Three essays on development and labour economics

This dissertation comprises three independent essays on empirical development and labour economics using data from both the UK and China. Chapter 1 provides the first economic investigation into the treatment effect of the Equality Act (EA) 2010 in Great Britain, which replaced the previous UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, and studies its consequences on disabled people’s labour market status. I find optimistic evidence that the policy change improved the employment and wages of the disabled. In the last two chapters, I study the effects of migration on families and family members left behind,focusing on the case of China’s Great Migration. In particular, Chapter 2 presents new evidence on the impact of daughters’ and sons’ migrations on the health and well-being of their elderly parents left behind in the rural villages. The migration of daughters increases parents’ outcomes, whereas no similar beneficial effects were found for the migration of sons. Chapter 3 examines the impact of adult children’s migration and remittances on the expenditure decisions of the rural households left behind, comparing households with temporary versus permanent migrants. I conclude that policymakers should view permanent migration as a potential pathway to boost local economic development