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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Orrenius, Pia M. (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas); Zavodny, Madeline (Agnes Scott College) |
| Abstract: | Latinos comprise a large and growing share of the low-skilled labor force in the U.S. and may be disproportionately affected by minimum wage laws as a result. We compare the effects of minimum wage laws on employment and earnings among Hispanic immigrants and natives compared with non-Hispanic whites and blacks. We focus on adults who have not finished high school and on teenagers, groups likely to earn low wages. Conventional economic theory predicts that higher minimum wages lead to higher hourly earnings among people who are employed but lower employment rates. Data from the Current Population Survey during the period 1994-2007 indicate that there is a significant disemployment effect of higher minimum wages on Latino teenagers, although it is smaller for foreign- than native-born Latinos. Adult Latino immigrants’ earnings are less affected by minimum wage laws than other low-education natives, and their employment rates appear to increase when the minimum wage rises. We investigate whether skill levels and undocumented status help explain these findings. |
| Keywords: | Latinos, Hispanics, minimum wage, low-skilled, immigrants |
| JEL: | J23 J38 J15 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5341&r=lab |
| By: | Beatrice Brunner; Andreas Kuhn |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effects of labor market entry conditions on wages for male individuals first entering the Austrian labor market between 1978 and 2000. We find a large negative effect of unfavorable entry conditions on starting wages as well as a sizeable negative long-run effect. Specifically, we estimate that a one percentage point increase in the initial local unemployment rate is associated with an approximate shortfall in lifetime earnings of 6.5%. We also show that bad entry conditions are associated with lower quality of a worker's first job and that initial wage shortfalls associated with bad entry conditions only partially evaporate upon involuntary job change. These and additional findings support the view that initial job assignment, in combination with accumulation of occupation or industry-specific human capital while on this first job, plays a key role in generating the observed wage persistencies. |
| Keywords: | Initial labor market conditions, endogenous labor market entry, initial job assignment, specific human capital |
| JEL: | E3 J2 J3 J6 M5 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:520&r=lab |
| By: | matloob Piracha (University of Kent and IZA); Massimiliano Tani (Macquarie University and IZA); Florin Vadean (Faculty of Economics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | The cause of immigrant education mismatch in the host country labour market might not necessarily be discrimination or imperfect transferability of human capital, as argued in previous studies. Immigrants who have gained professional experience in the home country in jobs below their education level might be assessed by host country employers as having lower abilities and skills than those expected from their educational qualifications. Using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia we show that a significant part of the variation in the immigrants’ probability to be over-/under-educated in the Australian labour market can be explained by having been over-/under-educated in the last job in the home country. |
| Keywords: | immigration, education-occupation mismatch, sample selection |
| JEL: | C34 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:175&r=lab |
| By: | Andri Chassamboulli |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the cyclical properties of employment rates in a search and matching model that features heterogeneous workers and jobs. Firms can create vacancies for jobs that that require either a high- or a low-skill level. High-skill workers are best suited for high-skill jobs, but are also qualified for low-skill jobs, whereas low-skill workers are only qualified for low-skill jobs. My analysis highlights the importance of a vertical type of transitory skill-mismatch, which takes the form workers accepting jobs below their skill level to escape unemployment and upgrading by on-the-job search, in explaining why typically employment is lower and more procyclical at lower skill levels. I show that this feature makes low-skill vacancy creation more strongly procyclical than high-skill vacancy creation. The model is also consistent with important features of the labor market, such as a procyclical rate of job-to-job transitions and evidence that the educational levels of new hires within occupations are higher in recessions and lower in booms. |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:14-2010&r=lab |
| By: | Papps, Kerry L. (University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | Three hypotheses are given to explain why a married woman's work hours might be related to her husband's education, even controlling for his wage rate. Data for a single cohort of women from the NLSY 1979 suggest that women's work hours are positively related to spousal education at the time of marriage but also fall more rapidly over time after marriage among those with the most educated husbands. Cross-sectional data from the CPS for 1980-2010 indicate that the latter effect appears to have increased since 2000. Both men's and women's preferences for a traditional division of labour within the household are found to be negatively related to the husband’s education among newlyweds but to rise faster over the course of a marriage when the husband is highly educated. Overall, the results provide evidence consistent with both marital sorting on the basis of attitudes to female work and changes in tastes that are influenced by marital quality. Little support is found for the argument that spousal education measures non-market productivity. |
| Keywords: | labour supply, households, education |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5348&r=lab |
| By: | Rita Asplund; Reija Lilja |
| Abstract: | Both academia and policymakers express a strong belief in higher average education levels exerting a narrowing impact on wage inequality in general and gender wage gaps in particular. The present paper scrutinizes whether or not this effect extends to R&D- and export-intensive branches such as the technology industry. The answer seems to be a cautious ‘no’. Indeed, while changes in standard human capital endowments can explain little, if anything, of the growth in real wages or the widening of wage dispersion among the Finnish technology industry’s white-collar workers, a new job task evaluation scheme introduced in 2002 seems to have succeeded, at least in part, to make the wage-setting process more transparent by re-allocating especially the industry’s female white-collar workers in a way that better reflects their skills, efforts and responsibilities. One crucial implication of this finding is that improving the standard human capital of women closer to that of men will not suffice to narrow the gender wage gap in the advanced parts of the economy and, hence, not also the overall gender wage gap. The reason is obvi-ous : concomitant with rising average education levels, other skill aspects have received increasing attention in working life. Consequently, a conscious combination of formal and informal competencies as laid down in well-designed job task evaluation schemes may, in many instances, offer a more powerful path to tackling the gender wage gap. |
| Keywords: | decomposition, gender wage gap, human capital, job task evaluation, technology industry, wage formation |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:1230&r=lab |
| By: | John K. Dagsvik, Tom Kornstad and (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes labor force participation with particular reference to the discouraged worker effect. Discouraged workers are those who do not search for work because they view their chances of finding a suitable job as too low. The theoretical point of departure is a search model where the worker evaluates the expected utility of searching for work and decides to participate in the labor market if the expected utility of the search exceeds the utility of not working. From this framework we derive an empirical model for the probability that the worker will be unemployed or employed as a function of the probability of getting an acceptable job, given that the worker searches for work. The model is estimated on a sample of married and cohabitating women in Norway covering the period from 1988 to 2008. The results show that the discouraged worker effect is substantial. On average, about one third of those who are out of the labor force are discouraged according to our analysis. |
