Three Essays on Applied Microeconomics
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Shih, Hsiu-Han
Abstract
This dissertation consists of three essays on Applied Microeconomics. The first essay contributes to political economics, and the second and third essays contribute to health economics. The first chapter (with Chun-Fang Chiang) investigates the role of news slant and news accuracy in consumers'' choices of TV news programs in Taiwan. Using weekly audience ratings data from different regions in Taiwan between 2004 and 2008, we find that news programs leaning toward the Pan-Blue parties had more viewers from areas with more Pan-Blue supporters. Moreover, we find that consumers were more politically segregated in choosing news programs during political events than on ordinary days. The finding cannot be explained by reverse causality and suggests that consumers are inclined to watch news programs with a political ideology that approximates their own. Regarding consumer preferences for news accuracy, we examine changes in viewership caused by two well-known false news scandals involving reports that provided erroneous information. We find that the effects of these two incidents were either small or insignificant. The second chapter (with Ming-Jen Lin) utilizes the eradication campaign in Taiwan in the 1950s to estimate the long-term impacts of early-life (in utero and postnatal) exposure to malaria. Matching adults in the 1992 -- 2012 Taiwan Social Change Survey to the malaria intensity in their individual place and year of birth, difference-in-difference estimation shows strong evidence that the eradication increased men''s own educational attainment as well as their family income in adulthood. We also use the 1980 census data to show there was a sharp education increase after the eradication. Furthermore, the eradication increased the educational attainment of married men''s spouses. Finally, quantile regressions show that the effect concentrated on the lower percentile of the income distribution. Overall, our results suggest negative effects of early-life exposure to malaria. The last chapter (with Ming-Jen Lin) examines the health effects of air pollution during pregnancy on newborn babies in Taiwan. Using the birth data from 2001 to 2011 and data on atmospheric condition from 2000 to 2011, we examine the effects of in utero health conditions through the instrumental-variable (IV) method to address potential endogeneity problems. We use variation in temperature, humidity, and rainfall to instrument for in utero exposure to air pollution. We find that the increase in exposure to PM10 during pregnancy resulted in prematurity, low birth weight, and being born in bad health. Moreover, exposure to SO2 and NO2 during pregnancy led to prematurity and low birth weight for those born between 37 and 44 weeks of gestation. Our results suggest that air pollution had negative health effects on newborn babies.
Subjects
consumer preferences
news slant
malaria eradication
fetal origins hypothesis
air pollution
infant health
SDGs
Type
thesis
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