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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Caliendo, Marco (University of Potsdam); Künn, Steffen (IZA); Uhlendorff, Arne (University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | In some countries including Germany unemployed workers can increase their income during job search by taking up "marginal employment" up to a threshold without any deduction from their benefits. Marginal employment can be considered as a wage subsidy as it lowers labour costs for firms owing to reduced social security contributions, and increases work incentives due to higher net earnings. Additional earnings during unemployment might lead to higher reservation wages prolonging the duration of unemployment, yet also giving unemployed individuals more time to search for better and more stable jobs. Furthermore, marginal employment might lower human capital deterioration and raise the job arrival rate due to network effects. To evaluate the impact of marginal employment on unemployment duration and subsequent job quality, we consider a sample of fresh entries into unemployment. Our results suggest that marginal employment leads to more stable post-unemployment jobs, has no impact on wages, and increases the job-finding probability if it is related to previous sectoral experience of the unemployed worker. We find evidence for time-varying treatment effects: whilst there is no significant impact during the first twelve months of unemployment, job finding probabilities increase after one year and the impact on job stability is stronger if the jobs are taken up later within the unemployment spell. |
| Keywords: | marginal employment, unemployment duration, job search, employment stability, timing of events model |
| JEL: | J64 C41 C33 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6499&r=lab |
| By: | Ilkkaracan, Ipek (Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Management); Levent, Haluk (Galatasaray University Economic Research Center); Polat, Sezgin (Galatasaray University Economic Research Center) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use Turkish household labor force data to address a number of conceptual issues pertaining to the wage curve, an empirically derived negative relationship between the real wage level and the local unemployment rate. First, we estimate the wage curve using various definitions of the unemployment rate including discouraged and marginally attached workers, or the long-term unemployment rate to explore the most relevant measure of local labor market tension in the wage setting process. We find that broader definitions of unemployment provide a more effective reference point in measuring wage flexibility for women, whose attachment to the labor market is substantially weak in the Turkish context; while in the case of men, long-term unemployment rate yields the highest elasticity. Second, we show that particularly in the case of developing economies where labor markets are segmented by skill level, local unemployment rate disaggregated by education provide more accurate measures of the degree of group-specific wage competition. Finally, using quantile regression we show that wage responsiveness to unemployment can not be assumed to be constant along the wage distribution. In the Turkish case, we find a higher unemployment elasticity of wages around the median segment of wage distribution. |
| Keywords: | Wage curve; unemployment measurements; quantile regression; discouraged workers |
| JEL: | J31 J64 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:giamwp:2012_002&r=lab |
| By: | Chiara Binelli (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of Southampton); Marta Rubio Codina (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | Despite the rapid expansion and increasing importance of private education in developing countries, very little is known about the impact of studying in private schools on educational attainment and wages. This paper contributes to fiÂ…lling this gap by estimating the returns to private high schools in Mexico. We construct a unique dataset that combines labor market outcomes and historical school census data, and we exploit changes in the availability and size of public and private high schools across states and over time for identiÂ…cation. We Â…nd substantial evidence of a positive effect of studying in a private high school on wages after college graduation, and we discuss alternative mechanisms that can explain this Â…finding. |
| Keywords: | The Market Returns to Private High Schools: Evidence from Mexico |
| JEL: | J31 J24 C36 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:12/08&r=lab |
| By: | Arda Aktas (Stony Brook University Economics Department); Gokce Uysal (Bahcesehir University Center for Economic and Social Research (Betam)) |
| Abstract: | Gender discrimination in the labor market can take on many forms, the most prominent one being the gender gap in wages. The labor market in Turkey is not an exception. Even though the gender wage gap is 3 percent on average, a closer look reveals important differences along the wage distribution. There is virtually no gender gap at the lower end and men earn 6.47 percent more than women at the median. Surprisingly, women seem to earn 4.99 percent higher wages than men at the top of the wage distribution. Using the quantile regression method, we discuss how the labor market returns differ along the wage distribution. Secondly, we use the Machado-Mata decomposition method to reveal how much of the gender gap at each quantile can be explained by gender differences in characteristics versus gender differences in returns. We find that the gender gap actually widens when we control for basic characteristics such as age, education and tenure. In other words, controlling for gender differences in labor market characteristics reveals that there is gender discrimination in Turkey, as measured by the differences in returns. |
