Why some countries are so much richer than others is a question of central interest in economics. Low aggregate income per worker in poor countries is mostly accounted for by low labor productivity and high employment in agriculture. This thesis attempts to understand cross-country income difference through examining productivity differences at the sector level - in agriculture and in non-agriculture. Between rich and poor countries, there is a 45-fold difference in agricultural output per worker and a 34-fold difference in mean farm size. In the first chapter, I argue farmer's skill as a plausible explanation for these differences. The model features heterogeneity in innate agricultural skill, on-the-job skill accumulation, and span-of-control in agricultural production. I show that low total factor productivity (TFP) in poor countries not only induces more individuals with low innate skill to choose farming, but also reduces the incentive to accumulate skill. Between rich and poor countries, the model generates substantial difference in farmer's skill, which translates into differences in agricultural productivity and farm size distribution. Quantitatively, the calibrated model explains half of the cross-country differences in agricultural output per worker, and successfully replicates the size distribution of farms in both rich and poor countries. Cross-country productivity differences are asymmetric across sectors. The labor productivity gap between rich and poor countries in agriculture is twice as large as that in the aggregate, and ten times larger than that in non-agriculture. The second chapter shows that these sectoral productivity differences can arise solely from difference in aggregate TFP. I extend the framework in the first chapter to allow for different skill in non-agricultural production as well. Low TFP distorts the allocation of skills across sectors and discourages skill accumulation on the job. To discipline the initial skill distribution and skill accumulation, the model is calibrated to match earnings distribution and age-earnings profiles in both agriculture and non-agriculture in the U.S. The model's implications are then examined using a sample of 70 countries that covers a wide range of development. Between rich and poor countries, the model accounts for most of the productivity differences at the sector level - productivity difference in agriculture in the model is 1.8 times larger than those in the aggregate and 6 times larger than those in non-agriculture. As in the data, the share of farmer in the labor force in the model declines from 85 percent in the poorest countries to less than 2 percent in the richest countries. These results suggest that policy aiming at improving overall efficiency should be prioritized.

This thesis consists of four empirical essays. The first essay evaluates the impact on crime of a large scale experimental scheme in which all state monopoly alcohol stores in selected Swedish counties kept open on Saturdays. We show that the experiment significantly raised both alcohol sales and crime. The effect is confined to Saturdays and tentative evidence indicates a displacement of crime from weekdays to Saturdays. The experiment had no significant impact on crime over the entire week. The second essay examines the effect of income inequality on health for newly arrived refugees. The results reveal no statistically significant effect of income inequality on the risk of being hospitalized. This finding holds for most population subgroups and when separating between different types of diagnoses. The conclusions do not change when we consider long-term exposure to inequality. Our estimates are precise enough to rule out large effects of income inequality on health. The third essay examines the effect of relative income differences on criminal behavior. There is a positive effect on the propensity to commit property crime. The effect is small and mainly driven by past offenders, low educated and young individuals. I only find weak evidence that relative income differences increases the likelihood to commit violent crime. The empirical analysis further reveals that differences in gross labor earnings are more strongly related to crime than disparities in disposable income. The fourth essay describes the patterns of intergenerational transmission of education among immigrant mothers and their daughters. The results show that the persistence is slightly lower among immigrants compared to natives, and that the relationship is weaker among those who start out disadvantaged. I find large variations across different immigrant groups, but these differences are partly explained by the fact that groups belong to different parts of the educational distribution.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:34:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo de Lemos Dutra.pdf: 1151994 bytes, checksum: 590789ecd324e92bb24592fd01c8b671 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study has examined the main labor income of employed people, in the medium sized cities and metropolitan regions of Brazil s South region, aiming for the identification of how much they are due to the employee characteristics and how much is due to the location in which they are inserted. In order to achieve the objective a brief literature review was taken upon the unbalanced salaries distribution, Chow s structural break test was used, salaries equations were estimated for medium sized cities and metropolitan regions and Oaxaca s decomposition method was used along with Heckman s correction. The database was taken from Pnad 2009 s micro data. Chow test was significant justifying the distinct labor market analysis, in the medium sized cities and metropolitan region, for Parana state as much as for Rio Grande do Sul state. The estimated parameters of Lambda variable concerning the four units were significantly different from zero, what suggests the presence of sample selection bias, so Heckman procedure was applied to produce non-biased estimators. In Parana state, it was verified that dispersion of income was favorable to the metropolitan region once the regional return effect is responsible for 69,76% of that dispersion. In Rio Grande do Sul state, however, the dispersion was favorable to medium sized cities and the attributes effect is responsible for most of the 93,83% income difference of the dispersion. Human capital and segmentation theories were applied upon the case in study, making it evident that the region where the employees are inserted determines their income as much as their personal characteristics. The region has a strong impact in the salary determination, which gets clearer in the case of Rio Grande do Sul state. However, only living in a higher salary region does not ensure the employee the prize, it is necessary that the individuals seek qualification in order to participate in the labor market and receive their remuneration. / O presente estudo examinou as diferenças de rendimento do trabalho principal das pessoas ocupadas, nas cidades médias e regiões metropolitanas da região Sul do Brasil, buscando identificar o quanto se devem a características do trabalhador e o quanto se devem a características do local em que ele está inserido. Para atingir o objetivo proposto foi feita uma breve revisão da literatura sobre distribuição desigual dos salários, realizou-se o teste de quebra estrutural de Chow, estimou-se equações de salários paras as cidades médias e regiões metropolitanas e utilizou-se o método de decomposição de Oaxaca com a correção de Heckman. A base de dados utilizada foi extraída dos microdados da Pnad 2009. O teste de Chow foi significativo justificando a análise do mercado de trabalho distintos, da região metropolitana e das cidades médias, tanto para o estado do Paraná como para o Rio Grande do Sul. Os parâmetros estimados da variável Lambda para as quatro unidades foram significativamente diferente de zero, sugerindo a presença de viés de seleção na amostra, portanto o procedimento de Heckman foi aplicado para produzir estimadores não viesados. No estado do Paraná constatou-se que a dispersão do rendimento foi favorável à região metropolitana sendo o efeito retorno regional responsável por 69,76% dessa dispersão. Já no estado do Rio Grande do Sul a dispersão foi favorável às cidades médias e o efeito atributos responsável pela maior parte da diferença de rendimentos 93,83% da dispersão. As teorias do capital humano e segmentação se aplicaram ao caso estudado, evidenciando que a tanto a região em que o trabalhador está inserido como suas características pessoas são determinantes do seu rendimento. A região possui um forte peso na determinação do salário o que fica mais claro no caso do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Porém somente se encontrar em uma região que paga maiores salários não garante ao trabalhador esse prêmio é necessário que indivíduo busque se qualificar para poder participar do mercado de trabalho e receber sua remuneração.