My dissertation is to use the Regression Discontinuity method to study the topics in urban and labor economics. The first chapter evaluates the effects of China's second-wave, place-based poverty-alleviation program. The results using regression discontinuity design show that the supported sector grew faster in the counties receiving aid compared to those counties not receiving aid. However, this aid also drove the local labor out of other production---especially non-farm activities---that played an increasingly important role in rural earnings. The paper suggests that the traditional place-based policy in China caused significant distortions and that a more efficient way of helping the lagging regions is needed. The second Chapter estimates the rate of return to a university degree using a regression discontinuity design allowed by a special feature of the University Admission System in China. The National College Entrance Examination has clear cutoffs for university entry. Our results show that the rates of return to 4-year university education relative to 3-year college education are 40 and 60 per cent for the compliers in the male and female samples, respectively. The third Chapter sheds light on the literature about how the short-term adverse shock to a firm could affect an employee’s long term well being by exploring the effect of team relegation on team players in the England Premier League. In each football season, the three lowest ranked teams are relegated to a lower level league the following season. The fourth lowest ranked team is arguably similar to the team ranked the third last. Using a longitudinal team-player dataset, with a Differences-In-Differences approach, I find that team relegation has a negative effect on players in the short run but had a positive effect on players in the long run. I also find that players from the winning teams have fewer appearances than the players in the losing teams in the first few years after the relegation season, which indicates a channel of human capital accumulation.
Wei, Zhichao,
"Three Applications of Regression Discontinuity on Urban and Labor Economics"
(2012).
Economics Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0251GGV
