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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Waisman, Gisela (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS); Larsen, Birthe (Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The effects of discrimination of immigrants on the labour market are studied within a search and wage-bargaining setting including a risk of losing skills during the experience of unemployment. The negative effects of discrimination in the form of higher unemployment and lower wages spread to all workers, immigrants and natives, in all sectors of the economy. The effect is stronger for immigrants, but natives also suffer. An increase in the share of immigrants in the economy exacerbates the problems of discrimination. |
| Keywords: | discrimination; unemployment; search; matching; wages |
| JEL: | J15 J31 J61 J64 J71 |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2008_004&r=lab |
| By: | Francine D. Blau; Lawrence M. Kahn; Kerry L. Papps |
| Abstract: | We use 1980, 1990 and 2000 Census data to study the impact of source country characteristics on the labor supply assimilation profiles of married adult immigrant women and men. Women migrating from countries where women have high relative labor force participation rates work substantially more than women coming from countries with lower relative female labor supply rates, and this gap is roughly constant with time in the United States. These differences are substantial and hold up even when we control for wage offers and family formation decisions, as well as when we control for the emigration rate from the United States to the source country. Men's labor supply assimilation profiles are unaffected by source country female labor supply, a result that suggests that the female findings reflect notions of gender roles rather than overall work orientation. Findings for another indicator of traditional gender roles, source country fertility rates, are broadly similar, with substantial and persistent negative effects of source country fertility on the labor supply of female immigrants except when we control for presence of children, in which case the negative effects only become evident after ten years in the United States. |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14387&r=lab |
| By: | Blázquez, Maite (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.); Moral-Carcedo, Julian (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The way in which professional and familiar life are reconciled might have important economic consequences both at individual and aggregate level. While as a flexible form of employment, part-time work may serve to reconcile professional and family life and increase female participation in the labour market, it can also give rise to new forms of inequality, thereby undermining the equal opportunities objectives established by the EU social policy. Creating substantive equality between part- and full-time workers and achieving gender neutrality means, above all, to ensure that those workers who combine part-time work with child care responsibilities do not suffer detrimental consequences in their career prospects. Although several actions at European Community level have been undertaken in the last decade to achieve greater equality between part- and full-timers, there is still evidence of a close relationship between atypical work, forms of parental leave, and gender discrimination in the labour relations of Members States. In this respect, many academic works have convincingly demonstrated how part-time workers are very often at a disadvantage when compared to their full-time counterparts. One disadvantage not explored yet in the current literature is the higher probability of transition into non-employment amongst part-timers. In this paper, we focus on the effects that the existence of differences in these transition rates between part- and full-timers, and the subsequent persistence of non-employment episodes, have on female career prospects. We present a theoretical model that incorporates those differences in unemployment risk and that serves us to conclude that, when part-timers experience higher probabilities of exiting the labour market, this form of employment becomes less attractive for women with child care responsibilities. This might serve to explain why in some countries full-time employment is the preferred option for mothers who want to remain in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | Childcare; Part time employment |
| JEL: | J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpaper:200807&r=lab |
| By: | Adriana Kugler; Mutlu Yuksel (University of Houston, NBER, CEPR and IZA) |
| Abstract: | In the 1980s the composition of immigrants to the U.S. shifted towards less-skilled workers. Around this time, real wages and employment of younger and less-educated U.S. workers fell. Some blame recent immigration shifts for the misfortunes of unskilled workers in the U.S. OLS estimates using Census data show instead that native wages are positively related to the recent influx of Latin Americans. However, these estimates are biased if demand shocks are positively related to immigration. An IV strategy, which deals with the endogeneity of immigration by exploiting a large influx of Central American immigrants towards U.S. Southern ports of entry after Hurricane Mitch,also generates positive wage effects but only for more educated native men. Yet,ignoring the flows of native and earlier immigrants in response to this exogeneous immigration is likely to generate upward biases in these estimates too. Native wage effects disappear and less-skilled employment of previous Latin American immigrants falls when controlling for out-migration. This highlights the importance of controlling for out-migration not only of natives but also of previous immigrants in regional studies of immigration. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Imperfect Substitution, Disemployment Effects, Natural Experiments, Outmigration |
| JEL: | J11 J21 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0809&r=lab |
| By: | Matthias Kräkel; Anja Schöttner (University of Bonn, Adenauerallee 24-42, D-53113 Bonn, Germany; University of Bonn, Adenauerallee 24-42, D-53113 Bonn, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Several empirical studies have challenged tournament theory by pointing out that (1) there is considerable pay variation within hierarchy levels, (2) promotion premiums only in part explain hierarchical wage differences and (3) external recruitment is observable on nearly any hierarchy level. We explain these empirical puzzles by combining job-promotion tournaments with higher-level bonus payments in a two-tier hierarchy. Moreover, we show that under certain conditions the firm implements first-best effort on tier 2 although workers earn strictly positive rents. The reason is that the firm can use second-tier rents for creating incentives on tier 1. If workers are heterogeneous, the firm strictly improves the selection quality of a job-promotion tournament by employing a hybrid incentive scheme that includes bonus payments. |
| Keywords: | bonuses, external recruitment, job promotion, limited liability, tournaments |
| JEL: | D82 D86 J33 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trf:wpaper:245&r=lab |
| By: | Waisman, Gisela (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS); Larsen, Birthe (Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We exploit the regional variation in negative attitudes towards immigrants to Sweden in order to analyse what are the consequences of such attitudes on immigrants' welfare. A well educated immigrant from a non developed country who lives in a municipality with strong negative attitudes earns less than what she would earn if she lived in a municpality where natives are more positive. IF attitudes changed from the average level to themost positive level,her wage would increase by 12%. This would reduce the wage gap to well-educated immigrants from developed countries by 70%. We interpret this effect as evidence of labour market discrimination. The same reduction in negative attitudes would increase the welfare of immigrants from Africa and Asia, through their wage and local amenities, by an equivalent to one third of their wage. The analogous amount for immigrants from South America and East Europe is one fourth of their wage if they are well educated and one tenth otherwise. |
| Keywords: | wages; attitudes; immigrants; mobility; amenities |
| JEL: | J15 J31 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2008_005&r=lab |
| By: | John Dagsvik; Kristian Orsini; Zhiyang Jia |
| Abstract: | Belgium is characterised by a comparatively high tax wedge. Starting from the end of the 90’s there has been a growing concern over the effect of high labour costs on the employment of low skilled workers. One of the most innovative measures implemented by the federal government is the targeted reduction on social security contributions for low skilled workers: the Workbonus. The subsidy has increased steadily over the period 2000-2006. At the same time the eligibility to the benefit was considerably extended. The innovative feature of the tax credit is that - differently from other measure existing in OECD countries - eligibility is based on full-time equivalent earnings. The instrument therefore distinguishes between low skill and low effort and avoids the disincentive effect on labour supply at the intensive margin that is typically found in traditional measures means-tested on disposable income or earnings. This paper assesses the effects of the Workbonus on labour supply using different econometric frameworks. In particular, we compare estimates based on a traditional labour supply model, with results based on a modeling framework which accounts for heterogeneity in individuals’ job opportunities. Results show that accounting for demand side constraints leads to significantly lower estimates of labour supply effects. Nevertheless, the measure has a positive impact on labour supply and comparatively low cost per additional job created. |
