Journal of Economic and Social Measurement

This study presents the results of a rapid, low-cost survey that collected labor market data for individuals in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Yale Labor Survey (YLS) used an online panel from YouGov to replicate statistics from the Current Population Survey, the government’s main source of household labor market statistics. The YLS’s advantages include its timeliness, its low cost, and its ability to develop new questions quickly to study labor market patterns during the pandemic. The results of the YLS show that online surveys can be used to gather economic and demographic data with reasonable accuracy and at low cost. Such surveys can therefore be useful complements to less-frequent government surveys, particularly when the labor market is stressed and real-time data are especially valuable.

This study examined causal pathways leading to school dropout among teenage mothers in three major urban centers of Colombia’s Caribbean region. Through a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching involving 173 adolescent mothers (ages 14–18) enrolled in public schools during 2024, the research tested whether the simultaneous absence of digital connectivity, psychosocial support, and childcare access directly affected dropout probability. Statistical analyses using Structural Bayesian Networks, Quantile Binomial Poisson Regression, and Generalized Treatment Effect Models identified three main direct causal influences: institutional support quality (coefficient = −0.327), digital access conditions (coefficient = −0.281), and residential instability (coefficient = 0.195). The combined effect of multiple support services reduced dropout probability by approximately one-third (ATT = −0.328, p < 0.001), with stronger protective effects for more vulnerable subgroups. City-specific variations suggested local institutional configurations modified these relationships, with Cartagena showing greater resilience despite similar structural challenges. The findings underscored the need for comprehensive support systems addressing digital inequalities, care infrastructure, and psychosocial assistance simultaneously.

In this paper, we investigate household indebtedness in the lower half of the income distribution and examine the role of informal income, which is relevant for the design of macroprudential policy in developing economies. We identify five key patterns of household debt burden across the income distribution. First, lower-income deciles often exhibit a substantial gap relative to the national median. Nevertheless, most loans in the lower half of the income distribution are well serviced. This suggests that individuals at the bottom can manage their debt because a portion of their income is unreported, reflecting a reliance on informal employment and income. Comparing debt burden with loan performance thus provides a useful means to detect and potentially estimate the share of informal wages in the economy. Third, since informality makes it difficult to verify income, households in the lower deciles often carry relatively larger formal debt burdens, implying that macroprudential tightening may disproportionately affect these vulnerable groups. Fourth, we find that lower-income households rely heavily on credit from non-bank financial institutions. Finally, a higher share of non-performing loans across income groups originates from the non-bank sector. Taken together, these findings highlight critical considerations for designing effective macroprudential policy in economies with sizable informal sectors.

This study examines the impact of institutional quality and technological innovations on entrepreneurship development in the South Asian region. Using data from 2010 to 2024 for all South Asian countries except Afghanistan, we investigate the relationship between entrepreneurship development as dependent variable and technological innovation and institutional quality as independent variables. We have also considered foreign direct investment, financial development, and economic growth as control variables. Applying the Two-step system generalized method of moments, it is observed that technological innovation, institutional quality, and economic growth have a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurship development whereas foreign direct investment and financial development have a positive but insignificant impact. It is further observed that the interaction between institutional quality and technological innovation significantly influences entrepreneurship development. This study provides appropriate policy recommendations for the government, regulatory authorities, institutions, and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem in South Asia in the future.