Outgoing Rotation Group data (1990–2019) and a non‐parametric difference‐in‐differences approach, we find significant income shifts following minimum wage increases. Women, especially those aged 35–44, benefit more than men, with notable gains among Hispanic women, married individuals, and union members. We disaggre…
Portfolio Choice With Intra‐Household Bargaining and Gender Differences in Preferences
In this paper, we combine the literature on intra‐household bargaining, gender differences in preferences, and social norms to understand the financial decision making of households. We derive a theoretical model which describes the portfolio choice decision of a two‐person household, where both members have different preferences with regard to risk and time. We then use data from the Health and Retirement Study for the years 1992–2016 to test hy…
Does inflation affect well-being
After years of low and stable inflation, high inflation rates have returned in many countries around the world. This paper highlights the importance of outliers for the study of whether inflation is associated with individual-level well-being using cross-country data. We combine Gallup World Poll individual-level data from 150 countries between 2007 and 2019 with inflation data obtained from the International Monetary Fund ( N = 1,946,459). We co…
Monetary Policy as a Wicked Problem: Complexity, Challenges, and Implications
This paper offers a novel exploration at the intersection of monetary policy and the concept of “wicked problems.” Through a comprehensive analysis, it reveals how the complexities, uncertainties, and conflicting objectives inherent in monetary policy align with the characteristics of wicked problems. By integrating insights from various disciplines and offering innovative perspectives, it underscores the need for a nuanced and adaptive approach …
Contracts and Firms' Inflation Expectations
We use novel survey data to study firms’ inventory contracts. We document facts about the usage of purchase and sale contracts. We find that firms purchase and sell inventory through three contractual arrangements: fixed price and quantity, fixed price only, and fixed quantity only. Those using fixed price and quantity hold the largest share of contracts. The average duration of purchase contracts is not very different from the average duration o…
Partisanship, elections and lockdowns: Evidence from US states
In this article, we use state‐level variation in Senate elections and partisanship to understand the variation in lockdown characteristics in the US. We argue that the state‐level decision makers and their parties weigh off the perceived political costs in an election year of a depressed economy against risks to public health. Democrats and Republicans, and their voters, vary in the weights they attach to these costs and benefits. We are thus exp…
Perceived personal control and subjective well-being among farmers
Climate belief, accuracy of climatic expectations, and pro-environmental action
This paper extends the literature on climate change by asking 'Who believes in climate change?', 'Whose expectations regarding future climate coincide with scientific projections?', and 'Do beliefs and holding 'correct' expectations influence taking concerted action?' We find that 88% of survey respondents representing New Zealand's primary sector believe in climate change but that only 34% have expectations regarding future temperatures that coi…
Well-Being and Income Across Space and Time: Evidence from One Million Households
This paper provides an overview of the global trends and driving forces of well-being and income. We extend the literature by examining inequality in both variables, since average well-being and income measures can obscure important disparities in people’s lives. We use data from the Gallup World Poll for nine years (2009–2017) and 158 countries ( N = 1,437,897). Our analysis proceeds in two steps. First, we present country-level panel evidence. …
Financial inclusion and international migration in low- and middle-income countries
Climatic factors as drivers of migration: A review
A food insecurity Kuznets Curve
Heterogeneity in climate change beliefs across New Zealand's rural sector
In this paper we present novel evidence about heterogeneity in climate beliefs using a large-scale survey of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Using a flexible, conditional-moments approach, we estimate the interpersonal dispersion in climate change beliefs conditional on individual characteristics, which provides a direct measure of the heterogeneity in beliefs about climate change. Our results show that wom…
Do you feel the heat around the corner? The effect of weather on crime
Does Aid Drive Migration? Evidence from a Shift-Share Instrument
Foreign aid payments have been a key policy response by Global North countries to reduce increased migration flows from the Global South. In this article, we contribute to the literature on the relationship between aid and international migration flows and estimate the contemporaneous effect of bilateral aid payments on bilateral, international migration flows. The fundamental problem in analyzing this relationship is endogeneity, or reverse caus…
Food Insecurity and International Migration Flows
The driving forces of international migration are increasingly complex and interrelated. This article examines the relationship between food insecurity and regular, permanent international migration. The analysis draws on data from the first global measure of individual-level food insecurity combined with data on migration flows from 198 origin countries to 16 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development destination countries for 2014 a…