| Keywords: | Tax-benefit Systems – Microsimulation – Labour Supply – Structural Modeling. |
| JEL: | D31 H21 H23 H24 H31 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces0816&r=lab |
| By: | John Gibson (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | This note reports propensity score matching estimates of the public sector pay premium in New Zealand for each year from 2003 until 2007. Comparing with observably similar private sector workers shows that public sector workers have received a pay premium that has grown in each year, from almost zero in 2003 to 22 percent in 2007. Unless there have been unmeasured changes in the attributes of public sector jobs that give rise to compensating pay differentials, this rising public sector pay premium is most plausibly attributed to an increase in non-competitive rents. |
| Keywords: | compensating differentials; propensity score matching; public sector; wages |
| JEL: | J31 J45 |
| Date: | 2008–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:08/16&r=lab |
| By: | Laura Juarez (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM)) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the e¤ect of having a job covered by social security, on the wages of female salaried workers. I overcome the heterogeneity bias that typically contaminates estimates by using the exogenous availability of free health care and prescription drugs implemented in 2001 in the part of Mexico City that belongs to Distrito Federal (DF). This program provides valid instruments because health care is a substantial component of the bene?ts provided by social security, so the availability of alternative free health care should decrease the incentive to contribute to the system. In addition, eligibility for this program is not correlated with individual unobserved characteristics that a¤ect either wages or the choice of sector. My results show that being a DF resident after free health care was implemented has a negative an signi?cant e¤ect on the probability that a female salaried worker has social security in her current job. Regarding wages, not controlling for the endogeneity of formality on the wage regression gives rise to a positive formal premium as in previous studies for both developed and developing countries. In contrast, my instrumental variables results show that female salaried workers in the formal sector earn between 16 to 23 percent less than female workers in informal jobs. These results show that workers who receive higher fringe bene?ts are paid a lower wage, which supports the compensating di¤erential theory. In the Mexican context, it would also suggest that informal salaried workers are not necessarily worse o¤than their counterparts in the formal sector. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cie:wpaper:0804&r=lab |
| By: | José Ignacio García (Centro de Estudios Andaluces); Alfonso R. Sánchez Martín (Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the links between unemployment, retirement and their associated public insurance programs. It is a contribution to a growing body of literature focused on a better understanding of the labor behavior of advanced—age workers, which has gained importance as the pension crisis looms. The analysis combines the development of a new theoretical model and a detailed exploration of the empirical regularities using the Spanish Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales (MCVL) dataset. The model is a extension of the standard search model, designed to reproduce the non—stationary environment faced by workers approaching retirement and to explore the interaction of unemployment benefits and retirement pensions. Via calibrated simulations we show that the basic empirical reemployment and retirement patterns can be rationalized as the optimal responses to both the labor market conditions and the institutional incentives. Generous Unemployment Benefits (for durations of up to two years) together with very significant early retirement penalties, make optimal to stay unemployed without searching for large groups of unemployed workers. This moral hazard problem can he substantially alleviated through institutional reform. Setting the early retirement penalties according to the age when the individual withdraws from the labor force (rather than when he/she claims the pension for the first time) seems particularly beneficial. It increases the labor supply, reduces the financial cost for the social security system and generate enough extra resources to compensate for the welfare loss of those unemployed directly hit by the reform. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment search, job benefit, retirement |
| JEL: | J64 J68 J26 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cea:doctra:e2008_10&r=lab |
| By: | de Walque, Damien |
| Abstract: | It is generally expected that immigrants do not fare as well as the native-born in the U.S. labor market. The literature also documents that Blacks experience lower labor market outcomes than Whites. This paper innovates by studying the interaction between race and immigration. The study compares the labor market outcomes of four racial groups in the United States (Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics) interacted with their foreign born status, using the Integrated Public Use Micro Data Series data for the 2000 Census. Among women and for labor market outcomes such as labor force participation, employment, and personal income, the foreign born are doing worse than the native born from the same racial background, with the exception of Blacks. Among men, for labor force participation and employment, foreign-born Blacks are doing better than native Blacks. The paper tests different possible explanations for this"reversal"of the advantage of natives over immigrants among Blacks. It considers citizenship, ability in English, age at and time since arrival in the United States, as well as neighborhood effects, but concludes that none of these channels explains or modifies the observed reversal. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Race in Society,Population Policies,Educational Policy and Planning |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4737&r=lab |
| By: | Francine D. Blau; Lawrence M. Kahn; Albert Yung-Hsu Liu; Kerry L. Papps |
| Abstract: | Using 1995-2006 Current Population Survey and 1970-2000 Census data, we study the intergenerational transmission of fertility, human capital and work orientation of immigrants to their US-born children. We find that second-generation women's fertility and labor supply are significantly positively affected by the immigrant generation's fertility and labor supply respectively, with the effect of mother's fertility and labor supply larger than that of women from the father's source country. The second generation's education levels are also significantly positively affected by that of their parents, with a stronger effect of father's than mother's education. Second-generation women's schooling levels are negatively affected by immigrant fertility, suggesting a quality-quantity tradeoff for immigrant families. We find higher transmission rates for immigrant fertility to the second generation than we do for labor supply or education: after one generation, 40-65% of any immigrant excess fertility will remain, but only 12-18 % of any immigrant annual hours shortfall and 18-36% of any immigrant educational shortfall. These results suggest a considerable amount of assimilation across generations toward native levels of schooling and labor supply, although fertility effects show more persistence. |
| JEL: | J1 J16 J22 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14388&r=lab |
| By: | Danny Leung; Alexander Ueberfeldt |
| Abstract: | Why do employed persons in large firms earn more than employed persons in small firms, even after controlling for observable characteristics? Complementary to previous results, this paper proposes a mechanism that gives an answer to this question. In the model, individuals accumulate human capital and are exposed to the risk of losing some of their human capital as they change jobs, voluntarily or involuntarily. The model, calibrated to the United States and Canada, accounts for one-third of the firmsize wage premium. Regarding the earnings gap between Canada and the United States, the model finds that it is solely due to differences in labor market uncertainty. |
| Keywords: | Economic models; Labour markets; Productivity |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:08-33&r=lab |
| By: | David Casado-Marín; Pilar García-Gómez; Ángel López-Nicolás |
| Abstract: | This paper offers evidence on the effects of caregiving (i.e. looking after a dependent person within or outside the household) on labour outcomes such as employment, full time employment (conditional on employment), and income for women aged between 30 and 60 across different European countries. It does so by exploiting data from the European Community Household Panel (1994-2001) in order to match women who have become caregivers with “control” women who are deemed to be comparable in all relevant characteristics and compute a non-parametric measure of the effect of becoming a caregiver on the outcomes mentioned above. Our results suggest that, for women who are working before becoming a caregiver there is no statistically significant change in the chances of being employed. However, in the case of women who were not working prior to becoming a caregiver, there is a statistically significant decrease in the chances of entering employment. We also detect a negative and significant effect on labour income, which tends to be offset by a parallel increase in social transfers, except in the case of women with low levels of education in the Southern countries. |
