Latest Past Events

Jere Behrman, University of Pennsylvania

CCPR Seminar Room 4240 Public Affairs Building, Los Angeles

“Early-Life Undernourishment in Developing Countries: Prevalence, Associations/Impacts over the Life Cycle and Determinants”

Abstract:  This presentation first summarizes the prevalence of undernutrition among children in developing countries.  It then summarizes impacts and associations over the life cycle using the Guatemalan INCAP longitudinal data (to estimate the impacts of both a protein-rich nutritional supplements allocated randomly among a small number of villages and of height-for-age z scores at 24-36 months) and the Young Lives longitudinal data from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam to investigate whether the critical window for nutrition ends in infancy.   Finally it summarizes estimates using longitudinal data from Guatemala and Cebu in the Philippines of the impact of protein and non-protein energy on early childhood height and weight.

Ilan H. Meyer & Mark S. Handcock, UCLA

CCPR Seminar Room 4240 Public Affairs Building, Los Angeles

"Innovative Sampling Approaches for Hard to Reach Populations: Design of a National Probability Study of Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, and Transgender Peoples and Network Sampling of Hard to Reach Populations"


Speakers:

Ilan H. Meyer, Williams Distinguished Senior Scholar for Public Policy at the Williams Institute

Mark S. Handcock, Professor of Statistics at UCLA and Director of the Center for Social Statistics


Description:


Come for the exciting seminar then stay for the free lunch and discussion. A seminar led by Ilan H. Meyer followed immediately by a Brown Bag Lunch led by Mark S. Handcock.

Dr. Meyer is Principal Investigator of the Generations and TransPop Surveys. Generations is a survey of a nationally representative sample of 3 generations of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. TransPop is the first national probability sample survey of transgender individuals in the United States. Both studies attempt to obtain large nationally representative samples of hard to reach populations. Dr. Meyer will review sampling issues with LGBT populations and speak on the importance of measuring population health of LGBTs and the underlying aspects in designing a national probability survey.

From a contrasting perspective, the field of Survey Methodology is facing many challenges. The general trend of declining response rates is making it harder for survey researchers to reach their intended population of interest using classical survey sampling methods.

In the followup Brown Bag Lunch, led by Mark S. Handcock, participants will discuss statistical challenges and approaches to sampling hard to reach populations. Transgenders, for example, are a rare and stigmatized population. If the transgender community exhibits networked social behavior, then network sampling methods may be useful approaches that compliment classical survey methods.
Participants are encouraged to speak on ideas of statistical methods for surveys.

Michael Greenstone, University of Chicago

CCPR Seminar Room 4240 Public Affairs Building, Los Angeles

"Energy Efficiency Investments, Self-Selection, and Welfare"

Abstract: This paper evaluates the welfare consequences, rather than simply measuring energy savings, of a popular energy efficiency program exploiting a 100,000 household field experiment in Wisconsin. There are five main findings.  First, nudges, information, and behavioral interventions do not increase program participation but monetary incentives do. Second, the take-up of energy efficiency investments is relatively inelastic to expected returns and reveals substantial non-monetary benefits and costs. Third, individuals that select into the energy efficiency program based on financial incentives are less likely to make efficiency investments than individuals that select in on their own, suggesting that these programs' returns may decline as they expand. Fourth, we find that realized energy savings are just 64% of projected savings and the social internal rate of return on these investments is -1.8%. Fifth, the revealed preference welfare analysis suggests that the program reduced welfare, primarily because subsidies exceeded uninternalized externality damages.

UCLA CCPR