Research Fields: Applied Microeconomics, Economics of Inequality, Education and Mental Health
CV
Google Scholar Profile
jonathan.norris@strath.ac.uk
Working Papers
Aspirations and Inequality: Peer Effects in Education (with Marco Fongoni, Agnese Romiti, and Zhan Shi).
[ Abstract | Draft (updated 14/2024) | IZA Draft (previous version; different title) ]
We study the long-run effects of income inequality within peer compositions in schools. We propose a theoretical framework based on reference dependence where inequality in peer groups can generate aspiration gaps. Guided by predictions from this framework we find that an increase in the share of low-income peers within school-cohorts improves the educational outcomes of low-income students and negatively affects high-income students. We then find that better connections in the school network has an important role in mitigating these effects. Our results point to the role of inequality among peers, while also demonstrating potential to avoid these consequences.
The aerial bombing of Cambodia and health in very long-run (with Thi Tham Ta and Otto Lenhart).
[ Abstract | Draft ]
We study the long-run impacts of local area exposures to US bombing in Cambodia on health outcomes among those residing in these locations many years later. We leverage geo-coded individual data and a spatial regression discontinuity adapted to many boundaries. Our study is separate from those that focus on the impact of being exposed to bombings as a child; rather,we study how such disasters can map to health outcomes for future generations. We show that in fact, regions directly affected by bombings exhibit better health outcomes compared to those just beyond the bombing boundaries, indicated by higher Height-for-age Z-scores and a decreased likelihood of anemia. This result remains robust to a variety of potential threats to identification. We then leverage a wide range of data to show that improvements in soil fertility and access to health facilities are likely mechanisms explaining the observed enhancements in health outcomes. Our evidence suggests that in the post-conflict period, infrastructure development favored areas that experienced greater degradation in the past. Our results overall offer an important lesson that while disasters can have harmful impacts, how outcomes are transformed for future generations will depend. Put differently, disaster is not necessarily destiny.
Marijuana Legalization and Mental Health (with Daniel Borbely, Otto Lenhart, and Agnese Romiti) Under-going significant revisions and results are likely to change.
[ Abstract | IZA Draft | Vox EU ]
This study examines the effects of U.S. state-level marijuana policies on mental health. Using data from three nationally representative data sets and estimating difference-in-differences models that account for the staggered implementation of both medical and recreational marijuana legislation, we evaluate the impact on marijuana use as well as two measures of mental distress. We show that marijuana laws have positive effects on marijuana use, but find no evidence for any effect on mental health on average. Nonetheless, null aggregate effects mask sharp heterogeneities across the age distribution. Our findings show that elderly individuals (age 60 and older) benefit from medical marijuana legalization in terms of better mental health, whereas legalizing recreational marijuana produces negative mental health effects for younger individuals (below age 35). The effects of medical marijuana legislation are driven by elderly people with pre-existing chronic health conditions, whereas those of recreational marijuana legislation are driven by younger and relatively healthy individuals. Furthermore, results are stronger for women than for men.
Published Papers
The Long-Run Effects of Peers on Mental Health (with Lukas Kiessling), The Economic Journal 133, no. 649 (2023): 281-322.
[ Abstract | Draft | Published Link | Replication Package | Media ]
This paper studies how peers in school affect students' mental health. Guided by a theoretical framework, we find that increasing students’ relative ranks in their cohorts by one standard deviation improves their mental health by 6\% of a standard deviation conditional on own ability. These effects are more pronounced for low-ability students, persistent for at least 14 years, and carry over to economic long-run outcomes. Moreover, we document a strong asymmetry: Students who receive negative rather than positive shocks react more strongly. Our findings therefore provide evidence on how the school environment can have long-lasting consequences for the well-being of individuals.
Troubled in School: Does Maternal Involvement Matter for Adolescents (with Martijn van Hasselt), Accepted (2023), Journal of Population Economics.