| Keywords: | informal care, female labour force participation, ECHP, matching, ageing |
| JEL: | J2 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:08/23&r=lab |
| By: | Joshua L. Rosenbloom (Department of Economics, The University of Kansas); Ronald A. Ash (The University of Kansas); Brandon Dupont (Department of Economics, Western Washington University); LeAnne Coder (Western Kentucky University) |
| Abstract: | This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented under representation of women in information technology jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly-growing IT industries. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kan:wpaper:200807&r=lab |
| By: | Kucel, Aleksander (Pompeu Fabra University, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Barcelona, Spain); Byrne, Delma (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)) |
| Keywords: | over-education, networks, job search |
| JEL: | I21 J21 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp258&r=lab |
| By: | Jürgen Maurer; Roger Klein; Francis Vella (Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA)) |
| Abstract: | We use panel data from the US Health and Retirement Study 1992-2002 to estimate the effect of self-assessed health limitations on active labor market participation of men around retirement age. Self-assessments of health and functioning typically introduce an endogeneity bias when studying the effects of health on labor market participation. This results from justification bias, reflecting an individual’s tendency to provide answers which "justify" his labor market activity, and individual-specific heterogeneity in providing subjective evaluations. We address both concerns. We propose a semiparametric binary choice procedure which incorporates potentially nonadditive correlated individual-specific effects. Our estimation strategy identifies and estimates the average partial effects of health and functioning on labor market participation. The results indicate that poor health and functioning play a major role in the labor market exit decisions of older men. |
| JEL: | I10 J10 J26 C14 C30 |
| Date: | 2008–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mea:meawpa:08169&r=lab |
| By: | Erixon, Lennart (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | A wage and economic policy programme for full employment, price stability, growth and equity was developed by two Swedish trade-union economists in the early post-war period. A restrictive macroeconomic policy, a wages policy of solidarity and an active labour market policy are the cornerstones of the Rehn-Meidner model. The model was influenced by Hans Singer’s analysis of the fallacies of incomes policy under full employment conditions. However it is difficult to find equivalences in contemporary economics to the model’s composition of means and goals, functional relationships or to its emphasis on the role of actual profits in wage formation. |
| Keywords: | Rehn-Meidner model; Swedish model; Stockholm school of economics; labour market policy; wages policy of solidarity |
| JEL: | B22 B29 E24 E62 E64 J31 J51 |
| Date: | 2008–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2008_0008&r=lab |
| By: | Aaberge, Rolf (Research Department, Statistics Norway); Flood, Lennart (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recent Swedish in-work tax credit reform where we pay particular attention to labor market exclusion; i.e. individuals in as well as outside the labor force are included in the analysis. To highlight the importance of the joint effects from the tax and the benefit systems it appears particular relevant to analyze the labor supply behavior of single mothers. To this end, we estimate a structural microeconometric model of labor supply and welfare participation. The model accounts for heterogeneity in consumption-leisure preferences as well as for constraints in job opportunities. The results of the evaluation show that the reform generates welfare-gains for virtually every single mother, and moreover benefits low-income households. Finally, due to increased labor supply and decline in welfare participation we find that this reform is almost self-financing.<p> |
| Keywords: | Labor supply; single mothers; in-work tax credit; social assistance; random utility model |
| JEL: | I38 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0319&r=lab |
| By: | Andrew Figura; William Wascher |
| Abstract: | A number of industries underwent large and permanent reductions in employment growth at the beginning of this decade, a process we label as restructuring. We describe how restructuring occurred and what its consequences were for the economy. In particular, we find that restructuring stemmed largely from relative demand shocks (though technology shocks were important in some industries) and that elevated levels of permanent job destruction and permanent layoffs were distinguishing features of industries subject to restructuring. In addition, most workers displaced in restructuring industries relocated to other sectors. While this process of reallocation led to large increases in productivity (and a reduction in labor’s share) in industries shedding workers, it also resulted in prolonged periods of unemployment for displaced workers. Moreover, relocating workers suffered sizable reductions in earnings, consistent with substantial losses in their specific human capital. Putting these pieces together, we estimate the cost of restructuring to have been between ½ and 1 percent of aggregate income per year. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2008-41&r=lab |
| By: | M. Eslava, J. Haltwanger, A. Kugler, M. Kugler (Wilfrid Laurier University) |
| Abstract: | We analyze employment and capital adjustments using plant data from the Colombian Annual Manufacturing Survey. We estimate adjustment functions for capital and labor as a non-linear function of the gaps between desired and actual factor levels, allowing for interdependence in adjustments of the two factors. In addition to non-linear employment and capital adjustments in response to market fundamentals, we find that capital shortages reduce hiring and labor surpluses reduce capital shedding. We also find that after factor market deregulation in Colombia in 1991, factor adjustment hazards increased on the job destruction and capital formation margins. Finally, we find that completely eliminating frictions in factor adjustment would yield a substantial increase in aggregate productivity through improved allocative efficiency. Yet, the actual impact of the Colombian deregulation on aggregate productivity through factor adjustment was modest. |
| Keywords: | Reallocation, joint factor adjustment, irreversibility, deregulation |
| JEL: | E22 E24 O11 C14 J63 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wlu:wpaper:eg0059&r=lab |
| By: | Reinhold Kosfeld (University of Kassel, Institut of Economics, 34127 Kassel, Germany); Hans-Friedrich Eckey (University of Kassel, Department of Economics, 34127 Kassel, Germany) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use the NEG framework of the Helpman model to investigate the spatial distribution of wages across German labour market regions under different assumptions. As the assumptions of equal regional price level and equal real wages are strongly rejected for the German economy, standard approaches may fail to reveal the role of market access in explaining regional wage disparities. In part substantial changes occur when market potential is measured with the aid of regional price levels. With the so-called price index approach, the importance of market access in explaining regional wage differentials is clearly revealed. When controlling for heterogeneity of labour force and spatial dependence, the relationship still remains highly significant. From the price index approach, limited demand linkages of reasonable reach are inferred. |
| Keywords: | New Economic Geography, market access, wage disparities, regional price levels |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:200814&r=lab |
| By: | Maria Knoth Humlum (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I investigate the effects of the timing of family income on child achievement production. Detailed administrative data augmented with PISA test scores at age 15 are used to analyze the effects of the timing of family income on child achievement. Contrary to many earlier studies, tests for early borrowing constraints suggest that parents are not constrained in early investments in their children's achievement, and thus that the timing of income does not matter for long-term child outcomes. This is a reasonable result given the setting in a Scandinavian welfare state with generous child and education subsidies. Actually, later family income (age 12-15) is a more important determinant of child achievement than earlier income. |
| Keywords: | child human capital, timing of family income |
| JEL: | I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2008-12&r=lab |
| By: | Graziella Bertocchi |