Revisiting the climate driver and inhibitor mechanisms of international migration
In this paper, we add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration out of Africa. We particularly focus on the direct effect of climate variables: temperature, rainfall, and weather-related disaster. We revisit the question whether climate is a driver or inhibitor of migration using migration flows out of all African countries from 1980 to 2015 into 16 OECD countries. Our findings show that climate can be a driver and an inh…
Moving Towards Happiness
We add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration. While the existing literature establishes that income differences, migration costs and certain other factors (e.g. climate or human rights) affect the migration decision, we focus on the broader role of non‐pecuniary factors. We include well‐being measures in a standard model of bilateral migration flows and enrich the analysis further by testing the effects on migration o…
Catastrophe theory and the financial crisis
This paper develops and estimates catastrophe‐augmented models of the financial crisis. We employ catastrophe theory to explain discontinuous jumps in state variables of dynamic systems. We estimate an augmented bank failure model showing that the buildup of risk and an increase in the Federal Funds rate combined with low reserves (negative insurance effect) have been the main drivers of the financial crisis. Therefore, macroprudential policy and…
Gender-specific differences in labor market adjustment patterns: Evidence from the United States
Do men and women behave differently while adjusting labor supply over the business cycle? Using data from the United States, we show that women are significantly more likely to adjust along the intensive margin (number of hours), while men adjust more along the extensive margin (employment). Older, single, and divorced/widowed adjust predominantly along the extensive margin
Moving Towards Happiness
We add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration. While the existing literature establishes that income differences, migration costs and certain other factors (e.g. climate or human rights) affect the migration decision, we focus on the broader role of non‐pecuniary factors. We include well‐being measures in a standard model of bilateral migration flows and enrich the analysis further by testing the effects on migration o…
Food Insecurity and International Migration Flows
The driving forces of international migration are increasingly complex and interrelated. This article examines the relationship between food insecurity and regular, permanent international migration. The analysis draws on data from the first global measure of individual-level food insecurity combined with data on migration flows from 198 origin countries to 16 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development destination countries for 2014 a…
Gender-specific differences in labor market adjustment patterns: Evidence from the United States
Do men and women behave differently while adjusting labor supply over the business cycle? Using data from the United States, we show that women are significantly more likely to adjust along the intensive margin (number of hours), while men adjust more along the extensive margin (employment). Older, single, and divorced/widowed adjust predominantly along the extensive margin
Catastrophe theory and the financial crisis
This paper develops and estimates catastrophe‐augmented models of the financial crisis. We employ catastrophe theory to explain discontinuous jumps in state variables of dynamic systems. We estimate an augmented bank failure model showing that the buildup of risk and an increase in the Federal Funds rate combined with low reserves (negative insurance effect) have been the main drivers of the financial crisis. Therefore, macroprudential policy and…
Moving Towards Happiness
We add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration. While the existing literature establishes that income differences, migration costs and certain other factors (e.g. climate or human rights) affect the migration decision, we focus on the broader role of non‐pecuniary factors. We include well‐being measures in a standard model of bilateral migration flows and enrich the analysis further by testing the effects on migration o…
Revisiting the climate driver and inhibitor mechanisms of international migration
In this paper, we add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration out of Africa. We particularly focus on the direct effect of climate variables: temperature, rainfall, and weather-related disaster. We revisit the question whether climate is a driver or inhibitor of migration using migration flows out of all African countries from 1980 to 2015 into 16 OECD countries. Our findings show that climate can be a driver and an inh…
Do you feel the heat around the corner? The effect of weather on crime
Does Aid Drive Migration? Evidence from a Shift-Share Instrument
Foreign aid payments have been a key policy response by Global North countries to reduce increased migration flows from the Global South. In this article, we contribute to the literature on the relationship between aid and international migration flows and estimate the contemporaneous effect of bilateral aid payments on bilateral, international migration flows. The fundamental problem in analyzing this relationship is endogeneity, or reverse caus…
Food Insecurity and International Migration Flows