| Keywords: | Discouraged workers; Labor force participation; Random utility modeling |
| JEL: | J21 J22 J64 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:642&r=lab |
| By: | Andri Chassamboulli |
| Abstract: | Recessions are times when the quality of the unemployment pool is lower, because entry into unemployment is biased in favor of low-productivity workers. I develop a search and matching model with worker heterogeneity and endogenous separations that has this feature. I show that in a recession a compositional shift in unemployment towards low-productivity workers, due an increase in job separations, lowers the matching effectiveness of searching firms, thereby causing their average recruiting cost to rise. This acts to further depress vacancy creation in a recession. In contrast to most models that allow for endogenous separations, this model generates a realistic Beveridge curve correlation. |
| Keywords: | search and matching, endogenous separations, worker heterogeneity, un-employment, vacancies volatility |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:13-2010&r=lab |
| By: | Nasir, Zafar Mueen; Iqbal, Nasir |
| Abstract: | Wage differential due to employer size is one of the key areas of interest in labor market research because a strong positive relationship between employer size and wages has been observed in developed and developing countries. It is, however, relatively neglected area of research in Pakistan. The purpose of present study is to investigate the employer size wage differential by looking at human capital factors. The study is based on standard methodology and estimates earning functions on Labor Force Survey (LFS) data for year 2007-08. Results clearly show that human capital investment has a bigger role in determining wages in the larger firms as compared to smaller firms. The main policy implications emanating from the analysis are the higher investment in skill which increases opportunities for workers in the labor market for higher wages and for jobs with good characteristics especially in large sized firms. The government policy towards education and skill formation needs serious reforms and better allocation of funds so that people get chance to enhance their skill level hence wages |
| Keywords: | Employers Size; Wage Differential; Human Capital |
| JEL: | J31 J41 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27164&r=lab |
| By: | Andri Chassamboulli; Theodore Palivos |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of immigration on the host country within a search and matching model that allows for skill heterogeneity, endogenous skill acquisition, differential search cost between immigrants and natives, capital-skill complementarity and different degree of substitutability between unskilled natives and immigrants. Within such a framework, we find that although immigration raises the overall welfare, it may have distributional effects. Specifically, skilled workers gain in terms of both employment and wages. Unskilled workers, on the other hand, gain in terms of employment but may lose in terms of wages. Nevertheless, in one version of the model, where unskilled workers and immigrants are imperfect substitutes, we find that even the unskilled wage may rise. These results accommodate conflicting empirical findings. |
| Keywords: | Search, Unemployment, Immigration, Skill-heterogeneity |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:12-2010&r=lab |
| By: | John S Heywood; Colin Green |
| Abstract: | A persistent and sizeable literature argues that the reported job dissatisfaction of union members is spurious. It reflects either the sorting of workers across union status or the sorting of union recognition across jobs. We cast doubt on this argument presenting the first estimates that use panel data to hold constant both worker and job match fixed effects. The estimates demonstrate that covered union members report greater dissatisfaction even when accounting for sorting in both dimensions. Moreover, covered union members are less likely to quit holding job satisfaction constant and their quit behaviour is far less responsive to job satisfaction. The paradox of the discontented union member remains intact. |
| Keywords: | Union Membership, Union Coverage, Job Satisfaction, Sorting, Fixed Effects |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:007166&r=lab |
| By: | Hervé Boulhol (OCDE et Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the literature that highlights the role of trading partners' institutions for a country's unemployment rate. The objective is to study whether the results established in the minimum wage setting of Davis (1998) hold when unemployment is driven by search frictions. This paper finds that relative labor market institutions matter for equilibrium unemployment as they generate comparative advantages, but there are two main differences with Davis. With North-North trade, unemployment decreases in the low-regulation country. When South is brought into the picture, low-regulation North is not insulated, and unemployment increases in both developed countries as a result of specialization. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, labor market institutions, trade. |
| JEL: | F16 J50 F10 F41 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:10091&r=lab |
| By: | Hervé Boulhol (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, OCDE - Département des affaires économiques) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the literature that highlights the role of trading partners' institutions for a country's unemployment rate. The objective is to study whether the results established in the minimum wage setting of Davis (1998) hold when unemployment is driven by search frictions. This paper finds that relative labor market institutions matter for equilibrium unemployment as they generate comparative advantages, but there are two main differences with Davis. With North-North trade, unemployment decreases in the low-regulation country. When South is brought into the picture, low-regulation North is not insulated, and unemployment increases in both developed countries as a result of specialization. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, labor market institutions, trade. |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00544010_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Kamila Fialová (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the role of labor market institutions in explaining developments of shadow economies in European countries. We use several alternative measures of the shadow sector, and we examine effects of labor institutions on shadow sector in two specific regions: new and old European Union member countries, as their respective shadow sectors exhibited a different development in the last decade. While the share of shadow economy in GDP averaged 27.7% in the new member countries in 1999-2007, the respective share in the old member states stood at 18.0% only. In our paper, we estimate effects of labor market institutions on two sets of shadow economy indicators―shadow production and shadow employment. Comparing alternative measures of the shadow sector allows more granulated analysis of the labor market institutions effects. Our results indicate that the one institution that unambiguously increases shadow economy production and employment is the strictness of employment protection legislation. Other labor market institutions―active and passive labor market policies, labor taxation, trade union density and the minimum wage setting―have less straightforward and statistically robust effects and their impact often diverge in new and old EU member countries. The differences are not robust enough, however, to allow us to reject the hypothesis of similar effect of labor market institutions in new and old EU member states. |
| Keywords: | labor market institutions, shadow economy, shadow employment, European Union |
| JEL: | J08 O17 O52 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2010_29&r=lab |
| By: | Gaetano Lisi (University of Cassino); Maurizio Pugno (University of Cassino) |
| Abstract: | A matching model will explain both unemployment and economic growth by considering the underground sector. Three problems can thus be simultaneously accounted for: (i) the persistence of underground economy, (ii) the ambiguous relationships between underground employment and unemployment, and (iii) between growth and unemployment. The key assumptions adopted are that entrepreneurial ability is heterogeneous across individuals; skill accumulation determines productivity growth in the regular sector and a positive externality on the underground sector; job-seekers choose whether or not to invest in education and skill depending on the expected wages in the two sectors. The conclusions are that the least able entrepreneurs set up underground firms, employ unskilled labour, and do not contribute to growth. Underground employment alleviates unemployment only if the monitoring rate is sufficiently low. Policies for entrepreneurship and monitoring would help both economic growth and employment. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, underground economy, shadow economy, unemployment, human capital, endogenous growth, search and matching models |