| Abstract: | We offer a rationale for the decision to extend the franchise to women within a politico-economic model where men are richer than women, women display a higher preference for public goods, and women’s disenfranchisement carries a societal cost. We first derive the tax rate chosen by the male median voter when women are disenfranchised. Next we show that, as industrialization raises the reward to mental labor relative to physical labor, women’s relative wage increases. When the cost of disenfranchisement becomes higher than the cost of the higher tax rate which applies under universal enfranchisement, the male median voter is better off extending the franchise to women. A consequent expansion of the size of government is only to be expected in societies with a relatively high cost of disenfranchisement. We empirically test the implications of the model over the 1870-1930 period. We proxy the gender wage gap with the level of per capita income and the cost of disenfranchisement with the presence of Catholicism, which is associated with a more traditional view of women’s role and thus a lower cost. The gender gap in the preferences for public goods is proxied by the availability of divorce, which implies marital instability and a more vulnerable economic position for women. Consistently with the model’s predictions, women suffrage is affected positively by per capita income and negatively by the presence of Catholicism and the availability of divorce, while women suffrage increases the size of government only in non-Catholic countries. |
| Keywords: | Women Suffrage, Inequality, Public Goods, Welfare State, Culture, Family, Divorce |
| JEL: | P16 J16 N40 H50 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:018&r=lab |
| By: | Evans Jadotte (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The Republic of Haiti is the prime international remittances recipient country in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region relative to its gross domestic product (GDP). The downside of this observation may be that this country is also the first exporter of skilled workers in the world by population size. The present research uses a zero-altered negative binomial (with logit inflation) to model households’ international migration decision process, and endogenous regressors’ Amemiya Generalized Least Squares method (instrumental variable Tobit, IV-Tobit) to account for selectivity and endogeneity issues in assessing the impact of remittances on labor market outcomes. Results are in line with what has been found so far in this literature in terms of a decline of labor supply in the presence of remittances. However, the impact of international remittances does not seem to be important in determining recipient households’ labor participation behavior, particularly for women. |
| Keywords: | Republic of Haiti, international migration, remittances, labor supply |
| JEL: | C39 F22 F24 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea0808&r=lab |
| By: | Carlos Gradin (Universidade de Vigo) |
| Abstract: | The two largest minorities in the United States, African Americans and people of Hispanic origin, show official poverty rates that are at least twice as high as those among non-Hispanic Whites. These similarly high poverty rates among minorities are, however, the result of different combinations of factors, due to the specific characteristics of these two groups. In this paper, we analyze the role of demographic and labor-related variables in explaining the current differential in poverty rates among racial and ethnic groups in the United States and its recent evolution. Our results show, first, that these differentials were largely explained by differing family characteristics of the ethnic groups. Furthermore, we show that while labor market activity of family members and a preponderance of single mothers played a more significant role in explaining the higher poverty rates of Blacks, a larger number of dependent children is more closely associated with higher poverty among Latinos, who also suffer from a larger educational attainment gap and higher immigration rates. Finally, we show that both racial poverty gaps declined during the 1990s, and, in the case of Latinos, the downward trend has continued through the present decade. This reduction in the differentials was fully explained by characteristics, mainly the labor market performance of family heads, while the unexplained differential (conditional racial poverty gap) proved to be more persistent across time. |
| Keywords: | poverty, gap, race, decomposition, Oaxaca-Blinder, United States, CPS, labor market, participation, education, family characteristics. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 J15 J82 O15 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2008-96&r=lab |
| By: | Matteo Bassi (Università di Salerno, CSEF Toulouse School of Economics (GREMAQ)) |
| Abstract: | Strotz (1956) first suggested that individuals are more impatient when making short-run tradeoffs than long-run ones. Many experimental studies supports his conjecture. Motivated by recent evidence from the British Department of Work and Pension (2006), this paper applies this behavioral framework to retirement decisions. We propose a three-periods OLG model with quasi-hyperbolic consumers whosave for post retirement consumption in the first period and choose their retirement age in the second. We show that this behavioral assumption explains the observed drop in post retirement consumptiondue to lack of saving and the high level of voluntary (i.e. not due to disability or dismission from the firm) early exit from the labor force. When deciding about their retirement age, workers weight too much the costs of remaining at work (i.e. disutility of working, implicit tax on continued activity) and too little the benefits of postponed retirement (i.e. increase of the Bismarckian component of the pension formula), perceived as too far in the future. We investigate the implications of time inconsistent preferences for a political economy model in which voters determine simultaneously thesize and the degree of redistribution of the pension system. We show that, when voting over thepayroll tax, time inconsistent young workers, who look for a commitment device that increases boththeir saving and retirement age, form a coalition with rich in order to decrease the size of the system. When voting over the degree of redistribution, they form a coalition with poor individuals as to in-crease the at part of the pension formula. Our political model provides a political justification for the negative relationship between size and redistribution observed in most OECD countries (Disney 2004). |
| Keywords: | Hyperbolic Discounting, Majority Voting, Redistribution, Retirement Age, Saving Behaviour |
| JEL: | A12 D91 E21 H55 J64 |
| Date: | 2008–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:205&r=lab |
| By: | Denis Cogneau (DIAL, IRD, Paris); Rémi Jedwab (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We study the drastic cut of the administered cocoa producer price in 1990 Cote d’Ivoire and investigate the extent to which cocoa producers’ children suffered from this severe income shock in terms of school enrollment, increased labor, height stature and sickness. Comparing pre-crisis (1986- 1988) data and post-crisis (1993) data, we propose a difference-in-difference within-village strategy in order to identify the causal effect of family income on children outcomes. We find a strong impact of family income variation for the four variables we examine. |
| Keywords: | Education, Health, Child Labor, Development. |
| JEL: | I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt200805&r=lab |
| By: | André Decoster; Kris De Swerdt; Kristian Orsini |
| Abstract: | The adverse distributional effects of a flat tax are well known and have been documented by empirical research in several countries, including Belgium. Advocates of the flat tax argue, correctly, that these studies do not take into account agents’ behavioural reactions and possible feed back effects. One of the important effects in this context is the potential increase in labour supply and the resulting increase in the taxable base and decrease in unemployment allowances. In this study we calculate the cost recovery based on a micro-simulation model that includes a labour supply model. We find that there is indeed a clearly positive effect on labour supply and hence also on the tax base. By introducing a revenue-neutral flat tax, labour supply increases by approximately 47,000 full-time equivalents. However, the effect is limited because, compared to a static scenario the cost recovery only allows the revenue-neutral flat tax to decrease from 38.5% to 37%. Furthermore, there is little or no impact of these employment effects on the strongly regressive nature of a flat tax reform. |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces0820&r=lab |
| By: | David C. Maré (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines labour productivity in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, using microdata from Statistics New Zealand's Prototype Longitudinal Business Database. It documents a sizeable productivity premium in Auckland, around half of which is due to industry composition. There is a cross sectional correlation between productivity and employment density, reflecting differences in both physical productivity and prices. This correlation is evident both within Auckland, and comparing Auckland with other areas. The relationship between changes in density and changes in productivity is less strong. The relationship between productivity and overall or own-industry employment density varies across industries, suggesting that the nature and extent of agglomeration benefits varies. Overall, localisation effects appear stronger than urbanisation, with productivity being more strongly related to own-industry density than to overall density. |
| Keywords: | Labour productivity, Urban premium, Agglomeration |
| JEL: | L25 R12 R3 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:08_12&r=lab |
| By: | Bruce Sacerdote |
