Seminar Series

How population-level matched birth-school administrative records can address public health and education policy questions

Speaker

David Figlio
Provost and Gordon Fyfe Professor of Economics and Education
University of Rochester

Abstract

This presentation highlights the recent scholarship of David Figlio, who popularized the use of matched birth-school data to address public health and education policy questions in the field of economics. Figlio will present a survey of his research on early health and later educational outcomes, as well as the use of sibling comparisons (facilitated by matched birth records) to study policy-relevant issues in education.

On the evolutionary foundations of intra-family resource sharing

Speaker

Ingela Alger
CNRS Senior Researcher in Economics
Toulouse School of Economics

Abstract

Intra-family resource sharing is extensive in Homo sapiens. In this talk I will summarize key findings of theoretical work on the evolutionary foundations of some of this sharing, including paternal investment and food sharing between unrelated males and females.

DUPRI presents Sarah H. Cross, Changes in Place of Death in the United States

Between 2003 and 2017, there were nearly 35.2 million natural deaths. In 2003, 905,874 deaths occurred in hospitals (39.7%), decreasing to 764,424 (29.8%) in 2017, while nursing facility deaths reduced from 538,817 (23.6%) to 534,714 (20.8%). Home deaths increased from 543,874 (23.8%) in 2003 to 788,757 (30.7%) in 2017, while hospice facility deaths increased from 5395 (0.2%) to 212,652 (8.3%) by 2017. Younger patients, females, and racial/ethnic minorities had reduced odds of home death compared to older patients, males and whites. Cancer patients had the greatest odds of home and hospice facility deaths and the lowest odds of nursing facility death relative to other conditions. Relative to other conditions, dementia patients had the greatest odds of nursing facility death, and respiratory disease patients had the greatest odds of hospital death. Stroke patients had the lowest odds of home death, and cardiovascular disease patients had the lowest odds of hospice facility death, relative to other conditions.

Seminar Series

The Duke Population Research Institute (DuPRI), an affiliate of SSRI, is dedicated to the conceptual unification of the demographic sciences. We host a regular Thursday afternoon speaker series presenting innovative research during the academic year that all members of the Duke community are invited to attend.

Seminar Series: Assessing the Significance of Period and Cohort Effects in Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort Models, with Applications to Trends in Verbal Ability, Voting in Presidential Elections, and Health

"Assessing the Significance of Period and Cohort Effects in Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort Models, with Applications to Trends in Verbal Ability, Voting in Presidential Elections, and Health" The Duke Population Research Institute (DuPRI), an affiliate of SSRI, is dedicated to the conceptual unification of the demographic sciences. We host a regular Thursday afternoon speaker series presenting innovative research during the academic year that all members of the Duke community are invited to attend.

Seminar Series: Causes of Lagging Life Expectancy at Older Ages in the United States

"Causes of Lagging Life Expectancy at Older Ages in the United States" Life expectancy in the United States fares poorly in international comparisons, primarily because of high mortality rates above age 50. One explanation is a poor performance by the health care system. We find that, by standards of OECD countries, the US does well in terms of screening for cancer, survival rates from cancer, survival rates after heart attacks and strokes, and medication of individuals with high levels of blood pressure or cholesterol.

Seminar Series: Seeing or Believing: 1st vs. 3rd Person Perspectives on Racial Identification

(joint talk with Sociology) "Seeing or Believing: 1st vs. 3rd Person Perspectives on Racial Identification" Race is most often conceptualized as a characteristic that defines populations based on shared physical appearance, but in social research, race is measured by self-reported identities, which are subject to political and cultural forces as well as personal preferences.