| Keywords: | Gender wage gap, quantile regression, Machado-Mata decomposition |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bae:wpaper:005&r=lab |
| By: | Aleksander Kucel; Montserrat Vilalta-Bufi (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the determinants of regret of study program for university graduates in Spain and the Netherlands. These two countries differ in their educational system in terms of their educational tracking in secondary education level and the strength of their education-labor market linkages in tertiary education. Therefore, by comparing Spain and the Netherlands, we aim at learning about the consequences that the two educational systems might have on university program regret. Basing on the psychological literature on regret, we derive some expectations on the determinants of regret of study program. Results reveal that, both education track and education-labor mismatch of tertiary education, are important determinants of the likelihood of program regret. Results allow us to derive some policy recommendations on the tertiary education system. |
| Keywords: | higher education, regret, horizontal mismatch, tertiary education, overeducation, study program |
| JEL: | I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bar:bedcje:2012279&r=lab |
| By: | Fumio Ohtake; SunYoun Lee |
| Abstract: | Temporary agency work (TAW) is believed to facilitate the matching between firms and on-the-job searchers. This leads to shortening of the unemployment and job search duration. On the other hand, firms that hire temporary workers have less incentive to train them, which makes it difficult for low-skilled temporary workers to find a better job in future. Current literature has not established whether TAW employment improves the welfare of either or both the employers and employees. Therefore, this paper examines the effect of TAW employment in the Japanese labor market on employment transitions focusing on individual time preferences. Investments in onefs career involve a trade-off between immediate costs and later rewards, and thus, individual heterogeneity in time preferences may explain the behavioral patterns of labor force. We find that TAW employees have a tendency toward impatience and hyperbolic discounting. In addition, those who have held temporary job are less likely to move into full-time job positions, but no significant wage differences are observed. The strength of the negative effects on the transition probabilities declines over time but the significant effects remain over the following years. Our results indicate that TAW for employees in Japan is more likely to function as a gdead-endh rather than gstepping stoneh toward stable full-time employment. Key Creation-Date: 2012-05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0841&r=lab |
| By: | Tansel, Aysit; Kan, Elif Oznur |
| Abstract: | In this study, we examine the formal/informal sector earnings differentials in the Turkish labor market using detailed econometric methodologies and a novel panel data set drawn from the 2006-2009 Income and Living Conditions Survey (SILC). In particular, we test if there is evidence of traditional segmented labor markets theory which postulates that informal workers are typically subject to lower remuneration than similar workers in the formal sector. Estimation of standard Mincer earnings equations at the mean using OLS on a pooled sample of workers confirms the existence of an informal penalty, but also shows that almost half of this penalty can be explained by observable variables. Along wage/self-employment divide, our results are in line with the traditional theory that formal-salaried workers are paid significantly higher than their informal counterparts. Confirming the heterogeneity within informal employment, we find that self-employed are often subject to lower remuneration compared to those who are salaried. Moreover, using quantile regression estimations, we show that pay differentials are not uniform along the earnings distribution. More specifically, we find that informal penalty decreases with the earnings level, implying a heterogeneous informal sector with upper-tier jobs carrying a significant premium and lower-tier jobs being largely penalized. Finally, fixed effects estimation of the earnings gap depict that unobserved individual fixed effects when combined with controls for observable individual and employment characteristics explain the pay differentials between formal and informal employment entirely, thereby implying that formal/informal segmentation may not be a stylized fact of the Turkish labor market as previously thought. |
| Keywords: | Earnings gap; formal/informal employment; labor market dynamics; panel data; Turkey |
| JEL: | J40 J31 O17 J21 |
| Date: | 2012–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38498&r=lab |