| Abstract: | I examine academic performance and college going for public school students affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Students who are forced to switch schools due to the hurricanes experience sharp declines in test scores in the first year following the hurricane. However, by the second and third years after the disaster, Katrina evacuees displaced from Orleans Parish appear to benefit from the displacement, experiencing a .15 standard deviation improvement in scores. The test score gains are concentrated among students whose initial schools were in the lowest quintile of the test score distribution and among students who leave the New Orleans MSA. Katrina evacuees from suburban areas and Rita evacuees (from the Lake Charles area) eventually recover most of the ground lost during 05-06 but do not experience long term gains relative to their pre-Katrina test scores. High school age Orleans evacuees have higher college enrollment rates than their predecessors from the same high schools. Meanwhile, Katrina evacuees from the suburbs experience a 3.5 percentage point drop in their rate of enrollment in four year colleges. Those evacuees do not to make up for the decline in the subsequent two years. Later cohorts of suburban New Orleans evacuees are unaffected. The results suggest that for students in the lowest performing schools, the long term gains to achievement from switching schools can more than offset even substantial costs of disruption. |
| JEL: | I2 J01 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14385&r=lab |
| By: | Alicia Sasser |
| Abstract: | One of New England’s greatest assets is its skilled labor force, historically an engine of economic growth in the region. Yet the population of recent college graduates—the skilled labor force of the future—has been growing more slowly in New England than elsewhere in the country. ; The need to attract and retain recent college graduates has become a salient issue in every New England state. Policymakers and business leaders alike are concerned that an inadequate supply of skilled workers will hamper economic growth by creating barriers for companies looking to locate or expand within the region. ; However, policymakers have taken only preliminary steps to tackle this challenge because they lack information on the extent of the problem, its root causes, and how best to address it. To help close that gap, this report explores several key questions, including which factors affect New England’s stock of recent college graduates, how those factors have changed over time, and their relative importance in explaining the recent slowdown. The ensuing analysis leads to several conclusions that run contrary to conventional wisdom. |
| Keywords: | Labor supply - New England ; College graduates - New England |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbcr:08-1&r=lab |
| By: | Giles, John; Park, Albert; Wang, Meiyan |
| Abstract: | In determining whether a country's higher education system should be expanded, it is important for policymakers first to determine the extent to which high private returns to post-secondary education are an indication of the scarcity of graduates instead of the high unobserved ability of students who choose to attend post-secondary education. To this end, the paper identifies the returns to schooling in urban China using individual-level variation in educational attainment caused by exogenous city-wide disruptions to education during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. For city-cohorts who experienced greater disruptions, children's educational attainment became less correlated with that of their fathers and more influenced by whether their fathers held administrative positions. The analysis calculates returns to college education using data from the China Urban Labor Survey conducted in five large cities in 2001. The results are consistent with the selection of high-ability students into higher education. The analysis also demonstrates that these results are unlikely to be driven by sample selection bias associated with migration, or by alternative pathways through which the Cultural Revolution could have affected adult productivity. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Tertiary Education,Secondary Education,Primary Education,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2008–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4729&r=lab |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark; Andreas Knabe; Steffen Rätzel |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between the subjective well-being of both the employed and unemployed and regional unemployment rates. While employed men suffer from regional unemployment, unemployed men are significantly less negatively affected. This is consistent with a social-norm effect of unemployment in Germany. We find no evidence of such an offsetting effect for women. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2008-45&r=lab |
| By: | Mali Chivakul; Ke Chen Chen |
| Abstract: | Although Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has experienced rapid growth in credit to households in recent years, most individuals are still credit constrained. This paper analyzes the determinants of household credit demand and credit constraints in BiH. To our knowledge, it is the first study on this topic employing household survey data (2001 and 2004) from Emerging Europe. Our results highlight the impact of the post-conflict and transitional nature of the country on the behavior of borrowers and lenders. As expected, age, income, wealth and education qualifications are the main factors driving credit market participation, while high income and high wealth lower credit constraints. In BiH, the probability of credit market participation peaks at 45 years old, considerably higher than in the advanced countries. At the same time, older individuals are significantly more constrained than their peers in the advanced countries. The results imply that the current credit boom may largely reflect the overall post-war demand, and indicate the worse-off position of the older generation in transition economy. Moreover, the results underscore the structural nature of unemployment as well as the mismatch between education qualifications and earning prospects in BiH. Education variables have no significant effect on the likelihood of being constrained, while, unlike in the advanced countries, being unemployed significantly increases the likelihood. |
| Keywords: | Bosnia and Herzegovina , Credit expansion , Credit restraint , Public debt , Education , Unemployment , Economic conditions , Interest rates , Inflation , Credit policy , Economic models , Working Paper , |
| Date: | 2008–08–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/202&r=lab |
| By: | Vincent Crawford (University of California, San Diego); Juanjuan Meng (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: | This paper reconsiders whether cabdrivers' labor supply decisions reflect reference-dependent preferences. Following Botond Koszegi and Matthew Rabin (2006), we construct a model with targets for hours as well as income, both determined by rational expectations. Estimating using Henry S. Farber's (2005, 2008) data, we show that the reference-dependent model can reconcile his 2005 finding that drivers' stopping probabilities are significantly related to hours but not income with the negative wage elasticity of hours found by Colin Camerer et al. (1997) and Farber (2005, 2008). The model yields sensible estimates that avoid Farber's (2008) criticism that drivers' income targets are too unstable to allow a useful reference-dependent model of labor supply. |
| Keywords: | reference-dependent preferences, labor supply, behavioral economics, |
| Date: | 2008–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucsdec:2008-03&r=lab |
| By: | Yu, Li; Orazem, Peter |
| Abstract: | Kremer’s O-Ring production theory (QJE, 1993) describes a process in which a single mistake in any one of several tasks in firm’s production process can lead to catastrophic failure of the product’s value. This paper tests the predictions of the O-Ring theory in the context of a single market for a relatively homogeneous product: hog production. Consistent with the theory, the most skilled workers concentrate in the largest and most technologically advanced farms and are paid more. As with observed skills, workers with the greatest endowments of unobserved skills also sort themselves into the largest and most technology intensive farms. |
| JEL: | L1 |
| Date: | 2008–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12992&r=lab |
| By: | Denis Cogneau (DIAL, IRD, Paris); Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (DIAL, IRD, Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines for the first time inequality of opportunity for income in Africa, by analyzing large-sample surveys, all providing information on individuals' parental background, in five comparable Sub-Saharan countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar and Uganda. We compute inequality of opportunity indexes in keeping with the main proposals in the literature, and propose a decomposition of between-country differences that distinguishes the respective impacts of intergenerational mobility between social origins and positions, of the distribution of education and occupations, and of the earnings structure. Among our five countries, Ghana in 1988 has by far the lowest income inequality between individuals of different social origins, while Madagascar in 1993 displays the highest inequality of opportunity from the same point of view. Ghana in 1998, Ivory Coast in 1985-88, Guinea in 1994 and Uganda in 1992 stand in-between and can not be ranked without ambiguity. Inequality of opportunity for income seems to correlate with overall income inequality more than with national average income. Decompositions reveal that the two former British colonies (Ghana and Uganda) share a much higher intergenerational educational and occupational mobility than the three former French colonies. Further, Ghana distinguishes itself from the four other countries, because of the combination of widespread secondary schooling, low returns to education and low income dualism against