[ Abstract | Draft | Published Link ]
We estimate the causal effect of mother's involvement on the amount of trouble an adolescent experiences in school. We use multiple measures of school trouble and factor analysis to construct a composite and then link this composite with noncognitive skills. Our measure of mother's involvement encompasses discussing school-related matters and providing help with school projects. Using an instrumental variable constructed from a suitably chosen peer group, our main finding is that an increase in maternal involvement leads to a significant decrease in school trouble. We find this result to be robust across a large number of sensitivity tests designed to account for possible selection effects, shocks at the peer group level, and further potential violations of the exclusion restriction. Additionally, we present evidence suggesting that the effect of maternal involvement may operate through its effect on adolescents' college aspirations, mental health, and the perception of parental warmth.
Peer Gender and Schooling: Evidence from Ethiopia (with Daniel Borbely) and Agnese Romiti), Accepted (2022), Journal of Human Capital.
[ Abstract | Draft | Published Link ]
This paper studies how classmate gender composition matters for school absences and test scores in a context characterized by strong social norms and scarce school resources. We base our results on a unique survey of students across classrooms and schools in Ethiopia, exploiting random assignment of students to classrooms. We find a strong asymmetry: while females benefit from exposure to more female classmates with reduced absenteeism and improvement on math test scores, males are unaffected. We further find that exposure to more female classmates improves motivation and participation in class, and in general, that the effects of classmate gender composition are consistent with social interaction effects.
The Skill Development of the Children of Immigrants (with Marie Hull), Economics of Education Review 78 (2020): 102036.
[ Abstract | Draft | Published Link ]
In this paper, we study the evolution of cognitive and noncognitive skills gaps for children of immigrants between kindergarten and 5th grade using two recent cohorts of elementary school students. We find some evidence that children of immigrants begin school with lower math scores than children of natives, but this gap disappears in later elementary school. For noncognitive skills, children of immigrants and children of natives score similarly in early elementary school, but a positive gap opens up in 2nd grade. We find that the growth in noncognitive skills is driven by disadvantaged immigrant students. We discuss potential explanations for the observed patterns of skill development as well as the implications of our results for the labor market prospects of children of immigrants.
Peers, Parents, and Attitudes about School, Journal of Human Capital 14, no. 2 (Summer 2020): 290-342.
[ Abstract | Draft | Published Link ]
Educational attitudes are linked to long-term educational success through motivating effort and greater attention to the future. This study focuses on the role of friends and of parents in the school grade cohort in shaping adolescent attitude development. First, I explore the effect of friends' attitudes on an adolescent's attitudes. Second, I ask whether parental investments and educational expectations in the adolescent's school cohort can moderate the influence of friends on attitudes. I find that adolescents’ attitudes about school respond to friends’ attitudes and that parental educational expectations within a cohort can moderate the influence of friends on attitudes.
Identity Economics: Social Influence and Skill Development, Journal of Economic Surveys 33, no. 5 (2019): 1389-1408.
[ Abstract | Draft | Published Link ]
Within the economic literature, studies in identity economics, peer effects, and skill development have all suggested that social influences have an important role in determining choices. In this review, I draw on lessons learned from the identity economics literature to examine implications from the peer effects and skill development literature. I focus on the role of social identity in generating social group effects from peers and what role identity may have in shaping the development of skills from broader environments, parents and peers during childhood and adolescence.
Work in Progress
Beliefs on Children’s Human Capital Accumulation and Mothers at Work (with Cesarine Boinet, Agnese Romiti, and Zhan Shi)
The Child Penalty: Gender Norms and Occupational Sorting (with Cesarine Boinet and Agnese Romiti)
Exposure to Inequality and the Heterogenous Effects of Shocks on Mental Health** (with Pathak Prakash)
Asymmetries in Intensity and Persistence of Reciprocity in Labour Markets (with Marco Fongoni, Alex Dickson).