| By: | Mukhopadhyay, Abhiroop (Indian Statistical Institute); Sahoo, Soham (Indian Statistical Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates if better access to secondary education increases enrolment in primary schools among children in the 6-10 age group. Using a household-level longitudinal survey covering 43 villages in a poor state in India, we find support for the hypothesis that better access to secondary education increases enrolment and attendance among children in the primary school-going age group. A 1 km decrease in the distance to the nearest secondary school increases the proportion of children in a household who are enroled in primary school by 6.5 percentage points. These results do not change significantly even after we account for endogenous placement of secondary schools and measurement error issues. Moreover, we find that the effect is consistent with what theory predicts: the marginal effect is larger for poorer households and boys (who are more likely to enter the labour force). Further, using a nationally representative survey for India (National Sample Survey 2007-08), we also provide some suggestive evidence that this effect may be quite widespread. This result gives support to the assertion that if the costs of post primary schooling are too high, as they would be if secondary schools are far away, parents have lesser interest in their children's education even at the primary stage. |
| Keywords: | primary schooling, returns to schooling, post primary schooling |
| JEL: | I2 I20 I21 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6507&r=lab |
| By: | Holmlund, Bertil (Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | The paper studies wage and employment determination in the Swedish business sector from the mid-1910s to the late 1930s. This period includes the boom and bust cycle of the early 1920s as well as the Great Depression of the early 1930s. The events of the early 1920s are particularly intriguing, involving inflation running at an annual rate of 30 percent followed by a period of sharp deflation where nominal wages and prices fell by 30 percent and unemployment increased from 5 to 30 percent. We examine whether relatively standard wage and employment equations can account for the volatile economic development during the interwar years. By and large, the answer is a qualified yes. Industry wages were responsive to industry-specific firm performance, suggesting a significant role for 'insider forces' in wage determination. Unemployment had a strong downward impact on wages. There is evidence that reductions in working time added to wage pressure; yet estimates of labor demand equations suggest that cuts in working time may have slightly increased employment as firms substituted workers for hours. |
| Keywords: | wage determination, labor demand, interwar labor markets |
| JEL: | J23 J31 N14 N34 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6509&r=lab |
| By: | John Bennett; Matthew Rablen |
| Abstract: | We construct a simple model incorporating various urban labour market phenomena obtaining in developing economies. Our initial formulation assumes an integrated labour market and allows for entrepreneurship, self-employment and wage employment. We then introduce labour market segmentation. In equilibrium voluntary and involuntary sel-employment, formal and informal wage employment, and formal and informal and informal entrepreneurship may all coexist. We illustrate the model by an example calibrated on Latin American data, examining individual labour market transitions and implications of education/training and labour market policies. To diminish informality, cutting the costs of formality is more effective than raising those of informality. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edb:cedidp:12-02&r=lab |
| By: | Anagnostopoulos, Achilleas (TEI (Technological Education Institute) of Larissa); Siebert, W. Stanley (University of Birmingham) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses an original dataset for 206 workplaces in Thessaly (Greece), to study consequences of Greece's employment protection law (EPL) and national wage minimum for temporary employment. We find higher temporary employment rates especially among a "grey" market group of workplaces that pay low wages and avoid the national wage minimum. A similar factor boosts family employment. We also find that EPL "matters", in particular, managers who prefer temporary contracts because temps are less protected definitely employ more temps. We discuss whether temporary and family work is a form of escape from regulation for less prosperous firms. |
| Keywords: | temporary work, Greece, employment protection, national wage agreements |
| JEL: | J38 J41 J81 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6504&r=lab |
| By: | Vasilescu, Denisa Maria; Aparaschivei, Larisa; Roman, Mihai Daniel |
| Abstract: | The labour market in Romania is facing some imbalances arising from the negative demographic trends, legislative instability, poor correlation between the educational programs with the labour market, low labour productivity. The European Union labour market strategy aims at achieving 75% employment rate by 2020, for Romania the objective being 70% (Europe 2020). Although Romania has enjoyed robust economic growth for the most part of the 2000s, the labour market was experiencing large and increasing shortages of labour and skills, which coexisted with low participation rates, as well as excess supply of labour in declining sectors (mainly agriculture). The negative growth rate of the Romanian population, which has started in the early 1990s has already reduced the population. On top of this, there is the migration of the work force - most of the migrants are still included in the labour market statistics, as inactive, but are absent from the Romania’s labour market and might be partly responsible for the slow progress of employment rate in Romania. In this context, we aim to examine the employment rate in Romania, considering a panel data analysis over the period 1996-2009. The explanatory variables are the net migration rate, the mortality and birth rates, the unemployment rate, the real earnings, the secondary and tertiary education graduates. |