The driving forces of international migration are increasingly complex and interrelated. This article examines the relationship between food insecurity and regular, permanent international migration. The analysis draws on data from the first global measure of individual-level food insecurity combined with data on migration flows from 198 origin countries to 16 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development destination countries for 2014 a…
Well-Being and Income Across Space and Time: Evidence from One Million Households
This paper provides an overview of the global trends and driving forces of well-being and income. We extend the literature by examining inequality in both variables, since average well-being and income measures can obscure important disparities in people’s lives. We use data from the Gallup World Poll for nine years (2009–2017) and 158 countries ( N = 1,437,897). Our analysis proceeds in two steps. First, we present country-level panel evidence. …
Financial inclusion and international migration in low- and middle-income countries
Climatic factors as drivers of migration: A review
A food insecurity Kuznets Curve
Heterogeneity in climate change beliefs across New Zealand's rural sector
In this paper we present novel evidence about heterogeneity in climate beliefs using a large-scale survey of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Using a flexible, conditional-moments approach, we estimate the interpersonal dispersion in climate change beliefs conditional on individual characteristics, which provides a direct measure of the heterogeneity in beliefs about climate change. Our results show that wom…
Contracts and Firms' Inflation Expectations
We use novel survey data to study firms’ inventory contracts. We document facts about the usage of purchase and sale contracts. We find that firms purchase and sell inventory through three contractual arrangements: fixed price and quantity, fixed price only, and fixed quantity only. Those using fixed price and quantity hold the largest share of contracts. The average duration of purchase contracts is not very different from the average duration o…
Partisanship, elections and lockdowns: Evidence from US states
In this article, we use state‐level variation in Senate elections and partisanship to understand the variation in lockdown characteristics in the US. We argue that the state‐level decision makers and their parties weigh off the perceived political costs in an election year of a depressed economy against risks to public health. Democrats and Republicans, and their voters, vary in the weights they attach to these costs and benefits. We are thus exp…
Perceived personal control and subjective well-being among farmers
Climate belief, accuracy of climatic expectations, and pro-environmental action
This paper extends the literature on climate change by asking 'Who believes in climate change?', 'Whose expectations regarding future climate coincide with scientific projections?', and 'Do beliefs and holding 'correct' expectations influence taking concerted action?' We find that 88% of survey respondents representing New Zealand's primary sector believe in climate change but that only 34% have expectations regarding future temperatures that coi…
Does inflation affect well-being
After years of low and stable inflation, high inflation rates have returned in many countries around the world. This paper highlights the importance of outliers for the study of whether inflation is associated with individual-level well-being using cross-country data. We combine Gallup World Poll individual-level data from 150 countries between 2007 and 2019 with inflation data obtained from the International Monetary Fund ( N = 1,946,459). We co…
Monetary Policy as a Wicked Problem: Complexity, Challenges, and Implications
This paper offers a novel exploration at the intersection of monetary policy and the concept of “wicked problems.” Through a comprehensive analysis, it reveals how the complexities, uncertainties, and conflicting objectives inherent in monetary policy align with the characteristics of wicked problems. By integrating insights from various disciplines and offering innovative perspectives, it underscores the need for a nuanced and adaptive approach …
Who Gains From Minimum Wage Increases? A Gender‐Based Distributional Analysis
This paper examines the distributional effects of minimum wage changes in the U.S., focusing on gender differences. Using CPS Merged Outgoing Rotation Group data (1990–2019) and a non‐parametric difference‐in‐differences approach, we find significant income shifts following minimum wage increases. Women, especially those aged 35–44, benefit more than men, with notable gains among Hispanic women, married individuals, and union members. We disaggre…
Portfolio Choice With Intra‐Household Bargaining and Gender Differences in Preferences
In this paper, we combine the literature on intra‐household bargaining, gender differences in preferences, and social norms to understand the financial decision making of households. We derive a theoretical model which describes the portfolio choice decision of a two‐person household, where both members have different preferences with regard to risk and time. We then use data from the Health and Retirement Study for the years 1992–2016 to test hy…
Economics (15 works) · Geography (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Econometrics (6 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Demographic economics (5 works) · Development economics (5 works) · Population (5 works) · Climate change (4 works)