The Public Defense
of the Doctoral Thesis in Economics by
Agnes Szabo-Morvai
on
Essays on Maternal Employment Policies
will be held on
Tuesday, November 24, 2015 at 2:30 pm
in the
Monument Building, Senate room Central European University
Nádor Street 9, Budapest
Thesis Committee:
László Csaba (Chair)
Sergey Lychagin (Internal member) Róbert Lieli (Internal member) Ágota Scharle (External member) Balázs Muraközy (External member)
Advisors:
John S. Earle (Advisor) Gabor Kezdi (Associate Advisor)
Examiners:
Robert Lieli, Associate Professor of Economics, Central European University, Budapest (Internal Examiner)
Peter Haan, Professor of Economics, DIW Berlin (External Examiner)
The doctoral thesis is available for inspection at the CEU Economics Department
Abstract
The thesis consists of one co-authored and two single-authored chapters on the effect of family policies on maternal labor supply. Each chapter consists of empirical investigations of the family policies, using Hungarian Labor Force Survey microdata. Chapter 1 examines the effect of childcare availability on the labor supply of mothers of 3-year-olds. We exploit a date-of- birth eligibility cutoff at the age of 3, where on one side of the cutoff childcare availability is high, whereas on the other it is low. By applying novel measurement strategy, we overcome some data issues, and show that the results are robust to various specifications. We find that a 10 percentage point increase in childcare coverage induces 1.8 percentage increase in maternal labor supply.
In Chapter 2 I use difference-in-differences method to estimate the causal effect of the maternal benefit (GYED) on maternal labor supply and employment probabilities. I find that in the first two years after giving birth, there is no significant effect, however, from the third year, the maternal leave affects maternal employment probability negatively.
Chapter 3 provides an analysis of the START Plusz hiring tax credit program. The program is available for mothers with children under 4, and I include mothers of 5-7 as a control group.
The findings of the analysis show that before the economic crisis it had had a positive significant effect on some subgroups of the targeted population.
Ch.1: Subsidized Childcare Matters for Maternal Labor Supply. Evidence from Hungary (co-author: Anna Lovasz)
Chapter 1 contributes to the literature by estimating the effect of subsidized childcare availability on Hungarian mothers’ labor supply based on a discontinuity in kindergarten eligibility rules. We identify the effect at a child age when the mothers’ participation rate is still lower than that of mothers with older children, thus lack of childcare is potentially a binding constraint, and policy intervention may be effective. Our methodology ensures that similar individuals are compared, and possible seasonal effects are corrected for using difference in differences. The results show that a 10 percent increase in the fraction of children covered by subsidized childcare would increase maternal labor market participation by 13.5 percentage points, compared to a baseline 50% participation rate.
Ch.2: Who Benefits from Child Benefits? The Labor Supply Effects of Maternal Cash Benefit
Chapter 2 contributes to the literature on the examination of the effect of restoring maternity cash benefit in 2000 on labor market participation and employment probability of mothers in Hungary. In the first two years of motherhood, no significant employment effects can be demonstrated. However, after the second year of motherhood, a negative employment effect is found for female with low level of education, although the large cash benefit is received only until the end of the second year. This can be explained with the wealth effect of the cash benefit:
the accumulated monetary reserves allow these mothers to choose staying at home instead of undertaking a full-time job.
Ch.3: Evaluating The Effect Of START Plusz Hiring Tax Credit Program On The Employment Probability Of Mothers With Kindergarten-Age Child
Chapter 3 contributes to the literature on the measurement of the effect of a hiring tax credit program on maternal labor supply. In Hungary, a hiring tax credit program, START Plusz was introduced in 2007 for mothers with a child younger than 4 in order to increase their employment probability. The policy setting allows for using similar mothers with children of age 5-7 as a control group. Though the program is practically open for all education groups, those with vocational and high school level educational attainment get involved in the program with higher probability compared to lower and higher educated mothers. This group is examined in detail, and I find a significant 10.2 percentage point employment effect for mothers with two or more children, however, the results of the program was washed away most probably by the effects of the global economic crisis by 2009.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Ágnes Szabó-MorvaiDepartment of Economics Email: szabo_agnes@phd.ceu.edu
Central European University Website:
https://sites.google.com/site/pageszabomorvai/
416/B Nádor u. 11, 1051 Budapest, Hungary
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, Central European University (CEU), Budapest, Hungary, expected date of completion: December 2015
Thesis title: “Essays on Maternal Employment Policies”
MA in Economics, Central European University, 2005-2007 DEX College for Advanced Studies, Debrecen, 2001-2003 BA / MA in Economics, Debrecen University, 1998-2003
RESEARCHINTERESTS Primary fields: Labor Economics,
Secondary field: Experimental Economics
PUBLICATIONS
Evaluating the effect of Childcare Availability on Maternal Labor Supply. (co-author: A.
Lovasz) Budapest Working Paper Series, 2013 http://www.econ.core.hu/file/download/bwp/bwp1313.pdf
Experiments for Beginners: The Bright Side of Economics. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2007
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Experiments-Beginners-Bright-Side-Economics/dp/3836488590
The New Basel Capital Requirements and the IRB Approach. Közgazdasági Szemle, 2003.
Október, pp. 881-890. http://epa.oszk.hu/00000/00017/00097/pdf/3szabmorv.pdf
RELEVANTPOSITIONSHELD
Senior research fellow, HÉTFA Institute for Research and Analysis, 2013-2015
WORKINPROGRESS
A Comprehensive Analysis of the Impact of Family Policies on Maternal Labor Market Participation. (A cutoff-based analysis of childcare on female labor supply including 10 European countries. With Anna Lovasz)
Gender Differences in the Effect of Positive Feedback on Performance – a Computer Game- Based Experiment (with Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska, Andrea Kiss, Anna Lovász and Mariann Rigó)
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Write-up Grant, CEU, September 2014 – February 2015 OTKA research grant, 2011
CERGE-GDN research grant, 2012
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Economic Challenges in Enlarged Europe Conference, Tallin, Estonia, 2011 Hungarian Economics Association, yearly conference, Budapest, Hungary, 2013 EALE Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2014
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, conference on labor market, Szirak, Hungary, 2014 Hungarian Association for Economists conference, Budapest, Hungary, 2014
The German Labor Market in a Globalized World (ZEW), Nürnberg, Germany, 2015 21st International Panel Data conference, Budapest, Hungary, 2015
European Economic Association 30th Annual Congress, Mannheim, Germany, 2015 InGRID Expert Workshop, Essex, UK, 2015
IZA@DC Young Scholar Program, Washington D.C., USA, 2015
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Gender and Race on the Labor Market (graduate), Eötvös Loránd University, 2014-2015 Econometrics (teaching assistance, graduate level), CEU, 2007-2009
Public Policy (graduate), DEX, 2008
Modern Banking and Finance, Debrecen University (graduate), 2009
REFEREEING
Global Development Network, CERGE-EI, Czech Republic Területi Szemle, Hungary
Acta Oeconomica, Hungary
LANGUAGES
English (fluent), German (intermediate), Hungarian (native)
PERSONAL
Date of birth: October 27th, 1979 Citizenship: Hungarian