| Keywords: | labour supply; migration; education; panel data; Romania |
| JEL: | C23 O15 J61 J20 |
| Date: | 2012–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38388&r=lab |
| By: | Hairault, Jean-Olivier (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Langot, François (University of Le Mans); Zylberberg, Andre (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | As a preliminary step, we first provide some new empirical evidence that labor market conditions affect retirement decisions at the individual level: unemployed people are more likely to retire. Our main objective in this paper is then to propose an equilibrium unemployment approach to retirement decisions that allows us to unveil the factors which explain why unemployed workers choose to retire earlier and the conditions under which this behavior is optimal. Two main conclusions emerge: the retirement decision of unemployed workers depends on the labor-market frictions whereas that of employed workers does not; the existence of search externalities makes the retirement age of unemployed workers intrinsically suboptimal. Considering Social Security policy issues, we show that the complete elimination of the implicit tax on continued activity is not necessarily welfare-optimizing in a second best world where the labor market equilibrium suffers from distortions. |
| Keywords: | search, matching, retirement, Social Security |
| JEL: | J22 J26 H55 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6511&r=lab |
| By: | Jellal, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we consider a theoritical model helping to provide a new insights into the functioning of moroccan labor market. The model examines the impact of imperfect competition among firms with access to specific technologies on the emergence of the new modern economy.The The emergence of this economy is characterized by the size of the employment of workers accepting wage for the specific training needed as well as the firms incentive to invest in new technologies given the competitive structure of the labor market and the product produced and exported under uncertain demand. Indeed it is assumed that each of these firms try to attract workers who are the best match for them ie the best trained and who bear the full cost of training is required for the job offered. Both the long term equilibrium wage offered and population distribution are determined. The structure of this new economy depends on both individual incentives as well as those established by public authorities. |
| Keywords: | Formal sector; Education ;Job matching; wages competition |
| JEL: | O17 J31 I21 J24 J23 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38465&r=lab |
| By: | Naci H. Mocan; Colin Cannonier |
| Abstract: | We use data from Sierra Leone where a substantial education program provided increased access to education for primary-school age children but did not benefit children who were older. We exploit the variation in access to the program generated by date of birth and the variation in resources between various districts of the country. We find that the program has increased educational attainment and that an increase in education has changed women’s preferences. An increase in schooling, triggered by the program, had an impact on women’s attitudes towards matters that impact women’s health and on attitudes regarding violence against women. An increase in education has also reduced the number of desired children by women and increased their propensity to use modern contraception and to be tested for AIDS. While education makes women more intolerant of practices that conflict with their well-being, increased education has no impact on men’s attitudes towards women’s well-being. |
| JEL: | I12 I15 I18 I21 I25 I28 J13 J18 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18016&r=lab |
| By: | Sumon Bhaumik; Manisha Chakrabarty |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the issue of high dropout rates in India which has adverse implications for human capital formation, and hence for the country’s long term growth potential. Using the 2004-05 National Sample Survey employment-unemployment survey data, we estimate transition probabilities of moving from a number of different educational levels to higher educational levels using a sequential logit model. Our results suggest that the overall probability of reaching tertiary education is very low. Further, even by the woeful overall standards, women are significantly worse-off, particularly in rural areas. |
| Keywords: | Education; Transitional probability; India |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2011–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2011-1019&r=lab |
