https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214858 2026-10-06T03:33:18Z 2026-10-06T03:33:18Z Duque, Daniel https://hdl.handle.net/10419/341590 2026-06-24T14:34:40Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The long-run impact of school funding on economic outcomes Authors: Duque, Daniel Abstract: Do public investments in compulsory schooling translate into the same long-run economic gains for all? Using a large intergovernmental transfer reform in Norway that mechanically shifted municipal school revenues based on pre-reform student age structure, I estimate the long-run impacts of school funding on human capital, earnings, and family outcomes. First, municipalities primarily allocate additional funds hiring more teachers. Secondly, average earnings effects for students are positive but moderate: nine years of exposure to an additional $100 per pupil per year increases annual earnings by about $200 in the mid-30s, implying an internal rate of return of about 6% and a marginal value of public funds between roughly 1.2 and 2.1. However, these mean effects mask sharp heterogeneity by gender and parental background. The labor-market return is concentrated among men, whose earnings rise by over $350 per year, while women show little response in own earnings. Economic gains for women are instead realized primarily through the marriage market, experiencing significant increases in partner earnings and couple per-capita income, alongside higher partnership formation. A simple model with skill-increasing labor-market discrimination and gendered norms about partner-provided consumption rationalizes why similar human-capital gains can map into gender-divergent earnings channels. Finally, returns are largest for boys from low-educated families, consistent with partial parental crowd-out of public investments among highly educated households.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Torres Frasele, Lucia https://hdl.handle.net/10419/341589 2026-06-24T14:34:40Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The impact of menopause hormone therapy on women's health and employment Authors: Torres Frasele, Lucia Abstract: This paper examines the causal effects of Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT) on health and labor market outcomes among U.S. women aged 40-61. I leverage the MHT treatment arm of the first large-scale randomized evaluation of MHT's effects on postmenopausal women's health, which was stopped early due to elevated health risks and publicly announced in July 2002. The announcement led to a rapid global decline in MHT prescriptions, which I use as a quasi-exogenous shock. Using nationally representative U.S. data on prescriptions, health, and labor market outcomes, I apply difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, and fixed-effects approaches. Results show MHT significantly improves physical health, increasing physical functioning scores by up to one standard deviation, but effects on employment and wages are modest and sensitive to specification.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Suchánek, Marián Krchňavý, Ján https://hdl.handle.net/10419/343172 2026-08-27T15:19:41Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Social positioning theory as social ontology of a hierarchy of money Authors: Suchánek, Marián; Krchňavý, Ján Abstract: The nature of money is within the discipline of economics typically analysed merely by way of listing its functions grounded in properties of money things. But the discourse has recently more explicitly turned to addressing this foundational question of "What is money?" from the perspective of social ontology that sees money as a social phenomenon. We argue that any such venture should be able to account for the hierarchical structure of money. This argument integrates three distinct aspects of money i.) that in any community there is usually not one but multiple kinds of money; ii.) that these monies are of different qualities and therefore are structured within a hierarchy, and iii.) that these qualitative differences that distinguish individual kinds of money ultimately pertain to the rights and obligations that define each form of money. Building on recent debates about the hierarchy of money in economics-particularly The Money View and Modern Money Theory-this paper seeks to extend these discussions into the domain of social ontology, using the framework of social positioning developed by the Cambridge Social Ontology Group.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Cooper, Crispin Fredrich, Ana Reggiani, Tommaso Poortinga, Wouter https://hdl.handle.net/10419/343173 2026-08-27T15:19:42Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Individual utilities of life satisfaction reveal inequality aversion unrelated to political alignment Authors: Cooper, Crispin; Fredrich, Ana; Reggiani, Tommaso; Poortinga, Wouter Abstract: How should well-being be prioritised in society, and what trade-offs are people willing to make between fairness and personal well-being? We investigate these questions using a stated preference experiment with a nationally quasi-representative UK sample (n = 300), in which participants evaluated life satisfaction outcomes for both themselves and others under conditions of uncertainty. Individual-level utility functions were estimated using an Expected Utility Maximisation (EUM) framework and tested for sensitivity to the overweighting of small probabilities, as characterised by Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT). A majority of participants displayed concave (risk-averse) utility curves and showed stronger aversion to inequality in societal life satisfaction outcomes than to personal risk. These preferences were unrelated to political alignment, suggesting a shared normative stance on fairness in well-being that cuts across ideological boundaries. The results challenge use of average life satisfaction as a policy metric and support the development of nonlinear utility-based alternatives that more accurately reflect collective human values. Implications for public policy and well-being measurement are discussed.

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