| JEL: | E26 J23 J24 J63 J64 L26 O40 |
| Date: | 2010–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:css:wpaper:2010-07&r=lab |
| By: | John T. Addison; José A. F. Machado; Pedro Portugal |
| Abstract: | A thorny problem in identifying the determinants of reservation wages and particularly the role of continued joblessness in their evolution is the simultaneity issue. We deploy a natural control function approach to the problem that involves conditioning elapsed duration on completed unemployment duration in the reservation wage equation. Our analysis confirms that the use of elapsed duration alone compounds two separate and opposing influences. Only with the inclusion of completed duration is the negative effect of continued joblessness on reservation wages apparent. For its part, the completed duration coefficient suggests that higher reservation wages negatively influence the probability of exiting unemployment. |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w201026&r=lab |
| By: | Concetta Rondinelli (Bank of Italy); Roberta Zizza (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The negative association between fertility and female labour market participation is complicated by the endogeneity of fertility. We address this problem by using an exogenous variation in family size caused by infertility shocks, mainly related to the fact that nature prevents some women from achieving their desired fertility levels. Despite a widely documented reduction of female labour supply around childbirth, using the Bank of Italy's SHIW we find that this effect dissipates over time, with some clues of penalties related to job quality. Results are confirmed exploiting the Istat Birth Survey, with insights of a different impact according to the age of the child. |
| Keywords: | participation, children, motherhood, female employment rate, Italy |
| JEL: | J13 J22 C25 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_783_10&r=lab |
| By: | Pedro Portugal; José Varejão |
| Abstract: | In this article we look at how one specific form of temporary employment - employment with fixed-term contracts - fits into employers’ hiring policies. We find that human capital variables, measured at the levels of the worker and the workplace, are important determinants of the employers’ decisions to hire with temporary contracts and to promote temporary workers to permanent positions. Those employers that hire more with temporary contracts are also those that are more likely to offer a permanent position to their newlyhired temporary employees. Our results indicate that fixed-term contracts are a mechanism for screening workers for permanent positions. |
| JEL: | J23 J41 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w201029&r=lab |
| By: | Sónia Torres; Pedro Portugal; John T. Addison; Paulo Guimarães |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates a wage equation that includes worker- and firm fixed effects simultaneously, using a longitudinal matched employer-employee dataset covering virtually all Portuguese employees over a little more than two-decades. The exercise is performed under optimal conditions by using (a) data covering the whole population of employees and (b) adequate econometric methods and algorithms. The variation in log real hourly wages is then decomposed into six different components related to worker and firm characteristics (either observed or unobserved) and a residual component. It is found that worker heterogeneity is the most important source of wage variation (46.2 percent), due in roughly equal parts to the unobserved component (24.2 percent) and the observed component (22 percent). Firm effects are less important overall (29.6%), although firms’ observed characteristics do play an important role (14.8) in explaining wage differentials. |
| JEL: | J2 J41 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w201025&r=lab |
| By: | Bollinger, Christopher R. (University of Kentucky); Hirsch, Barry T. (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | Earnings nonresponse in the Current Population Survey is roughly 30% in the monthly surveys and 20% in the annual March survey. Even if nonresponse is random, severe bias attaches to wage equation coefficient estimates on attributes not matched in the earnings imputation hot deck. If nonresponse is ignorable, unbiased estimates can be achieved by omitting imputed earners, yet little is known about whether or not CPS nonresponse is ignorable. Using sample frame measures to identify selection, we find clear-cut evidence among men but limited evidence among women for negative selection into response. Wage equation slope coefficients are affected little by selection but because of intercept shifts, wages for men and to a lesser extent women are understated, as are gender wage gaps. Selection is less severe among household heads/co-heads than among other household members. |
| Keywords: | response bias, imputation, earnings nonresponse, gender gap, CPS |
| JEL: | J31 C81 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5347&r=lab |
| By: | Peichl, Andreas (IZA); Siegloch, Sebastian (IZA) |
| Abstract: | When assessing the effects of policy reforms on the labor market, most studies only focus on labor supply. The interaction of supply and demand side is not explicitly modeled, which might lead to biased estimates of potential labor market outcomes. This paper proposes a straightforward method to remedy this shortcoming. We use information on firms’ labor demand behavior and feed them into a structural labor supply model, completing the partial analysis of the labor market on the microdata level. We show the performance and relevance of our extension by introducing a pure labor supply side reform, the workfare concept, in Germany and simulating the labor market outcome of the reform. We find that demand effects offset about 25 percent of the positive labor supply effect of the policy reform. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, labor demand, policy reform, workfare |
| JEL: | J22 J23 J68 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5350&r=lab |
| By: | Julia Anna Matz (Institute for International Integration Studies and Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); Gaia Narciso (Institute for International Integration Studies and Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between laws strengthening women’s rights, and children’s outcomes, namely child labor and educational attainment. We analyze the effects of a land reform introduced in Vietnam in 2003 that had the objective of reinforcing women’s land rights within households. The introduction of the 2003 Land Law represents a quasi-natural experiment which allows us to analyze how legal reforms are transformed and adopted by social norms. We investigate the effects of being part of the population of households targeted by the land law with the help of a household survey that permits detailed investigation of property rights at the plot level. We show that the land reform contributed to reducing girls’ participation in household agricultural production and to increasing girls’ educational attainment. We do not find comparable effects for boys. |
| Keywords: | Child labor, education, land rights, gender, land reform, Vietnam. |
| JEL: | D13 O18 R20 R52 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iis:dispap:iiisdp348&r=lab |
| By: | Holmlund, Helena (Swedish Institute for Social Research,); Lindahl, Mikael (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies); Plug, Erik (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies) |
| Abstract: | We review the empirical literature that estimates the causal effect of parent’s schooling on child’s schooling, and conclude that estimates differ across studies. We then consider three explanations for why this is: (a) idiosyncratic differences in data sets; (b) differences in remaining biases between different identification strategies; and (c) differences across identification strategies in their ability to make out-of-sample predictions. We conclude that discrepancies in past studies can be explained by violations of identifying assumptions. Our reading of past evidence, together with an application to Swedish register data, suggests that intergenerational schooling associations are largely driven by selection. Parental schooling constitutes a large part of the parental nurture effect, but as a whole does not play a large role. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility; education; causation; selection; identification |