| By: | Alfonso Rosolia (Bank of Italy); Paolo Sestito (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We document the effects of a change in the Italian Ordinary Unemployment Benefits Scheme on the job search process. As of January 2001, the replacement rate was raised from 30% to 40% and benefits’ duration extended from 6 to 9 months for workers aged 50 or more. Our results show that (a) the average duration of benefits' collection increased by around one month for individuals entitled to 3 additional months, while it did not change significantly for those only exposed to higher replacement rates; (b) the pace of re-employment is never found to be statistically different across regimes, although point estimates for those exposed to a longer duration consistently indicate a 2 to 4 percentage points lower probability of re-employment at several horizons. Graphical evidence suggests that job-separation rates did not change with the new regime, while take-up apparently did, although the clear cyclical pattern could bias the picture. We conclude that, if any, the behavioural response induced by the change, must have been modest in economic terms. We discuss the reasons why the response may have been so subdued. |
| Keywords: | unemployment insurance, unemployment duration, replacement rate. |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_860_12&r=lab |
| By: | Andrew Kerr; Francis Teal |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse the relative importance of individual ability and labour market institutions, including public sector wage setting and trade unions, in determining earnings differences across different types of employment. To do this we use the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study data from South Africa, which show extremely large average earnings differentials across different types of employment. Our results suggest that human capital and individual ability explain much of the earnings differentials within the private sector, including the union premium, but cannot explain the large premiums for public sector workers. We show that a public sector premium exists only for those moving into the public sector. The paper addresses the challenges of non-random attrition and measurement error bias that panel data bring. Our results show that emphasising a simple binary dichotomy between the formal and informal sector can be unhelpful in attempting to explore how the labour market functions. |
| Keywords: | Formality; Trade unions; Public sector; Earnings; South Africa |
| JEL: | J31 J51 J45 O12 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2012-04&r=lab |
| By: | Benito, Andrew (Goldman Sachs); Saleheen, Jumana (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines labour supply adjustment – both hours worked and participation decisions. We focus on the response of each to financial shocks, employing data from the BHPS. Estimated responses are broadly consistent with models of self-insurance that incorporate labour supply flexibility. The shock reflects several factors including financial wealth and a partner's employment situation. The response is significantly larger for those who change job, consistent with the importance of hours constraints within jobs. The propensity to participate in the labour market also appears to respond to the financial shock but that is somewhat less robust than the hours response. |
| Keywords: | labour supply, self-insurance |
| JEL: | J22 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6506&r=lab |
| By: | Jaap Dronkers (Maastricht University); Manon de Heus; Mark Levels (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the extent to which educational system features of destination and origin countries can explain differences in immigrant children's educational achievement. Using data from the 2006 PISA survey, we performed cross- classified multilevel analysis on the science performance of 9.279 15-year-old immigrant children, originating from 35 different countries, living in 16 Western countries of destination. We take into account a number of educational system characteristics of the countries of destination and origin, in order to measure the importance of differentiation, standardization, and the availability of resources. Our results show that differences in educational achievement between immigrants cannot be fully attributed to individual characteristics. Educational system characteristics of countries of destination and origin are also meaningful. At the origin level, the length of compulsory education positively influences educational performance. This is especially the case for immigrant pupils who attended education in their countries of origin. Results show that at the destination level, teacher shortage negatively affects immigrant pupil's scientific performance. Moreover, immigrant children perform less in highly stratified systems than they do in moderately differentiated or comprehensive ones. Especially immigrant children with highly educated parents perform worse in highly stratified systems. |
| Keywords: | immigration, origin, destination, educational system, educational performance,PISA. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1212&r=lab |
| By: | Werner L. Hernani-Limarino (Fundación ARU); Werner L. Hernani-Limarino (Fundación ARU) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a simple model of the labor supply to identify the distribution of the reserve wages. The distribution of the reserve wages of the non-employed population (Unemployed or out of the labor force) it's fundamental not only to understand the nature of the no-employment but to also define the wages that should be offered by the labor programs to attract the attention of different groups of the population. The paper uses data from the Quarterly Survey of Urban Employment to illustrate the methodology proposed Estimates show that the heavy reliance of household on labor income determines the levels of reserve wages to be much more lower than expected wages. It also shows that reserve wages for the inactive population dominates stochastically the distribution for unemployed, and in turn, the last one dominates stochastically the distribution for the employed. This implies that a good part of the employed population can't cover the cost of searching for better employment opportunities while unemployed have more room to wait. |
