Essays in applied microeconomics [electronic resource]
Keywords: Economics.

This dissertation is comprised of three chapters. The first chapter studies a unique Australian reform implemented since 2003 that introduces a period of what I call "compulsory connectedness." Disconnected youths—those who are neither working nor in school—are especially vulnerable, and their persistent disconnection is costly to society. The Australian policy targets those most likely to become disconnected by requiring individuals, up to age 17, to participate in approved modes of education, training, and employment for a minimum of twenty-five hours per week. Exploiting the variation in the timing of implementation of the reform across states, I provide the first empirical test of the causal impact of the program on labor market and crime outcomes, as well as youth disconnection dynamics. Using tax return data, I find that the program increases income, and reduces the probability that an individual receives government income support. Analysis of crime data provides suggestive evidence that the program reduces youth offender rates. The policy also raises reconnection rates for those who become disconnected during post-program years. Taken together, the results suggest that the compulsory connectedness model for late teens that focuses on alternative pathways to higher education and the labor market is able to alleviate the youth disconnection problem substantially. The second chapter is co-authored with Jerry Lao. Changes in the technology format of popular music distribution are nothing new. Vinyl records and cassette tapes disappeared in the 1990s, CDs faded out in the 2000s, and digital downloads began their decline in the 2010s to make way for streaming subscriptions and on-demand radio. We use data from Billboard's Hot 100, a weekly ranking of the most popular songs in the United States, to investigate the impact of technology format changes on the popularity characteristics of these songs. We find that the transition from CD to digital download impacts popularity characteristics significantly. The digital technology format reduces the cost of releasing a single, which allows established artists to crowd out the Hot 100 by virtue of their reputation. Faster feedback mechanisms and "social learning" lead to the emergence of one-week wonders i.e., songs charting on the Hot 100 for only a week before disappearing. The third chapter explores the effects of unemployment assistance that requires no prior employment experience on youths. As youths can readily get on income support with little to no work experience, possibly without having carried out a concerted job search effort, the generosity of the unemployment benefits given to the young can have strong, adverse effects on labor supply. Path dependency effects may lead to more poverty down the road and further reliance on income support. I exploit an increase in the eligibility age for the more generous of two unemployment assistance payments available for Australians. Results using the Household Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) data suggest large responses of unemployment durations to the levels of the benefit. However, I do not find evidence for any adverse effects of the more generous youth unemployment assistance on the labor market performance of youths in the following year.