Replicate — Filipino Nurses Brain Gain (Abarcar & Theoharides 2024)

Ingest All Data Sources

action ingest_dataseton fail: abort

config (1 key)

{
  "sources": [
    "cfo_emigration",
    "ched_enrollment",
    "prc_licensure",
    "us_h1c_visas",
    "psa_lfs"
  ]
}

Build Country-Year Panel (1990-2010)

action build_panel←ingest_data

config (2 keys)

{
  "key_columns": [
    "year",
    "emigrants_to_us",
    "new_nursing_enrollment",
    "new_licensed_nurses",
    "us_visa_cap",
    "tertiary_employment"
  ],
  "time_range": [
    1990,
    2010
  ]
}

Data Quality Gate

action data_quality_gate←build_panelon fail: abort

config (3 keys)

{
  "max_missing_pct": 0.1,
  "min_observations": 18,
  "required_columns": [
    "emigrants_to_us",
    "new_nursing_enrollment",
    "new_licensed_nurses",
    "us_visa_cap"
  ]
}

Reproduce Figure 3 — Enrollment vs Visas

engine time_series_plot←build_panel

config (4 keys)

{
  "annotations": [
    {
      "2000": "US H-1A nurse-visa expansion begins"
    },
    {
      "2006": "Visa expansion ends"
    }
  ],
  "x": "year",
  "y_left": "emigrants_to_us",
  "y_right": "new_nursing_enrollment"
}

expected results (1 key)

{
  "visual_pattern": "Enrollment closely tracks visa availability"
}

Parallel Trends Pre-Test

engine pretrend_test←build_panel

config (4 keys)

{
  "outcome": "new_nursing_enrollment",
  "placebo_treatments": [
    1995,
    1997
  ],
  "pre_period": [
    1990,
    1999
  ],
  "treatment_year": 2000
}

expected results (1 key)

{
  "placebo_effects": "not_significant"
}

Main DID — New Licensed Nurses per Emigrant

engine difference_in_differences←pre_trend_check

config (5 keys)

{
  "controls": [
    "gdp_per_capita_phl",
    "total_tertiary_enrollment"
  ],
  "outcome": "new_licensed_nurses",
  "time_var": "year",
  "treatment": "us_visa_cap_expansion",
  "unit_var": "nursing_program_type"
}

expected results (1 key)

{
  "treatment_effect": {
    "direction": "positive",
    "magnitude_per_emigrant": 9,
    "rationale": "Per Abarcar \u0026 Theoharides (2024): 9 new licensees per 1 emigrant"
  }
}

Heterogeneity — Private vs Public Nursing Programs

engine subgroup_did←did_main_estimate

config (3 keys)

{
  "groups": [
    "private",
    "public"
  ],
  "moderator": "program_ownership_type",
  "outcome": "new_nursing_enrollment"
}

expected results (2 keys)

{
  "private": {
    "direction": "positive",
    "magnitude": "larger"
  },
  "public": {
    "direction": "positive",
    "magnitude": "smaller"
  }
}

Net Stock Calculation (2000-2006)

engine stock_accounting←did_main_estimate

config (3 keys)

{
  "inflows": "new_licensed_nurses",
  "outflows": "emigrants_to_us",
  "window": [
    2000,
    2006
  ]
}

expected results (1 key)

{
  "net_change_in_stock": {
    "direction": "positive",
    "rationale": "Review reports +86,940 net nurses (113,775 licensed - 26,835 emigrated) over 2000-2006",
    "target_value": 86940,
    "tolerance": 0.1
  }
}

Robustness Checks

engine robustness_battery←did_main_estimate

config (1 key)

{
  "checks": [
    {
      "alternative_treatment_year": 2001
    },
    {
      "placebo_outcome": "engineering_enrollment"
    },
    {
      "leave_one_out_provinces": true
    },
    {
      "weighted_by_pre_period_enrollment": true
    }
  ]
}

Replication Report

engine synthesis_report←net_stock_calculation, robustness_battery

config (2 keys)

{
  "compare_to_kb": true,
  "target_finding_id": "finding_filipino_nurses_brain_gain"
}