| Keywords: | Bolivia, Unemployment, reservation wages |
| JEL: | J21 J30 J64 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aru:wpaper:201102&r=lab |
| By: | Gunderson, Morley; Krashinsky, Harry |
| Abstract: | We utilize the 2006 Census -- the first large-scale, representative Canadian data set to include information on apprenticeship certification -- to compare the returns from apprenticeships with those from other educational pathways (high school graduation, non-apprenticeship trades and community college). An apprenticeship premium prevails for males but a deficit is evident for females, with this pattern prevailing across the quantiles of the pay distribution, albeit with the premium being larger for males at the lower quantiles. Reasons for these patterns are discussed as are the relative importance of differences in the endowments of wage determining characteristics and differences in pay for the same wage determining characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Apprenticeship, Earnings, Canada, Decomposition and Census |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2012-17&r=lab |
| By: | Blau, Francine D. (Cornell University); Brummund, Peter (Cornell University); Liu, Albert Yung-Hsu (Mathematica Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we develop a gender-specific crosswalk based on dual-coded Current Population Survey data to bridge the change in the Census occupational coding system that occurred in 2000 and use it to provide the first analysis of the trends in occupational segregation by sex for the 1970-2009 period based on a consistent set of occupational codes and data sources. We show that our gender-specific crosswalk more accurately captures the trends in occupational segregation that are masked using the aggregate crosswalk (based on combined male and female employment) provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Using the 2000 occupational codes, we find that segregation by sex declined over the period but at a diminished pace over the decades, falling by 6.1 percentage points over the 1970s, 4.3 percentage points over the 1980s, 2.1 percentage points over the 1990s, and only 1.1 percentage points (on a decadal basis) over the 2000s. A primary mechanism by which occupational segregation was reduced over the 1970-2009 period was through the entry of new cohorts of women, presumably better prepared than their predecessors and/or encountering less labor market discrimination; during the 1970s and 1980s, however, there were also decreases in occupational segregation within cohorts. Reductions in segregation were correlated with education, with the largest decrease among college graduates and very little change in segregation among high school dropouts. |
| Keywords: | occupations, occupational segregation, gender, discrimination |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J62 J71 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6490&r=lab |
| By: | Firpo, Sergio (São Paulo School of Economics); Pieri, Renan (São Paulo School of Economics); Souza, André Portela (São Paulo School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | School accountability systems that establish the adoption of incentives for teachers and school managers usually impact positively students’ performance. However, in many circumstances, school accountability systems may face institutional restrictions to establish rewards and sanctions to administrators. In that aspect, the Brazilian accountability system is an interesting example: Most of primary public schools are run by municipal officials and federal government cannot enforce the adoption of incentives at local level. However, because mayors of Brazilian municipalities are the ultimate responsible for public elementary education we provide evidence that in 2008 local election, just some months after the publication of the second wave of a new evaluation of public schools run every two years by federal government, mayors became electorally accountable for not improving school quality. The results show that, on average, one point increase in a 0-10 scale index from 2005 to 2007 increased by around 5 percentage points the probability of re-election. This effect is even greater in localities with lower per capita income and those where the fraction of children at school age is larger. Therefore, electoral accountability may play a complementary role in school accountability systems that had not yet been fully exploited by education and political economics and political science literatures. |
| Keywords: | public education, school accountability, electoral accountability, mayoral re-election races |
| JEL: | H11 H41 H52 H72 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6524&r=lab |
| By: | J. Douglas Willms; Lucía Tramonte; Jesús Duarte; María Soledad Bos |
