Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Thomas G. Moehrle Author-Name-First: Thomas G. Author-Name-Last: Moehrle Title: Measure of Generosity of Employer Sponsored Health Plans: an Actuarial Value Approach Abstract: The Bureau of Labor Statistics traditionally compiles and publishes data on individual provisions of employer-sponsored health insurance plans, such as whether the plan provides coverage for home health care or what amount of deductible must be paid before the plan pays benefits. There is, however, growing interest by health regulatory agencies for information on overall health plan “generosity“—what proportion of health care expenditures are paid by an insurer. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, for instance, requires all health insurance plans offered in the individual and small group markets—whether purchased within or outside of State Exchanges—to be scored by the level of generosity measured by their actuarial values (AV). The AV of a plan is a summary estimate of the financial protection provided by a health plan. AV's are expected to be used by purchasers of health insurance in the small and individual markets as a measure to compare among plans. An AV calculator computes these estimates of generosity as percentages of covered health costs paid by insurers or other third-parties. For this research, I use the AV approach to estimate the average generosity of employer-sponsored health plans. To do this, microsimulations are used that draws health expenses from a standard population and estimates insurance payments using a claims-payment procedure. Healthcare expenses for the microsimulations are estimated from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Using these expenditures, insurance payments are estimated from the claims-payment procedure using cost-sharing parameters obtained from information gathered from health insurance Summary Plan Descriptions collected from the National Compensation Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. AV estimates of health plans are generated across several establishment and occupational characteristics that can be used by analyst to assess differences in health plan generosity across the labor market. These measures along with existing benefit provisions data that BLS publishes should provide a more complete picture of employer-sponsored healthcare benefits offered to American workers. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150010.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 479 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:479 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Kristen Monaco Author-Name-First: Kristen Author-Name-Last: Monaco Author-Name: Steven Yamarik Author-Name-First: Steven Author-Name-Last: Yamarik Title: Are There Human Capital Externalities in U.S. States? Evidence from the Current Population Survey Abstract: This paper estimates human capital externalities across U.S. states, using the Current Population Survey (CPS) and state-level data. By directly controlling for individual job characteristics and state labor market conditions, we can identify the human capital externality in an augmented Mincerian model. We find that an extra year of state-level average schooling increases individual wages by five percent above and beyond the private return to education. Subsequent analysis finds that the estimated externality is larger in highly-educated, highly-innovative states. These results imply that the positive coefficient for state-level schooling is in fact an externality and that differences in human capital externalities can help explain “The Great Divergence“ in wages between geographic areas with highly-skilled workers versus those with low-skilled workers. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150020.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 480 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:480 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Keenan Dworak-Fisher Author-Name-First: Keenan Author-Name-Last: Dworak-Fisher Title: Mixed Search Over Commutable Space Abstract: We present a model of search equilibrium in a labor market characterized by more than one locus of employment, in which workers may commute between loci. Unlike previous work with this feature, the model produces outcomes in which unemployed workers sometimes choose to conduct “mixed search“ – simultaneously searching for jobs in more than one location. We examine the labor market properties of such equilibria and circumscribe the conditions under which they are preferred to other equilibria such as the “autarkic“ equilibrium in which no inter-area search is conducted. We then explore the effects of changes in inter-area commuting costs. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150030.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 481 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:481 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Peter A. Zadrozny Author-Name-First: Peter A. Author-Name-Last: Zadrozny Title: Real-Time State-Space Method For Computing Filtered Estimates of Future Revisions of U.S. Monthly Chained CPI Abstract: Well known CPI of urban consumers is never revised. Recently initiated chained CPI is initially released every month (ICPI), for that month without delay within BLS and for the previous month with one month delay to the public. Final estimates of chained CPI (FCPI) are released every February for January to December of the calendar year two years before. Every month, simultaneously with the release of ICPI, we would like to have a best estimate, given current information, of FCPI for that month, which will not be released until two calendar years later. ICPI and FCPI data may be indexed in historical time by months of occurrence or in current or real time by months of observation or release. The essence of the solution method is to use data indexed in historical time to estimate models and, then, for an estimated model, to use data indexed in real time to estimate FCPI. We illustrate the method with regression and VARMA models. Using a regression model, estimated FCPI is given directly by an estimated regression line; and, using a VARMA model, estimated FCPI is computed using a Kalman filter. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150040.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 482 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:482 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Charlene Marie Kalenkoski Author-Name-First: Charlene Marie Author-Name-Last: Kalenkoski Author-Name: Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia Author-Name-First: Sabrina Wulff Author-Name-Last: Pabilonia Title: Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? Abstract: Although previous research has shown that homework improves students’ academic achievement, the majority of these studies use data on students’ homework time from retrospective questionnaires, which may be less accurate than time-diary data. We use data from the combined Child Development Supplement (CDS) and the Transition to Adulthood Survey (TA) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to explore the effects of time spent on homework while attending high school on two measures of academic achievement: high school GPA and college attendance by age 20. We find that homework time has no effect on these measures of academic achievement. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150050.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 483 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:483 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Jeffrey A. Groen Author-Name-First: Jeffrey A. Author-Name-Last: Groen Author-Name: Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia Author-Name-First: Sabrina Wulff Author-Name-Last: Pabilonia Title: Snooze or Lose: High School Start Times and Academic Achievement Abstract: Many U.S. high schools start classes before 8:00 A.M., yet research on circadian rhythms suggests that teenagers’ biological clocks shift to later in the day. This paper conducts the first study using a nationally representative dataset to examine the effect of high school start times on longer-run academic outcomes, including college-entrance exam scores and college attendance. Results indicate that female students who attend schools with later start times get more sleep and score higher on the SAT. Male students also get more sleep when their schools start later, but they are less likely to attend a four-year college. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150060.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 484 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:484 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Peter A. Zadrozny Author-Name-First: Peter A. Author-Name-Last: Zadrozny Title: Extended Yule-Walker Identification of Varma Models with Single- or Mixed- Frequency Data Abstract: Chen and Zadrozny (1998) developed the linear extended Yule-Walker (XYW) method for determining the parameters of a vector autoregressive (VAR) model with available covariances of mixed-frequency observations on the variables of the model. If the parameters are determined uniquely for available population covariances, then, the VAR model is identified. The present paper extends the original XYW method to an extended XYW method for determining all ARMA parameters of a vector autoregressive moving-average (VARMA) model with available covariances of single- or mixed-frequency observations on the variables of the model. The paper proves that under conditions of stationarity, regularity, miniphaseness, controllability, observability, and diagonalizability on the parameters of the model, the parameters are determined uniquely with available population covariances of single- or mixed-frequency observations on the variables of the model, so that the VARMA model is identified with the single- or mixed-frequency covariances. Creation-Date: 2015 File-URL: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2015/pdf/ec150070.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 485 Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:485