Chapter four (joint with Bruce Meyer) examines the extent to which UI insures disadvantaged workers against unforeseen events or subsidizes firms and workers engaged in temporary layoffs. Using a 5-year panel of UI administrative records from five states, we find that most claimants receive UI only once during this period. However, those individuals with three or more years of receipt during the 5-year period account for forty percent of claims. Most repeat recipients are concentrated in seasonal industries and are laid off by the same employer each time. Middle-aged and high-paid workers are more likely to be repeat recipients, suggesting that workers in bad jobs do not repeatedly receive UI.

This dissertation consists of three distinct papers. The first chapter estimates the labor market value of being bilingual (English-speaking) in Mexico. The second chapter studies employers' ex ante discriminatory practices in China and Mexico. Finally, the third chapter estimates a compensating differential for fatality risk for workers in Mexico. An abstract for each chapter is provided below. Chapter 1 Abstract: In spite of the generally accepted status of English as a lingua franca, the labor market returns to English for its role as an international language are understudied. In this paper I use advertisements from Computrabajo.com.mx to estimate the returns to English in Mexico. I find that the wage premium for English speakers is approximately 28 percent for the sample as a whole.