Undergraduate Research & Student Projects
Explore empirical economic research, data dashboards, policy briefs, and student-led initiatives from Pace undergraduates.
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Upcoming Research
Balancing Work and Motherhood: How Leave Constraints and Partner Support Relate to Postpartum Depression
By Julianna Vukaj
Abstract:
Balancing employment responsibilities with the demands of motherhood can present significant challenges for women during the postpartum period. This study examines how maternity leave constraints and partner support are associated with postpartum depressive symptoms among working mothers in New York City. Using data from the 2014 New York City Work and Family Leave Survey, the analysis focuses on five maternity leave constraints, including financial limitations, concerns about job security, insufficient paid or accrued leave, and the need to maintain employer-sponsored health insurance. These constraints are combined into an index measuring the number of barriers each mother experienced. Partner support is examined both as an independent predictor and as a potential moderating factor in the relationship between leave constraints and postpartum depressive symptoms.
Logistic regression models are used to examine these associations while accounting for maternal demographic and employment characteristics, including household income, education, age, race and ethnicity, and weekly work hours. A secondary analysis investigates the relationship between household income and paid maternity leave uptake. By examining the relationship between workplace constraints, family support, and maternal mental health, this study aims to provide insight into how employment conditions and household support are associated with postpartum well-being among working mothers.
Collective Bargaining Rights and the Labour Share of National GDP: An empirical study extending on labour rights and inequality.
By Grace McGrath
Abstract:
As seen in the current century’s growing capital dominance in the labour to capital ratio, I want to expand the relevant study on collective labor rights and inequality. This paper aims to answer the question: Does collective bargaining rights have a significant impact on a country’s labour share of its national GDP, and if so, is it a positive or negative relationship. Following the hypothesis of Jasmine Kerssey and a working paper by Veronika Dolar, the stronger thecollective bargaining relative to employer can increase the income distribution. My extension to these hypotheses is the inclusion of the share of labour to national GDP as a proxy to inequality. A higher share of labour to national GDP will increase the variance of allocation ability of income distribution. The study cites the data sources of labour share of gdp from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the labour rights dataset from Kucera and Sari. (2019) “New Labour Rights Indicators”. For Gini coefficient measures, I utilize the Swiid9.v9 dataset with the same scope used in Kerissey’s study. This paper runs three models – 1) An Ordinary Least Squares to refine for relevant controls, 2) High Dimensional Fixed Effects to test for heterogeneity, and 3) Dynamic Panel Model to test for auto correlation and reverse causality. The predicted findings is that all 3 models would result in statistical significance in a positive relationship between the collective bargaining rights scale and the labour share of national GDP
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