Ross McKenzie
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rmckenzie.bsky.social
Ross McKenzie
@rmckenzie.bsky.social
1.7K followers 2.5K following 13 posts
Econ Lecturer at University of Dundee | Applied Micro | Labour & Migration

https://sites.google.com/view/rossmckenzie/home
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Reposted by Ross McKenzie
rmckenzie.bsky.social
New working paper out with Yue Gu and Sisi Sung: The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women's Education and Occupational Choice

Open to feedback!

ssrn.com/abstract=539...
Abstract This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.
September 2, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
sisisung.bsky.social
Check out our new working paper!
rmckenzie.bsky.social Ross McKenzie @rmckenzie.bsky.social · Sep 2
New working paper out with Yue Gu and Sisi Sung: The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women's Education and Occupational Choice

Open to feedback!

ssrn.com/abstract=539...
Abstract This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.
September 2, 2025 at 10:33 AM
rmckenzie.bsky.social
New working paper out with Yue Gu and Sisi Sung: The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women's Education and Occupational Choice

Open to feedback!

ssrn.com/abstract=539...
Abstract This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.
September 2, 2025 at 9:53 AM
rmckenzie.bsky.social
Excellent post exploring the immigrant fiscal contributions by visa category. Important to note that it is overall positive without even considering indirect positive effects on UK born as my own research shows: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
August 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
lgilbert.co
You know how everyone is freaking about how bad new immigrants are for public finances?

I did the math and: even considering only new Boriswave immigrants, the average new immigrant salary was still higher than the average British national.

On Substack: www.laurenpolicy.com/p/are-recent...
Are recent immigrants a "ticking time bomb" for British public finances?
At a few recent policy events, I keep hearing that dependents on visas are a Problem.
www.laurenpolicy.com
August 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
descamillag.bsky.social
Our paper (@econzach.bsky.social Ed Kosack) is forthcoming! We use high-frequency data to identify the magnitude, timing, and persistence of conflict-induced migration during the Mexican Revolution.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
May 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
bodanieli.bsky.social
Very happy to see our recent research on the effects of free school meals on school attendance featured in the @unesconow.bsky.social Health and Education Resource Centre's monthly newsletter: bit.ly/3Zq9JEM

For the published paper (open access) please see: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Does the provision of universal free school meals improve school attendance?
We examine the effects of universal free school meal (UFSM) policies on school attendance and health-related absences. We leverage UFSM implementation…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 28, 2024 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
pseudoerasmus.bsky.social
JMP by Yannis Kastis with @hillaryvipond.bsky.social

It's both an immigration paper & an adoption-of-technology paper. I didn’t know this: immigration of Jewish tailors from the Pale was very important in the rise of mass garment production in Victorian England
jkastis.github.io/yanniskastis...
November 22, 2024 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
mclem.org
More and more migration-and-development economists are here! Please suggest yourself or others for me to add. #EconSky
November 21, 2024 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
jordanclaridge.bsky.social
New paper:
“(In-kind) Wages and labour relations in the Middle Ages: It’s not (all) about the money” with @vincentdelabastita.bsky.social and Spike Gibbs is now out in
Explorations in Economic History

The paper is open access and here is a summary 🧵 (1/16)
doi.org/10.1016/j.ee...
Redirecting
doi.org
November 18, 2024 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
jschneebacher.bsky.social
How can researchers provide the nuanced, fast evidence policymakers need to make policy in real time?

@trfetzer.com, Christina Palmou and I have written an ESCoE blog based on our recent working paper: www.escoe.ac.uk/evidence-for...
Evidence for policymakers in real time: a blueprint - ESCoE
By Thiemo Fetzer, Christina Palmou and Jakob Schneebacher The last two decades have seen a […]
www.escoe.ac.uk
November 14, 2024 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
rmckenzie.bsky.social
Very excited to see our paper (with @bodanieli.bsky.social ) on forced migration and local economic development published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Link to the paper (open access) here: doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...
Redirecting
doi.org
August 27, 2024 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
rmckenzie.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/rmck...

#econsky 📉📈
rmckenzie.bsky.social Ross McKenzie @rmckenzie.bsky.social · Aug 27
Very excited to see our paper (with @bodanieli.bsky.social ) on forced migration and local economic development published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Link to the paper (open access) here: doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...
Redirecting
doi.org
August 27, 2024 at 2:13 PM
rmckenzie.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/rmck...

#econsky 📉📈
rmckenzie.bsky.social Ross McKenzie @rmckenzie.bsky.social · Aug 27
Very excited to see our paper (with @bodanieli.bsky.social ) on forced migration and local economic development published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Link to the paper (open access) here: doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...
Redirecting
doi.org
August 27, 2024 at 2:13 PM
rmckenzie.bsky.social
Very excited to see our paper (with @bodanieli.bsky.social ) on forced migration and local economic development published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Link to the paper (open access) here: doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...
Redirecting
doi.org
August 27, 2024 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
rmckenzie.bsky.social
Increasing the minimum income threshold to £38k ignores spillover benefits migrants can bring to UK-born workers. My research with Graeme Roy & Marco Alfano shows that migration into a lower skilled occupation can have a positive effect on UK wages in an adjacent higher skilled occupation. /1
This article estimates the effect of immigration into an occupation on the wages of natives working in other, better-paid occupations. Using Annual Population Survey data from the UK we rank occupations by the Standard Occupation Classification provided by the ONS and find that increases in the migrant/native ratio raise average wages of natives working in the next higher ranked occupation by around 0.332%. Our findings have important implications for policy and public discourse. They suggest that debates over the economic impacts of migration often ignore the potential spill-over benefits that a migrant can bring to the outcomes for native workers elsewhere in the wage distribution, particularly in lower wage occupations.
December 4, 2023 at 10:11 PM
rmckenzie.bsky.social
Increasing the minimum income threshold to £38k ignores spillover benefits migrants can bring to UK-born workers. My research with Graeme Roy & Marco Alfano shows that migration into a lower skilled occupation can have a positive effect on UK wages in an adjacent higher skilled occupation. /1
This article estimates the effect of immigration into an occupation on the wages of natives working in other, better-paid occupations. Using Annual Population Survey data from the UK we rank occupations by the Standard Occupation Classification provided by the ONS and find that increases in the migrant/native ratio raise average wages of natives working in the next higher ranked occupation by around 0.332%. Our findings have important implications for policy and public discourse. They suggest that debates over the economic impacts of migration often ignore the potential spill-over benefits that a migrant can bring to the outcomes for native workers elsewhere in the wage distribution, particularly in lower wage occupations.
December 4, 2023 at 10:11 PM
rmckenzie.bsky.social
Had a great time attending the CEMIR Junior Economist Workshop on Migration Research at the ifo Institute. First time in Germany and can't wait to go back!
A wide river with trees on each side
October 20, 2023 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Ross McKenzie
wsandholtz.bsky.social
I applied and had a really great experience -- recommended.
danilaserra-eco.bsky.social Danila Serra @danilaserra-eco.bsky.social · Oct 13
**ADOPT A PAPER Round 4**

Adopt a Paper is a streamlined mentoring program aimed at giving junior faculty in Econ access to high quality feedback on a paper from a top scholar.

More than 300 papers "adopted" in rounds 1-3. adoptapaper.org

More info below & in thread
October 13, 2023 at 3:04 PM