| JEL: | C13 I21 J62 |
| Date: | 2010–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uulswp:2010_008&r=lab |
| By: | Becchetti, Leonardo (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit); Castriota, Stefano (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit) |
| Abstract: | In Italy social enterprises include more than 7,000 institutions with around 250,000 workers serving more than three million people, a big share of which disadvantaged. Using the ICSI 2007 survey conducted by a pool of Italian universities on a representative sample of social enterprises, we analyze the determinants of nominal and real wages (adjusted for the cost of living in the area of residence). Our two main findings show that: i) low wages and absence of “direct” education premia make it hard to attract (beyond intrinsic motivations) young talented workers in this sector even though indirect premia in terms of higher probability of becoming manager exist; ii) cooperative wage differentials are sensitive to regional disparities in PPP even though they do not fully compensate for them: nominal wages are higher in Northern Italy but, after adjusting for the cost of living, they become higher in the South. |
| Keywords: | Social enterprises; wage differentials; education; wage premium; motivations |
| Date: | 2010–01–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:aiccon:2010_068&r=lab |
| By: | Fouarge Didier; Grip Andries de; Schils Trudie (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | Several studies document the fact that low-educated workers participate less often infurther training than high-educated workers. The economic literature suggests that there is no significant difference in employer willingness to train low-educated workers, which leaves the question of why the low educated invest less in training unanswered. This paper investigates two possible explanations: Low-educated workers invest less in training because of 1) the lower economic returns to these investments or 2) their lower willingness to participate in training. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity that can affect the probability of enrolling into training, we find that the economic returns to training for low-educated workers are positive and not significantly different from those for high-educated workers. However, loweducated workers are significantly less willing to participate in training. This lesser willingness to participate in training is driven by economic preferences (future orientation, preference for leisure), as well as personality traits (locus of control, exam anxiety, and openness to experience). |
| Keywords: | labour economics ; |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2010058&r=lab |
| By: | SOLOGON Denisa; O’DONOGHUE Cathal |
| Keywords: | panel data; wage distribution; inequality; mobility |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J31 J60 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2010-36&r=lab |
| By: | Calin Arcalean (ESADE Ramon Llull University); Ioana Schiopu (ESADE Ramon Llull University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the relationship between inequality and education funding in a model of probabilistic voting over public education spending where the private option is available. A change in inequality can have opposite effects at different income levels: higher inequality decreases public spending per student and increases enrollment in public schools in poor economies, while the opposite holds in the rich ones. A change in the tax base can also have non-monotonic e¤ects. We also study the implications of different voting participation across income groups. The predictions of the model are supported by U.S. school district-level data. |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2010-009&r=lab |
| By: | Murat G. Kýrdar (Middle East Technical University); Meltem Dayýoglu Tayfur (Middle East Technical University); Ýsmet Koç (Institute of Population Studies, Hacettepe University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of the extension of compulsory schooling in Turkey from 5 to 8 years on the marriage and fertility behavior of teenage women in Turkey using the 2008 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. We find that the new education policy reduces the probability of marriage and giving birth for teenage women substantially: the probability of marriage by age 16 is reduced by 44 percent and the probability of giving birth by age 17 falls by 36 percent. The effects of the education policy on the time until marriage and firstbirth persist beyond the completion of compulsory schooling. In addition, we find that the delay in the time until first-birth is driven by the delay in the time until marriage. After a woman is married, the rise in compulsory schooling years does not have an effect on the duration until her first-birth. Finally, we find that the education policy was more effective in reducing early marriage than a change in the Civil Code aimed for this purpose. |
| Keywords: | Age at marriage, Fertility, Education, Compulsory Schooling |
| JEL: | J12 J13 I20 D10 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1035&r=lab |
| By: | Becchetti, Leonardo (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit); Conzo, Pierluigi (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit); Pisani, Fabio (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit) |
| Abstract: | We devise a retrospective panel data approach to evaluate the effects of fair trade affiliation on the schooling decisions of a sample of Thai organic rice producers across the past 20 years. We find that the probability of school enrolment in families with more than two children is significantly affected by affiliation years. The finding is robust when dealing with endogeneity and heterogeneity issues in the estimate. The nonpositive preaffiliation performance documents that our result is not affected by selection bias and that fair trade affiliation generates a significant break in the schooling decisions of affiliated households. |
| Keywords: | child schooling; market access; fair trade |
| JEL: | D64 O19 O22 |
| Date: | 2010–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:aiccon:2009_063&r=lab |
| By: | Ana María Iregui B.; Ligia Alba Melo B.; María Teresa Ramírez |
| Abstract: | The existence of wage differentials across sectors is a widely observed phenomenon. This paper provides new elements to understand inter and intra-sectoral wage differentials in Colombia by analysing a wage setting survey of 1305 firms and emphasizing the role of firm characteristics. The results from the descriptive analysis of the survey confirm the existence of substantial wage differentials across sectors and occupational positions in the country. We found positive wage differentials, with respect to the average of the economy for the different occupational groups, in electricity, gas, water and mining, financial services and manufacturing and strong negative wage differentials in agriculture, forestry and fishing. When analysing wage differential within each occupational group, higher wage dispersion is observed in the case of managers, followed by professionals. The lower wage dispersion for the least qualified jobs could be associated with the existence of a minimum wage in the country. In addition, we estimate cross section models for each occupational group and sector to account for the importance of firm characteristics in explaining wage differentials. |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:007736&r=lab |
| By: | Migheli, Matteo (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between workers’ gender and monetary incentives in an experimental setting based on a double-tournament scheme. The participants must choose between a piece-rate payment or a performance prize. The results show that women tend to shy away from competition, and are less sensitive than men to the monetary incentives of the tournament. In addition the tournament scheme induces males, but not women, to signal their ability and to select the contract which is more profitable for them. |
| Keywords: | gender; incentives; work; experiment |
| JEL: | C91 J16 J41 |
| Date: | 2010–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:aiccon:2010_074&r=lab |
