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This paper examines a training intervention aimed at boosting leadership and communication skills among employees of a large Latin American retailer. The identification exploits an experimental design in the context of a difference-in-difference strategy. Using longitudinal information obtained from the firm and two skills surveys, we document large positive effects of the training on store- and individual- level productivity. The intervention was more effective in boosting leadership than communication skills. Spillovers from trained managers to untrained sales representatives also contribute to the main effects. Our findings confirm the possibility of increasing productivity through training targeting critical soft-skills.

Amy L. Lewin, Kevin Roy, Family Science, individual and structural inequalities deriving from traumatic experiences among immigrant Latino youth

Predictive modeling methods from the field of machine learning have become a popular tool across various disciplines for exploring and analyzing diverse data. These methods often do not require specific prior knowledge about the functional form of the relationship under study and are able to adapt to complex non-linear and non-additive interrelations between the outcome and its predictors while focusing specifically on prediction performance. This modeling perspective is beginning to be adopted by survey researchers in order to adjust or improve various aspects of data collection and/or survey management. To facilitate this strand of research, this paper (1) provides an introduction to prominent tree-based machine learning methods, (2) reviews and discusses previous and (potential) prospective applications of tree-based supervised learning in survey research, and (3) exemplifies the usage of these techniques in the context of modeling and predicting nonresponse in panel surveys.

Kirsten Stoebenau and Sangeetha Madhavan examine impact of economic inequality through NICHD R03

College financial aid letters can provide a nudge toward borrowing, or not

When is Hope Enough? Hopefulness, Discrimination and Racial Disparities in Physiological Dysregulation

Kennth Leonard investigates knowledge-practice gaps; emphasizes importance of indigenous solutions

New National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant

Sonalde Desai and Reeve Vanneman study the "Determinants of Maternal and Child Health in India"

Utilization of cost-effective essential preventive health services increased after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) provision that non-grandfathered private insurers provide cost-effective preventive services without cost sharing in 2010. Little is known, however, whether this change is also observed among Asians in the US. We examined patterns of preventive services utilization among Asian subgroups relative to non-Latino whites (whites) after the implementation of the ACA’s preventive services provisions. Using 2013–2016 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data, we examined utilization trends in preventive services among Asian Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, and other Asians relative to whites. We also ran logistic regression models to estimate the likelihood of having received each of the seven essential preventive services (routine checkups, flu vaccinations, cholesterol screenings, blood pressure checkups, Papanicolaou “pap” tests, mammograms, and colorectal cancer screenings). Compared to whites, Asians had higher rates of utilization of routine checkups, cholesterol screenings, and flu vaccinations, but they had lower utilization rates of blood pressure checkups, pap tests, and mammograms. The patterns of preventive services utilization differed across the Asian subgroups. All Asian subgroups, except for Filipinos, were less likely to have pap tests or mammograms than whites. Moreover, we observed a decreasing trend in having pap tests, mammograms, or colorectal cancer screenings among all Asian subgroups between 2013 and 2016. Our findings suggest that there are low cancer screening rates across Asian subgroups. This indicates the need for programs tailored to specific Asian subgroups to improve cancer screening.