agriculture. Nevertheless, it displays marked regional inequality insofar as being born in the Northern part of this country produces a significant restriction of income opportunities. _________________________________ Ce papier analyse, pour la première fois en Afrique, les inégalités de chance en termes de revenu. Cinq pays sont étudiés, à savoir la Côte d’Ivoire, le Ghana, la Guinée, Madagascar et l’Ouganda à partir d’enquêtes représentatives au niveau national contenant des informations sur les origines sociales de chaque individu. Nous calculons les différents indices d’inégalités de chance proposés par la littérature et nous proposons une décomposition des différences d’inégalités de chance entre pays. Cette décomposition distingue les influences respectives des différences dans la mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle, dans la structure de l'éducation et des professions et enfin dans les échelles de rémunération. Il apparaît que parmi les cinq pays étudiés, le Ghana en 1988 est le pays dans lequel l'inégalité de revenu entre origines sociales est la plus faible, tandis que c’est à Madagascar en 1993 qu’elle est la plus élevée. Les positions intermédiaires respectives du Ghana en 1998, de la Côte d'Ivoire en 1985-88, de la Guinée en 1994 et de l’Ouganda en 1992 ne peuvent pas être classées de manière robuste. L'inégalité des chances en termes de revenu semble plus corrélée avec l'inégalité de revenu globale qu’avec le niveau de revenu moyen par tête. La décomposition des inégalités de chances montre que la mobilité intergénérationnelle est plus élevée dans les deux anciennes colonies britanniques (le Ghana et l’Ouganda) que dans les trois anciennes colonies françaises. De plus, le Ghana se distingue des quatre autres pays par une plus large diffusion de l’enseignement primaire et secondaire, des rendements bas de l’éducation, et un faible dualisme entre le secteur agricole et les autres secteurs. Il n’en demeure pas moins que le fait d’être né au Nord du pays diminue fortement les opportunités de revenu, de même qu'en Côte d'Ivoire. |
| Keywords: | Income inequality, Equality of opportunity, Intergenerational mobility, Africa, inégalité de revenu, égalité de chance, mobilité intergénérationnelle, Afrique. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt200804&r=lab |
| By: | Joshua L. Rosenbloom (Department of Economics, The University of Kansas) |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kan:wpaper:200806&r=lab |
| By: | Brian Volz (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | The effect of minority status on managerial survival in Major League Baseball is analyzed using survival time analysis and data envelopment analysis. Efficiency scores based on team performance and player salary data from 1985 to 2006 are computed and included as covariates in a survival time analysis. It is shown that when controlling for performance and personal characteristics minorities are on average 9.6 percentage points more likely to return the following season. Additionally, it is shown that winning percentage has no impact on managerial survival when efficiency is controlled for. |
| Keywords: | Baseball, Management, Race, Survival, DEA |
| JEL: | J71 L83 C41 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2008-36&r=lab |
| By: | Nino-Zarazua, Miguel |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an estimation of the impacts of microcredit on labor and human capital following a quasi-experiment specifically designed to control for endogeneity and selection bias in the context of urban Mexico. We find important indirect trickle-down effects of credit through labor expenditure that benefit poor laborers; however, these effects were only observed when loan-supported enterprising households reached a level of income well above the poverty line. We also find significant, although small impacts of credit on children´s schooling that could be potentially reinforced by improvements in lending technology, school grants and additional ex-ante preventive and ex-post protective riskcoping products. |
| Keywords: | microcredit; labor; children´s schooling; Mexico |
| JEL: | O18 O17 C24 O16 C81 C25 |
| Date: | 2008–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10814&r=lab |
| By: | Robert Pollin (Univ. of Massachusetts); Mwangi we Githinji (Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) University of Massachusetts-Amherst); James Heintz (Univ. of Massachusetts) |
| Abstract: | Certains économistes mettent le coût excessif du travail sur le compte d?une stagnation du nombre d?emplois productifs dans les pays à faible revenu. C?est la thèse qu?avance un document de la Banque Mondiale publié en 2005 intitulé Jobs in Kenya: Concept Note (Les emplois au Kenya : annotation sur le concept). Se pose toutefois la question de savoir si cette explication est plausible. Nous ne le pensons pas, comme nous l?avons d?ailleurs expliqué dans notre récent rapport An Employment Targeted Economic Program for Kenya (Un programme économique axé sur l?emploi pour le Kenya). (...) |
| Keywords: | La réduction des salaires au Kenya augmentera la pauvreté, pas les emplois décents |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:46&r=lab |
| By: | Matthias Sutter |
| Abstract: | Charness et al. (2007b) have shown that group membership has a strong effect on individual decisions in strategic games when group membership is salient through payoff commonality. In this comment I show that their findings also apply to non-strategic decisions, even when no outgroup exists, and I relate the effects of group membership on individual decisions to joint decision making in teams. I find in an investment experiment that individual decisions with salient group membership are largely the same as team decisions. This finding bridges the literature on team decision making and on group membership effects. |
| Keywords: | Individual Behavior, Group Membership, Team Decision Making, Experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D71 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2008-23&r=lab |
| By: | Fidel Pérez Sebastián (Universidad de Alicante) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to examine the evidence for capital-skilled labor complementarity in six different activity sectors using aggregate production function specifications and a time-series, cross-section panel of Spanish regions. Estimation results have troubles finding evidence that supports departing from the Cobb-Douglas assumption and, if anything, find capital skill substitutablity in most sectors. They also suggest that capital skill complementarity might be a sector-specific phenomenon. El objetivo de este artículo es examinar la evidencia sobre la hipótesis capital-habilidad en seis diferentes sectores de actividades usando funciones de producción agregada en un panel de regiones españolas. Los resultados de la estimación tienen problemas para encontrar evidencia que apoye el separarse del supuesto Cobb-Douglas y, si acaso, encuentran substituibilidad entre el capital y la mano de obra cualificada en la mayoría de los sectores. También sugieren que la complementariedad capital-habilidad puede ser un fenómeno específico a ciertos sectores. |
| Keywords: | Complementariedad de los inputs, funciones de producción agregada, datos de panel. Input complementarity, aggregate production function, panel data. |
| JEL: | O40 O47 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasec:2008-11&r=lab |
| By: | Benno Torgler; Markus Schaffner; Bruno S. Frey; Sascha L. Schmidt; Uwe Dulleck |
| Abstract: | The experimental literature and studies using survey data have established that people care a great deal about their relative economic position and not solely, as standard economic theory assumes, about their absolute economic position. Individuals are concerned about social comparisons. However, behavioral evidence in the field is rare. This paper provides an empirical analysis, testing the model of inequality aversion using two unique panel data sets for basketball and soccer players. We find support that the concept of inequality aversion helps to understand how the relative income situation affects performance in a real competitive environment with real tasks and real incentives. |
| Keywords: | Inequality aversion; relative income; positional concerns; envy; social comparison; performance; interdependent preferences |
| JEL: | D00 D60 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2008-18&r=lab |
| By: | Sitnikov, Catalina Soriana |
| Abstract: | Learning and teaching have always been at the core of economic change and development. For long time there was a search for suggestions, ideas, plans and projects of how educational systems can be made more relevant to the needs of the societies they were established to serve. Implementing the Bologna principles and following the priorities of Lisbon strategy, Romanian education system and, particularly, the higher education system, reconsiders and rebuilds its vision and mission as well as its entire strategy. In this regard, the following basic elements are considered in the paper: •What is learned must be relevant to the needs of the people in economy. Educational providers need to be in touch with labour market requirements; •Effective learning must be judged on the basis of the outcomes that result, rather than on the inputs required; •Ways must be found to facilitate learning rather than to simply supply instruction; •The valueing of research and innovation within educational organizations must be increased; •Tailor made “entrepreneurial” education towards the necessities of the market, especially focused on small and medium size enterprises; •The lifelong learning –education permanence- should be continuously developed and be linked to the market requirements. The role and the main influences that higher education system will have over economic and human resources development are underlined. Also, appreciating that entrepreneurship becomes more and more one of the most important factors of development, the education and economic development are linked through the concept of “entrepreneurial university”. |