| By: | Hirsch, Barry T. (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between economic performance and US unionism, focusing first on what we do and do not know based on empirical research handicapped by limited data on establishment and firm level collective bargaining coverage. Evidence on the relationship of unions with wages, productivity, profitability, investment, debt, employment growth, and business failures are all relevant in assessing the future of unions and public policy with respect to unions. A reasonably coherent story emerges from the empirical literature, albeit one that rests heavily on evidence that is dated and (arguably) unable to identify truly causal effects. The paper’s principal thesis is that union decline has been tied fundamentally to competitive forces and economic dynamism. Implications of these findings for labor law policy and the future of worker voice institutions is discussed briefly in a final section. |
| Keywords: | unions, economic performance, competition, dynamism |
| JEL: | J50 J20 J30 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5342&r=lab |
| By: | CLEMENT Franz |
| Abstract: | In Luxembourg, the portion of cross-border workers amongst wage earners is very high. How are these workers involved in the governance of the labour market? Major agreements on employment are adopted by the Chamber of representatives. Then, they become applicable to all wage earners performing their occupation in Luxembourg, practically one-half of them being cross-border workers. This paper will try to answer the following questions. Can such a governance model persist if crossborder workers continue to grow? What form of governance should one assign to the Luxembourg labour market with the legal entities and institutions of the Greater Region in order to better involve the cross-border workers in such governance, knowing that they will soon make up the majority? Can the border crossers become the victims of the current crisis? Isn’t there a risk that Luxembourg would find itself in a situation where inside a sovereign state a minority would end up making decisions setting itself over a majority on the labour market? How could one then better integrate the entire workforce in a new form of transnational governance? This text was presented by Franz Clément in the framework of the XVII ISA World Congress of Sociology in Gothenburg, Sweden, in July 2010 (Research Committee on Sociology of Work RC 30) |
| Keywords: | governance; labour market; crossborder workers; crisis; institutions |
| JEL: | L00 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2010-37&r=lab |
| By: | Rafael Dix-Carneiro (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies trade-induced transitional dynamics by estimating a structural dynamic equilibrium model of the labor market. The model features a multi-sector economy with overlapping generations, heterogeneous workers, endogenous accumulation of sector-specific experience and costly switching of sectors. The estimation employs a large panel of workers constructed from Brazilian matched employer-employee data. The model’s estimates yield high average costs of mobility that are very dispersed across the population. In addition, sector-specific experience is imperfectly transferable across sectors, leading to additional barriers to mobility. Using the estimated model as a laboratory for counterfactual experiments, this paper finds that: (1) there is a large labor market response following trade liberalization but the transition may take several years; (2) potential aggregate welfare gains are significantly mitigated due to the slow adjustment; (3) trade-induced welfare effects are very heterogeneous across the population; (4) retraining workers initially employed in the adversely affected sector may reduce losses incurred by these workers and increase aggregate welfare; (5) a moving subsidy that covers costs of mobility is more promising for compensating losers, although at the expense of higher welfare adjustment costs. The experiments also highlight the sensitivity of the transitional dynamics with respect to assumptions regarding the mobility of physical capital. |
| Keywords: | Trade Liberalization, Labor Market Dynamics, Adjustment Costs, Worker Heterogeneity, Structural Econometric Models |
| JEL: | C01 J00 J21 F16 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cepsud:1273&r=lab |
| By: | Sabarwal, Shwetlena; Sinha, Nistha; Buvinic, Mayra |
| Abstract: | Do women weather economic shocks differently than men? The evidence shows this to be the case, especially in low-income countries. The first-round impacts of economic crises on women's employment should be particularly salient in the current downturn, since women have increased their participation in the globalized workforce and therefore are more directly affected by the contraction of employment than in the past. Crises also have second-round impacts, as vulnerable households respond to declining income with coping strategies that can vary significantly by gender. In the past, women from low-income households have typically entered the labor force, while women from rich households have often exited the labor market in response to economic crises. In contrast, men's labor force participation rates have remained largely unchanged. Evidence also suggests that women defer fertility during economic crises and that child schooling and child survival are adversely affected, mainly in low-income countries, with adverse effects on health being greater for girls than for boys. In middle-income countries, by contrast, the effects on children's schooling and health are more nuanced, and gender differences less salient. Providing women in poor households with income during economic downturns makes economic sense. This paper reviews workfare programs and cash transfers and finds that the former provide poor women with income only when they include specific design features. The latter have been effective in providing mothers with income and protecting the wellbeing of children in periods of economic downturn. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Population Policies,Labor Policies,Gender and Development,Health Monitoring&Evaluation |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5496&r=lab |
| By: | Sofya Krutikova |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that income shocks to rural households have permanent effects on the educational attainment of 7-15 year old children within the household. Using a 13 year panel survey of households in rural Tanzania, I find that idiosyncratic crop shocks such as pests, theft and fire cause changes in the distribution of schooling among children within the household that persist 10-13 years after the shock. They affect older (12-15) girls and younger (7-11) boys most adversely. The effects are remarkably persistent in households affected by shocks of varying magnitudes. An investigation of plausible channels for these effects suggests that an increase in the chore burden of older girls within the household in response to a crop shock is likely to be part of the explanation for the adverse effect of shocks on this cohort. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2010-36&r=lab |
| By: | Kevin Denny (University College Dublin); Veruska Oppedisano (University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the marginal effect of class size on educational attainment of high school students. We control for the potential endogeneity of class size in two ways using a conventional instrumental variable approach, based on changes in cohort size, and an alternative method where identification is based on restriction on higher moments. The data is drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) collected in 2003 for the United States and the United Kingdom. Using either method or the two in conjunction leads to the conclusion that increases in class size lead to improvements in student’s mathematics scores. Only the results for the United Kingdom are statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | class sizes, educational production |
| Date: | 2010–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201039&r=lab |
| By: | Kevin Denny (School of Economics, University College Dublin); Veruska Oppedisano (Department of Economics, University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the marginal effect of class size on educational attainment of high school students. We control for the potential endogeneity of class size in two ways using a conventional instrumental variable approach, based on changes in cohort size, and an alternative method where identification is based on restriction on higher moments. The data is drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) collected in 2003 for the United States and the United Kingdom. Using either method or the two in conjunction leads to the conclusion that increases in class size lead to improvements in student’s mathematics scores. Only the results for the United Kingdom are statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | class sizes, educational production |
| Date: | 2010–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201051&r=lab |
