Vincent A. Hildebrand

Income inequality and self-rated health status: evidence from the European Community Household Panel.

We examine the effect of income inequality on individualś self-rated health status in a pooled sample of 11 countries, using longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel survey. Taking advantage of the longitudinal and cross-national nature of our data, and carefully modeling the self-reported health information, we avoid several of the pitfalls suffered by earlier studies on this topic. We calculate income inequality indices measured at two standard levels of geography (NUTS-0 and NUTS-1) and find consistent evidence that income inequality is negatively related to self-rated health status in the European Union for both men and women, particularly when measured at national level. However, despite its statistical significance, the magnitude of the impact of inequality on health is very small.

The Wealth of Mexican Americans

This paper analyzes the sources of disparities in the relative wealth position of Mexican Americans. Results reveal that—unlike the racial wealth gap—Mexican Americans’ wealth disadvantage is in large part not the result of differences in wealth distributions conditional on the underlying determinants of wealth. Rather, Mexican Americans’ wealth disadvantage is attributable to the fact that these families have more young children and heads who are younger. Mexican Americans’ low educational attainment also has a direct effect in producing a wealth gap relative to other ethnic groups even after differences in income are taken into account. Income differentials are important, but do not play the primary role in explaining the gap in median net worth. Finally, geographic concentration is generally unimportant, but does contribute to narrowing the wealth gap between wealthy Mexican Americans and their white and black counterparts.

Conspiracy at the Pump

On the basis of evidence of price‐fixing, in May 2006 the Canadian Competition Bureau targeted retail gasoline outlets in some local markets in the province of Quebec. In June 2008, criminal charges were filed against many individuals and companies operating in those local markets. We employ a differences‐in‐differences approach to determine whether the public announcement of the antitrust investigation triggered a reaction in one of the targeted markets. We find that the price of gasoline in the targeted market fell by 1.75 cents per liter after the public announcement of the investigation. We also briefly discuss how well the Stiglerian theory of collusion performs in this real‐world conspiracy.

The Portfolio Choices of Hispanic Couples

This paper analyzes the portfolio allocations of couple-headed, Hispanic families using Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data. Our results reveal that Hispanic couples as a group are less wealthy than otherwise similar white couples, although there is substantial variation across Hispanic-origin groups. Much of the disparity in portfolio choices of Hispanic relative to whites appears to stem from these lower wealth levels. Accounting for these wealth disparities, Hispanic couples hold less financial wealth, but more real estate and business equity than do white couples.

The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Australian Households

This paper analyses the net worth and asset portfolios of native- and foreign-born Australian families. Specifically, we estimate a system of asset equations with an adding-up constraint imposed to control for diversity in household wealth. We find that the wealth of mixed and native-born couples is not significantly different; however, immigrant-only couples have approximately

Measuring and accounting for the deprivation gap of Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg

162 000 less wealth than native-born couples. Relative to equally wealthy native-born couples, immigrant-only couples hold substantially more wealth in their homes and less in the form of vehicles. Mixed couples and single individuals allocate their wealth across assets in the same way their native-born counterparts.

The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Households

This paper examines the relative well-being of Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg by looking at non-monetary, or ?direct indicators? of material deprivation. The paper not only documents deprivation differentials between immigrants and natives, but also models the association between material deprivation indicators, income and population characteristics in order to shed light on the sources of differentials. In particular, we measure how much income differentials explain differences in material deprivation. We find that answer to this question depend a lot on what deprivation indicators are taken into consideration (and a little on how aggregate material deprivation indicators are constructed). Income differences explain material deprivation differences entirely when the latter is measured according the European Commission?s headline indicator on material deprivation. Inclusion of housing condition indicators mitigates this relationship and we then find compelling evidence that material deprivation is not entirely accounted for by income differentials.

Self-employment and Caring for Children in Europe

This paper analyses the net worth and asset portfolios of native- and foreign-born Australian families using HILDA (wave 2) data. Specifically, we estimate a system of asset equations with an adding-up constraint imposed to control for variation in households’ total net worth. Our results indicate that after accounting for differences in human capital and income levels, single immigrants have a wealth advantage of almost

The Wealth and Asset Holdings of U.S.-Born and Foreign-Born Households: Evidence from SIPP Data

185,000 relative to single native-born individuals. Although the wealth gap between mixed and native-born couples is not statistically significant, immigrant-only couples have approximately

CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM: A TIME-SERIES CROSS-SECTION ANALYSIS*

150,000 less wealth on average than native-born couples. Relative to equally wealthy native-born couples, immigrant-only couples hold substantially more of their wealth in their homes and less in the form of vehicles and financial assets. Mixed couples, on the other hand, allocate their wealth across assets in the same way as native-born couples.