| Keywords: | higher education; economic development; entrepreneurial university |
| JEL: | I2 O15 M13 |
| Date: | 2008–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10775&r=lab |
| By: | Francesco Feri; Bernd Irlenbusch; Matthias Sutter |
| Abstract: | The need for efficient coordination is ubiquitous in organizations and industries. The literature on the determinants of efficient coordination has focused on individual decision-making so far. In reality, however, teams often have to coordinate with other teams. We present an experiment with 825 participants, using six different coordination games, where either individuals or teams interact with each other. We find that teams coordinate much more efficiently than individuals. This finding adds one important cornerstone to the recent literature on the conditions for successful coordination. We explain the differences between individuals and teams using the experience weighted attraction learning model. |
| Keywords: | Coordination games, Individual decision-making, Team decision-making, Experience-weighted attraction learning, Experiment |
| JEL: | C71 C91 C92 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2008-22&r=lab |
| By: | Diedrich, Andreas (Gothenburg Research Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports how municipalities, state agencies and other organizations working with the induction of newly-arrived immigrants in Sweden cooperate in establishing a system for assessing the immigrants’ competencies and qualifications (validation). Among the various practices involved in this “management of difference”, one consists in an active casting of immigrants. While such casting is not necessarily problematic, the results of Swedish validation programs have been described by practitioners, policy makers and researchers alike as somewhat disappointing with regard to getting people into employment quicker or integrating them better into society. Some of the shortcomings may be explained by the fact that the efforts to remove inequality involve the categorization of the newly-arrived immigrants as having an “upsetting identity”; they could not be easily identified in relationship to what was considered as the Swedish norm. Instead of finding out what the immigrants could do, the assessment activities concentrated on demonstrating what they will not be able to do in a Swedish context. |
| Keywords: | difference; identity; classification; immigrants; organizing |
| Date: | 2008–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhb:gungri:2008_003&r=lab |
| By: | Pipergias Analytis, Pantelis; Ramachandran , Rajesh; Rauh , Chris; Willis, Jack |
| Abstract: | The most common method of education remains that of the student teacher relationship in the classroom. Within this framework, although the student has the final choice on attendance, the educational institution can affect his relevant incentives. At the two extremes, full attendance can be mandatory for completion of the course, or attendance can be entirely optional. This article begins with a theoretical model showing that under the assumptions of rational individuals, no externalities, and “perfect evaluation methods”, optional attendance is optimal. The three central assumptions of the model are then relaxed to show that under certain conditions, assuming a high social value of education, institutional intervention can be justified economically. The approach is enriched with many practical examples, and the efficiency of numerous attendance rules is discussed. The article concludes with the deduction of policy recommendations for educational institutions |
| Keywords: | attendance laws; time allocation;educational production funtions; screening; mandatory attendance |
| JEL: | A20 I21 D82 |
| Date: | 2008–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10848&r=lab |
| By: | Melanie Lührmann; Jürgen Maurer (Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA)) |
| Abstract: | Decision processes among couples depend on the balance of power between the partners, determining the welfare of household members as well as household outcomes. However, little is known about the determinants of power. The collective model of household behavior gives an operational definition of decision power. We argue that important aspects of this concept of power are measurable through self-assessments of partners’ say. Using such a measure, we model balance of power as an outcome of the interplay between both partners’ demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics. Advancing flexible, yet parsimonious empirical models is crucial for the analysis, as both absolute status as well as relative position in the couple might potentially affect the balance of power, and gender-asymmetries may be important. Appropriately, we advance semiparametric double index models that feature one separate index for each spouse, which interact nonparametrically in the determination of power. Based on data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), we find education and employment status to be associated with more individual decision power, especially for women. Moreover, health and income have independent effects on the distribution of power. We also show that contextual factors are important determinants of decision power, with women in urban couples featuring more decision power than their rural counterparts. |
| JEL: | D13 J14 C14 |
| Date: | 2008–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mea:meawpa:08168&r=lab |
| By: | Benno Torgler; Bruno S. Frey; Markus Schaffner; Sascha L. Schmidt |
| Abstract: | The risk of external interventions crowding-out intrinsic motivation has long been established in economics. This paper introduces a new dimension by arguing that a crowding-out effect does become possible if individuals receive higher relative compensation. Using a unique, large data set that focuses on 26 seasons in basketball (NBA) we find empirical support for a relative crowding-out effect. Performance is reduced as a reaction to a relative income advantage. |
| Keywords: | Crowding-out; relative income; positional concerns; motivation |
| JEL: | D00 D60 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2008-20&r=lab |
| By: | Bart Capéau; André De coster; Kris De Swerdt; Kristian Orsini |
| Abstract: | We analyse the distributional impact of lowering social security contributions and compensating the revenue loss by an increase in indirect taxes. We empirically assess the distributional consequences of this shift by using two Belgian microsimulation models: MODÉTÉ for the tax benefit system, and aster for the indirect tax part. Since the underlying micro database of the tax benefit system does not contain expenditures, we first impute detailed expenditures in the income data survey, by means of semiparametric Engelcurves. The currently living generation of pensioners belongs to the losers by such a reform: They do not profit from the reduced tax on labour income, but pay higher consumption prices. Less obvious, also part of the working population loses. Even not all those who leave unemployment after the reform are gainers. We also investigate the sensitivity of the results w.r.t. the choice of welfare measure to assess the combined change in disposable income, consumer prices and - in the case of flexible labour supply - leisure. We show how the specific choice and parameters of the welfare measure will influence the conclusions, possibly even more than the predictive model for assessing the behavioural reactions in labour supply. |
| Keywords: | microsimulation, social security contributions, demand system, indirect taxes, labour supply |
| JEL: | D12 H31 H55 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces0812&r=lab |
| By: | Arnaud Costinot (University of California - San Diego) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the determinants of protectionism in a small open economy with search frictions. This this environment, jobs generate rents whose access depends on the level of trade protectionn. By raising the domestic price of a good, a government may attract more firms in a particular industry. This raises the probability that workers will find jobs in this sector, and in turn, will benefit from the associated rents. Though simple, this channel may help explain a variety of stylized facts on the structure of trade protection and individual trade-policy preferences. |
| Keywords: | search frictions, trade protection, trade-policy preferences, |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucsdec:2006-05r&r=lab |
| By: | Francisco Gallego (Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.) |
| Abstract: | Why does schooling attainment vary widely across countries? Why are differences in schooling attainment highly persistent? I show that cross-country differences in schooling are related to political institutions, such as democracy and local democracy (political decentralization), which are affected by colonial factors. By using the number of native cultures before colonization as an instrument for political decentralization, I show that, after controlling for the causal effect of income on schooling, the degree of democratization positively affects the development of primary education, whereas political decentralization has a positive and significant impact on more advanced levels of schooling. |
| Keywords: | Schooling, Political Decentralization, Democracy, Institutions, Colonialism, School Decentralization. |
| JEL: | I2 N3 O15 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:342&r=lab |