| By: | Nora Traum (Indiana University - Bloomington); Shu-Chun Yang (Congressional Budget Office) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the relationship between inequality and education funding in a model of probabilistic voting over public education spending where the private option is available. A change in inequality can have opposite effects at different income levels: higher inequality decreases public spending per student and increases enrollment in public schools in poor economies, while the opposite holds in the rich ones. A change in the tax base can also have non-monotonic effects. We also study the implications of different voting participation across income groups. The predictions of the model are supported by U.S. school district-level data. |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2010-006&r=lab |
| By: | Sabatini, Fabio (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit) |
| Abstract: | This paper carries out an investigation into the socio-economic determinants of couples’ childbearing decisions in Italy. Since having children is in most cases a “couple matter”, the analysis accounts for the characteristics of both the possible parents. Our results do not support established theoretical predictions according to which the increase in the opportunity cost of motherhood connected to higher female labour participation is responsible for the fall in fertility. On the contrary, the instability of the women’s work status (i.e. their being occasional, precarious, and low-paid workers) reveals to be a significant dissuasive deterrent discouraging the decision to have children. Couples with unemployed women are less likely to plan childbearing as well. Other relevant explanatory variables are current family size and the strength of family ties. |
| Keywords: | Fertility; family planning; parenthood; childbearing; participation; job instability; labour precariousnes; social capital; Italy |
| JEL: | C25 J13 |
| Date: | 2010–03–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:aiccon:2010_070&r=lab |
| By: | Aurora Galego (Universidade de Evora and CEFAGE-UE); Margarida Saraiva (Universidade de Évora and UNIDE/ISCTE) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis on the higher education graduates' employability in the field of Business and Administration in Portugal. Using econometric techniques, we consider the impact of several variables in the unemployment "propensity" of the pair study program/institution. The results show that there are important differences between public and private institutions, between study programs of great and small size, between the several fields of graduation within Business and Administration as well as regional differences. |
| Keywords: | Graduates;Business and Administration Science; Employability; Higher Education; Fractional Models. |
| JEL: | J64 I23 C25 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2010_07&r=lab |
| By: | Jurjen J.A. Kamphorst (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Otto H. Swank (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We develop a theory of leadership that focuses on the role managers play in motivating employees through their attitude towards employees. We model a manager's attitude as her perception about employees' abilities of successfully completing challenging tasks. We show that a positive attitude motivates employees who are driven by monetary rewards. A negative attitude may motivate employees who are driven by concerns about their reputation for being able. When employees are driven by monetary rewards and care about their reputations, an increase in the reward for successfully completing challenging tasks may lead employees to shy away from these tasks. |
| Keywords: | reputation; worker motivation; task choice; principle-agent; Giffen goods |
| JEL: | D82 M59 |
| Date: | 2010–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20100123&r=lab |
| By: | Grossbard, Shoshana (San Diego State University, California); Giménez, José Ignacio (University of Zaragoza); Molina, José Alberto (University of Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | We make the novel argument that time spent on household chores can possibly reflect racial discrimination based on color. Our model, based on Becker's theory of allocation of time and his theory of marriage, recognizes that both intra-household bargaining and hedonic marriage markets operating with the help of an implicit price mechanism can lead to a premium for those who perform chores work in households and have lighter skin than their partners. Conversely, those with darker skin need to pay a compensating differential. To test our model, we design a 'race difference' scale that captures each partner’s race and ranges between 2 and -2. Based on the American Time Use Survey 2003-2009 we find that for every unit bringing a couple closer to the case of a "White" respondent and a "Black" partner, the respondent reduces his or her weekly hours of chores work by 37 minutes. Marriage markets appear to be influenced by racial discrimination based on color. |
| Keywords: | time use, racial discrimination, household chores, compensating differentials |
| JEL: | D13 I21 J12 J22 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5345&r=lab |
| By: | Banerjee, Ritwik; King, Elizabeth M.; Orazem, Peter; Paterno, Elizabeth M. |
| Abstract: | A theoretical model is advanced that demonstrates that, if teacher and student attendance generate a shared good, then teacher and student attendance will be mutually reinforcing. Using data from the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan, empirical evidence supporting that proposition is advanced. Controlling for the endogeneity of teacher and student attendance, the most powerful factor raising teacher attendance is the attendance of the children in the school, and the most important factor influencing child attendance is the presence of the teacher. The results suggest that one important avenue to be explored in developing policies to reduce teacher absenteeism is to focus on raising the attendance of children. |
| Keywords: | Absenteeism; teacher attendance; student attendance; shared good; Northwest Frontier Province; Pakistan |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2010–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:32167&r=lab |
| By: | Giuseppe Cappelletti (Bank of Italy); Giovanni Guazzarotti (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the retirement decisions of Italian households using data from the Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) for 2008. The analysis focuses on the adequacy of pension wealth, knowledge of supplementary retirement rules, the determinants of enrolment decisions and workers’ propensity to convert their wealth into an annuity at retirement. The results indicate that pension wealth is inadequate for a substantial part of the Italian population. Moreover, workers have a poor understanding of the rules of supplementary retirement schemes and little awareness of their pension situation. These results confirm that an improvement in financial education is essential in order to promote retirement saving. The analysis shows, however, that such interventions could be ineffective in the case of workers in lower income classes with little opportunity to increase their savings. |
| Keywords: | supplementary pension funds, occupational pension funds, retirement savings, replacement rate, annuity |
| JEL: | D91 H55 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_77_10&r=lab |
| By: | Gary Hansen |
| Date: | 2010–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levarc:233&r=lab |
| By: | Richard Rogerson |
| Date: | 2010–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levarc:250&r=lab |
| By: | Chloe Gray |
| Abstract: | This article explores the architecture of a network of education centres located in underprivileged communities in Mexico. The centres provide an environment conducive to learning through spaces that are sustainable, comfortable and secure... |
| Keywords: | education centres, low-income communities, alternative education model, Environmental low-impact materials |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaac:2010/11-en&r=lab |
| By: | Yamamura, Eiji |
| Abstract: | The changing effects of wage disparity on team performance during the process of industry development are examined using data sourced from the Japanese professional football league. The results show that wage disparity leads to a reduction in team performance during the developing stage but does not influence performance during the developed stage. Unobserved fixed team effects and endogeneity bias were controlled in the study. |
| Keywords: | Wage disparity; team performance; industry development |
| JEL: | J31 L20 L83 |
| Date: | 2010–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27363&r=lab |
| By: | Buddin, Richard |
| Abstract: | This study uses value-added methods to examine the effectiveness of Los Angeles elementary teachers and schools. The results show that teacher effectiveness varies substantially across the school district. Most of the variance in teacher effectiveness is within schools and not across schools. Traditional measures of teacher quality like experience and advanced degrees are weakly related to teacher effectiveness. Teacher effectiveness is more variable in mathematics than in language arts. |
| Keywords: | teacher quality; teacher effectiveness; student achievement; value-added analysis |
| JEL: | J45 H75 J44 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27366&r=lab |
| By: | Lucas Navarro (Department of Economics, ILADES-Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses matching techniques to examine the impact of internet use on individual earnings in six Latin American countries using recent household surveys data. Given their different internet use patterns and their implications, the analysis is done for salaried and self-employed workers separately. While salaried workers users mainly access the internet at work, self employed users access the internet mainly at other places. Therefore, the returns to internet use for salaried workers may be associated not only to individual but also to workplace characteristics. Results indicate a large effect of internet use on earnings for both groups of workers in most of the countries studied. These returns are high compared with estimates for industrialized countries. This could be explained by the much lower prevalence of internet use in the region for the international standards. Additionally, given that the estimations rely on cross-section data, they may not fully control for individuals’ characteristics before internet adoption. This calls for the need of panel-data on new ICTs diffusion in the region. |
| Keywords: | Internet use, Internet Impact, Latin America |
| JEL: | L86 O33 O54 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adv:wpaper:201011&r=lab |
| By: | Grech, Aaron George |
| Abstract: | Spurred by the ageing transition, many governments have made wide-ranging reforms, dramatically changing Europe's pensions landscape. Nevertheless there remain concerns about future costs, while unease about adequacy is growing. This study develops a comprehensive framework to assess pension system sustainability. It captures the effects of reforms on the ability of systems to alleviate poverty and maintain living standards, while setting out how reforms change future costs and relative entitlements for different generations. This framework differs from others, which just look at generosity at the point of retirement, as it uses pension wealth - the value of all transfers during retirement. This captures the impact of both longevity and changes in the value of pensions during retirement. Moreover, rather than focusing only on average earners with full careers, this framework examines individuals at different wage levels, taking account of actual labour market participation. The countries analysed cover 70% of the EU’s population and include examples of all system types. Our estimates indicate that while reforms have decreased generosity significantly, in most, but not all, countries the poverty alleviation function remains strong, particularly where minimum pensions have improved. However, moves to link benefits to contributions have made some systems less progressive, raising adequacy concerns for women and those on low incomes. The consumption smoothing function of state pensions has declined noticeably, suggesting the need for longer working lives or additional private saving for individuals to maintain pre-reform living standards. Despite the reforms, the size of entitlements of future generations should remain similar to that of current generations, in most cases, as the effect of lower annual benefits should be offset by longer retirement. Though reforms have helped address the financial challenge faced by pension systems, in many countries pressures remain strong and further reforms are likely. |
| Keywords: | Social Security and Public Pensions; Retirement; Poverty; Retirement Policies |
| JEL: | H55 I38 J26 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27377&r=lab |
| By: | Olsson, Martin (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University); Skogman Thoursie, Peter (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | We use a Swedish sickness insurance reform to show that among married couples a partner’s benefit level affects spousal labour supply. The spousal elasticity of sick days with respect to the partner’s benefit is estimated to be 0.4, which is about one-fourth of the own labor supply elasticity. It is argued the main part of this effect is an insurance income effect. |
| Keywords: | Spousal labor supply; spill-over; social insurance programs |
| JEL: | D10 J12 J22 |
| Date: | 2010–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2010_0027&r=lab |
| By: | Stuart Adam (Institute for Fiscal Studies and IFS); James Browne (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | <p><p>Governments wishing to reduce inequality by redistributing money from the rich to the poor face the dilemma that in doing so (by increasing tax rates and means-tested benefits, for example) they reduce the incentive for individuals to increase their incomes. Policy-makers have tried to balance these objectives in different ways and, partly as a result of this, the tax and benefit system today is very different from the one that existed thirty years ago. In this paper we look at how the tax and benefit system redistributed income and affected incentives to work in 2009-10, and at the effect of tax and benefit reforms between 1978-79 and 2009-10 on the level of inequality and work incentives.</p></p> |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:10/24&r=lab |
| By: | Markussen, Simen (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Mykletun, Arnstein (Norwegian Institute of Public Health); Røed, Knut (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Can activation requirements control moral hazard problems in public sickness absence insurance and accelerate recovery? Based on empirical analysis of Norwegian data, we show that it can. Activation requirements not only bring down benefit claims, they also reduce the likelihood that long-term sickness absence leads to inactivity. Our findings show that absentees who are issued graded (partial) absence certificates by their physician have shorter absences and higher subsequent employment rates than they would have had on regular sick leave. We conclude that the activation strategies that in recent years have permeated European and US welfare policy may fruitfully be carried over to sick leave insurance. |
| Keywords: | sick leave, disability, activation, workfare |
| JEL: | I18 I38 J48 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5343&r=lab |
| By: | Fujita, Koichi; Endo, Tamaki; Okamoto, Ikuko; Nakanishi, Yoshihiro; Yamada, Miwa |
| Abstract: | Thailand is the major destination for migrants in mainland Southeast Asia, and Myanmar (Burmese) migrants account for the dominant share. This paper sheds light on the actual working conditions and the life of Myanmar migrants in Thailand, based on our intensive survey in Ranong in southern Thailand in 2009. We found a wide range of serious problems that Myanmar migrants face in everyday life: very harsh working conditions, low income, heavy indebtedness, risk of being human-trafficking victims, harassment by the police and military (especially of sex workers), high risk of illness including malaria and HIV/AIDS and limited access to affordable medical facilities, and a poor educational environment for their children. |
| Keywords: | Myanmar, Thailand, Migrant labor, Migration, Household |
| JEL: | E24 E26 J61 R23 E22 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper257&r=lab |
| By: | Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter (Department of Applied Statistics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria); Andrea Weber; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes patterns in the earnings development of young labor market en- trants over their life cycle. We identify four distinctly di®erent types of transition patterns between discrete earnings states in a large administrative data set. Further, we investigate the e®ects of labor market conditions at the time of entry on the probability of belonging to each transition type. To estimate our statistical model we use a model-based clustering approach. The statistical challenge in our application comes from the di±culty in extending distance-based clustering approaches to the problem of identify groups of similar time series in a panel of discrete-valued time series. We use Markov chain clustering, proposed by Pam- minger and FrÄuhwirth-Schnatter (2010), which is an approach for clustering discrete-valued time series obtained by observing a categorical variable with several states. This method is based on ¯nite mixtures of ¯rst-order time-homogeneous Markov chain models. In order to analyze group membership we present an extension to this approach by formulating a prob- abilistic model for the latent group indicators within the Bayesian classi¯cation rule using a multinomial logit model. |