| By: | Jean-François Giret (IREDU - Institut de recherche sur l'éducation : Sociologie et Economie de l'Education - CNRS : UMR5225 - Université de Bourgogne); Mathieu Goudard (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille III - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - CNRS : UMR6579) |
| Abstract: | A la suite notamment des travaux de Card et Krueger en 1992, une abondante littérature micro-économétrique, principalement développée aux Etats-Unis, a étudié les liens entre qualité de l’éducation, mesurée par différents inputs éducatifs et salaires des diplômés ou les rendements de l’éducation. À partir de données françaises provenant de l’enquête « Génération 98 » du Céreq enrichies pour les sortants de l’université avec des données issues principalement de l’Annuaire National des Etablissements d’Enseignement Supérieur, nous avons dans ce travail analysé les liens entre différentes caractéristiques des universités, salaires des jeunes diplômés puis rendements de l’éducation. L’approche économétrique, basée sur des modélisations « multi-niveaux » ou hiérarchiques, nous a permis d’exploiter la hiérarchie des données et d’identifier au second niveau des effets établissements. Nos résultats montrent qu’une faible part des écarts de salaires et des rendements de l’éducation est liée aux effets établissements, la plus grande partie de ces écarts étant imputables aux variables individuelles comme la discipline ou le niveau de diplôme. Cependant, l’analyse économétrique valide l’existence d’effets établissement significatifs, après avoir intégré au premier niveau l’ensemble des caractéristiques individuelles des diplômés. L’introduction de variables établissement montre que ces effets sont essentiellement liés à la présence d’un effet de la composition socioéconomique de la population étudiante ainsi que d’un effet de réseau ou de signalement de l’université sur le marché du travail. En revanche, nous n’observons pas d’effets significatifs des moyens financiers ou humains de l’établissement. Ces résultats sont relativement stables si l’on différencie les universités selon leur orientation disciplinaire, sauf pour les universités à forte dominante scientifique. |
| Keywords: | Effet-établissement ; Salaire ; Diplômé de l'enseignement supérieur ; France ; Rendement de l'éducation ; Relation éducation-salaire |
| Date: | 2008–06–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00326245_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Yu-Fu Chen; Michael Funke |
| Abstract: | The role of product market reforms in achieving the objective of higher employment and growth has recently received much attention amongst academics. The aim of this paper is to analyse some of the channels through which cross-market effects come about and to assess their policy relevance. The analytic strategy of this paper relies upon the stochastic real options modelling approach. In a nutshell, our simulations using numerical methods indicate that comprehensive product market reforms would increase factor demand and growth significantly in the medium and long run. |
| Keywords: | Product market competition; Regulation; Real options; Investment; Employment |
| JEL: | C61 D81 D92 J23 L51 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ham:qmwops:20802&r=lab |
| By: | Raouf Boucekkine (CORE -); Patricia Crifo (LEEP - Laboratoire d'econometrie de l'école polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7657 - Polytechnique - X); Claudio Mattalia (Université Catholique de Louvain. -) |
| Abstract: | Les changements organisationnels reposant sur la polyvalence et les TIC qui se sont diffusés dans la plupart des pays de l'OCDE depuis les années 1990 ont de fortes conséquences sur les conditions de travail. Les données disponibles montrent, parallèlement à l'émergence de nouvelles formes organisationnelles fondées sur la polyvalence, une augmentation de la main d'oeuvre employée dans les postes managériaux et une augmentaion des besoins en qualification. Cet article propose un modèle théorique analysant l'allocation optimale du nombre de tâches par individu lorsque le passage à une organisation fondée sur la polyvalence accroît les coûts de coordination entre les individus et les tâches. Les entreprises peuvent réduire ces coûts de coordination en affectant plus de salariés à la gestion des ressources humaines. Le capital humain est accumulé de manière endogène par les travailleurs. Le modèle reproduit assez bien les régularités observées dans les données. En particulier, des accélérations technologiques endogènes tendent à accroître à la fois le nombre de tâches tréalisées et les besoins en qualification, tout en augmentant la part de la main d' qui se consacre à la gestion des ressources humaines. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00240715_v1&r=lab |
| By: | de la Garza, Adrián G. |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have found a strong positive correlation between human capital, measured as the share of the adult population with a college degree, and population growth in metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the U.S. In this paper, I corroborate that the human capital-growth connection is indeed statistically significant, although much weaker than previously thought. The evidence suggests that the main reason behind this bias lies on endogeneity issues that have not been thoroughly addressed in the literature. In particular, omitting lagged MSA growth in regressions of current MSA growth on human capital overestimates the impact of skills by 100 per cent. Given that past growth has been shown to be one of the main drivers of current MSA growth (Glaeser 1994a), omitting the former variable in growth-education regressions would bias our human capital estimates upwards. Upon further examination, however, I show that MSA-specific fixed effects explain away the alleged impact of past on current growth. This suggests that the individual characteristics of the city that made it grew in the first place, and not lagged MSA growth per se, are what drives future MSA growth. Yet, even after accounting for these MSA-specific fixed effects, the impact of human capital on MSA growth does not disappear: my estimates suggest that a decadal increase of 10 per cent in the share of the adult population with a college degree translates into a rise of between 3 and up to 5 per cent in the MSA population growth rate during the same period. Finally, instrumental variable regressions strongly support the direction from skills to growth, abating potential reverse causality concerns. |
| Keywords: | human capital; urban growth; skills; education; population changes |
| JEL: | J24 N34 R11 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10881&r=lab |
| By: | Claudia Senik; Holger Stichnoth; Karine Van der Straeten |
| Abstract: | Does immigration reduce natives' support for the welfare state? Evidence from the European Social Survey (2002/2003) suggests a more qualified relation. For Europe as a whole, there is only weak evidence of a negative association between the perceived presence of immigrants and natives' support for the welfare state. However, this weak average relationship masks considerable heterogeneity across countries. We distinguish two channels through which immigration could affect natives' support for the welfare state: a pure dislike of immigrants and concerns about the economic consequences of immigration. We find (1) that people who hold both negative views about immigrants generally tend to be less supportive of income redistribution, and (2) that they become even less supportive if they perceive a high share of immigrants in the population. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2008-43&r=lab |
| By: | yamamura, eiji |
| Abstract: | This paper explores, using Japanese panel data for the years 1988-2002, how externalities from congestion and human capital influence deaths caused by chronic illnesses. Major findings through fixed effects 2SLS estimation were as follows: (1) the number of deaths were smaller in more densely-populated areas, and this tendency was more distinct for males; (2) higher human capital correlated with a decreased number of deaths, with the effect being greater in females than in males. These findings suggest that human capital and positive externalities stemming from congestion make a contribution to improving lifestyle, which is affected differently by socio-economic circumstance in males and females. |
| Keywords: | population density; education; chronic illness |
| JEL: | R58 I19 |
| Date: | 2008–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10833&r=lab |
| By: | Bruno S. Frey; Katja Rost |
| Abstract: | Publication and citation rankings have become major indicators of the scientific worth of universities and countries, and determine to a large extent the career of individual scholars. We argue that such rankings do not effectively measure research quality, which should be the essence of evaluation. For that reason, an alternative ranking is developed as a quality indicator, based on membership on academic editorial boards of professional journals. It turns out that especially the ranking of individual scholars is far from objective. The results differ markedly, depending on whether research quantity or research quality is considered. Even quantity rankings are not objective; two citation rankings, based on different samples, produce entirely different results. It follows that any career decisions based on rankings are dominated by chance and do not reflect research quality. Instead of propagating a ranking based on board membership as the gold standard, we suggest that committees make use of this quality indicator to find members who, in turn, evaluate the research quality of individual scholars. |
| Keywords: | Rankings; Universities; Scholars; Publications; Citations |
| JEL: | H43 L15 O38 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2008-22&r=lab |