| Keywords: | Labor Market Entry Conditions, Transition Data, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Multinomial Logit, Panel Data, Auxiliary Mixture Sampler, Bayesian Statistics |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2010_11&r=lab |
| By: | James Ted McDonald; Christopher Worswick |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use data from the confidential master files of the Canadian Census over the years 1991-2006 to study the geographic mobility of immigrant and non-immigrant physicians who are already resident in Canada. We consider both inter- and intra- provincial migration, with a particular focus on migration to and from rural areas of Canada. We exploit the fact that it is possible to link individuals within families in the Census files in order to investigate the impact on the migration decision of the characteristics of a married physician’s spouse. Our results indicate that the magnitude of outflows is substantial and that the retention of immigrant physicians in rural areas and in some provinces will continue to be difficult. We find strong evidence that migration is a family decision, and spousal characteristics (education, age, years in Canada for immigrants) are important. As well, we find that large Canadian cities (mainly in Ontario) are the likely destination for the types of immigrant physicians typically able to be recruited to other areas, implying recruitment efforts of smaller provinces may have significant implications for the size of health care costs in larger provinces. |
| Keywords: | physicians, immigrants, internal migration, family migration |
| JEL: | I18 J12 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:sedapp:282&r=lab |
| By: | Bonsang Eric; Soest Arthur van (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | Using data on individuals of age 50 and older from 11 European countries, we analyze two economic aspects of subjective well-being of older Europeans: satisfaction with household income, and job satisfaction. Both have been shown to contribute substantially to overall well-being (satisfaction with life or happiness). We use anchoring vignettes to correct for potential differences in response scales across countries. The results highlight a large variation in self-reported income satisfaction, which is partly explained by differences in response scales. When differences in response scales are eliminated, the cross country differences are quite well in line with differences in an objective measure of purchasing power of household income. There are common features in the response scale differences in job satisfaction and income satisfaction. French respondents tend to be critical in both assessments, while Danish and Dutch respondents are always on the optimistic end of the spectrum. Moreover, correcting for response scale differences decreases the cross-country association between satisfaction with income and job satisfaction among workers. |
| Keywords: | labour economics ; |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2010059&r=lab |
| By: | Artjoms Ivlevs (Department of Economics, University of the West of England); Roswitha M. King (Østfold University College and University of Latvia) |
| Abstract: | Latvia enjoys the dubious distinction of having the highest population share of ethnic minorities and foreign-born residents in the European Union. In addition there exists a peculiar Latvian “institution”, a category of resident known as “non-citizen”, originating from the Soviet era migration flows. This “non-citizen” status has a number of serious disadvantages relative to citizen status. It is, therefore, of interest why a significant number of “non-citizen” opt to keep this status, although they have the opportunity to obtain full citizenship, and why others choose to become citizen. Using data from a representative 2007 survey of 624 former and current non-citizens in a multinomial probit model reveals characteristics of those who want to remain non-citizen, and of those who have obtained citizen status, are in the process of obtaining it or plan to do so in the future. Proficiency level of the state language (Latvian) is the single most significant correlate of the willingness to obtain citizenship. Significant influence also accrues to age, gender, education, emigration intentions and municipality level factors – the unemployment rate and the share of non-citizens |
| Keywords: | Immigrants, non-citizens, naturalization, integration, Latvia, political economy. |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:1018&r=lab |
| By: | Marcelo Delajara |
| Abstract: | We determine the extent of cyclical comovement in employment among the regions of Mexico by analyzing the covariance of the disturbances in regional cycles during the period July 1997 - October 2009. Employment refers to the number of workers with permanent contracts affiliated to the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. Trend and cycle decomposition and the variance-covariance matrix of the cycle's disturbances are obtained from the estimation -using state space methods- of a structural multivariate model of the employment time series. We find, for most regions, that employment comovement is high and that the variance of the regional cycles' disturbances is largely associated with the fluctuations in national employment. We do not find evidence, however, of a common underlying cycle, which means that employment comovement would arise from the geographical propagation of regional specific shocks. |
| Keywords: | Employment, comovement, regions, Mexico. |
| JEL: | E32 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2010-15&r=lab |
| By: | Malul Miki (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel); Rosenboim Mosi (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, The College of Management Academic Studies); Shavit Tal (The College of Management Academic Studies, Israel) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of employment protection when powerful external crises reduce demand for products. We first present a theoretical framework that shows that employment protection has a U-shaped effect on abnormal unemployment during a negative exogenous shock to an economy. Using data from the 33 OECD countries, we analyze how the level of employment protection affected the stability of unemployment rates during the recent global economic crisis. The results suggest that countries with an intermediate level of employment protection will have more stable unemployment rates during a world crisis. The policy implication of our paper is that countries should seek a medium level of employment protection that may act as an automatic stabilizer of the economy on the macro level. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bgu:wpaper:1010&r=lab |
| By: | Narayana Kocherlakota |
| Date: | 2010–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levarc:506439000000000291&r=lab |
| By: | Olivier Chanel (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 (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR6579); Alain Paraponaris (SE4S - Sciences économiques et sociales, systèmes de santé, sociétés - INSERM : U912 - IRD - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II); Christèle Protière (SE4S - Sciences économiques et sociales, systèmes de santé, sociétés - INSERM : U912 - IRD - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II); Bruno Ventelou (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 (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR6579) |
| Abstract: | This paper is devoted to the analysis of the General Practitioners' (GPs) labour supply, specifically focusing on the physicians' labour supply responses to higher compensations. This analysis is mainly aimed at challenging the reality of a ‘backward bending' form for the labour supply of GPs. Because GPs' fees only evolve very slowly and are mainly fixed by the National Health Insurance Fund, we designed a contingent valuation survey in which hypothetical fee increases are randomly submitted to GPs. Empirical evidence from 1,400 French GPs supports the hypothesis of a negative slope for the GPs' labour supply curve. Therefore, increasing the supply of physicians' services through an increase in fees is not a feasible policy. |
| Keywords: | General practitioners; contingent valuation; price of leisure; labour supply; backward bending curve |
| Date: | 2010–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00543971_v1&r=lab |