| Abstract: | Researchers have defined and assessed inequalities and inequities in education in various ways, making it difficult to make comparisons among countries or among jurisdictions within countries. This paper sets out practical definitions for equality and equity in education and discusses the prominent issues regarding the use of large-scale national and international assessment data to assess them. Examples are drawn from the national assessment data from Brazil. |
| Keywords: | Education :: Educational Assessment, Education :: Teacher Education & Quality, Education, equality, equity, indicators, school resources, student performance, teacher quality |
| JEL: | I24 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:64038&r=lab |
| By: | Werner L. Hernani-Limarino (Fundación ARU); Maria Villegas (Fundación ARU); Ernesto Yanez (Fundación ARU) |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of Bolivia’s labor market institutions, particularly the Plan Nacional de Empleo de Emergencia (PLANE). It is found that unemployment as conventionally defined may not be the most important problem in Bolivia’s labor market, as the non-salaried market is always an alternative. While un-employment durations and unemployment scarring consequences are relatively low, labor market regulations and labor market programs do not help to increase the size of the formal market, apparently as a result of Bolivia’s rigid labor markets and labor policies based mainly on temporary employment programs. Such programs, however, may have helped to smooth consumption. Given the country’s high level of infor-mality, protection policies are second best to active policies specifically designed to increase the productivity/employability of vulnerable populations. |
| Keywords: | Bolivia, Unemployment, Labor Policies, Impact Evaluation. |
| JEL: | J08 J21 J64 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aru:wpaper:201112&r=lab |
| By: | Behaghel, Luc (Paris School of Economics); Crépon, Bruno (CREST-INSEE); Gurgand, Marc (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Contracting out public services to private firms has ambiguous effects when quality is imperfectly observable. Using a randomized experiment over a national sample in France, we compare the efficiency of the public employment service (PES) vs. private providers in delivering very similar job-search intensive counseling. The impact of each program is assessed with respect to the standard, low intensity track offered by the PES to the unemployed. We find that job-search assistance increases exit rates to employment by 15 to 35%. But the impact of the public program is about twice as large as compared to the private program, at least during the 6 first months after random assignment. We argue that the observed contract structure with the private providers has not overcome the underlying agency problem. We find no evidence of cream-skimming: rather, it seems that profit maximizing private providers have found it optimal to enroll as many job-seekers as they could, but to make minimum effort on the placement of some of them. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, job-search assistance, labor market intermediaries, private provision of public services |
| JEL: | J64 J68 H44 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6518&r=lab |
| By: | Elhanan Helpman; Oleg Itskhoki; Marc-Andreas Muendler; Stephen Redding |
| Abstract: | While neoclassical theory emphasizes the impact of trade on wage inequality between occupations and sectors, more recent theories of firm heterogeneity point to the impact of trade on wage dispersion within occupations and sectors. Using linked employer-employee data for Brazil, we show that much of overall wage inequality arises within sector-occupations and for workers with similar observable characteristics; this within component is driven by wage dispersion between firms; and wage dispersion between firms is related to firm employment size and trade participation. We then extend the heterogenous-firm model of trade and inequality from Helpman, Itskhoki, and Redding (2010) and structurally estimate it with Brazilian data. We show that the estimated model fits the data well, both in terms of key moments as well as in terms of the overall distributions of wages and employment, and find that international trade is important for this fit. In the estimated model, reductions in trade costs have a sizeable effect on wage inequality. |
| Keywords: | Wage inequality, international trade |
| JEL: | F12 F16 E24 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1138&r=lab |
| By: | Ashenfelter, Orley (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | A real wage rate is a nominal wage rate divided by the price of a good and is a transparent measure of how much of the good an hour of work buys. It provides an important indicator of the living standards of workers, and also of the productivity of workers. In this paper I set out the conceptual basis for such measures, provide some historical examples, and then provide my own preliminary analysis of a decade long project designed to measure the wages of workers doing the same job in over 60 countries – workers at McDonald’s restaurants. The results demonstrate that the wage rates of workers using the same skills and doing the same jobs differ by as much as 10 to 1, and that these gaps declined over the period 2000-2007, but with much less progress since the Great Recession. |
| Keywords: | real wage rates, international comparisons, productivity |
| JEL: | C81 C82 D24 J31 N30 O57 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6500&r=lab |
| By: | Jellal , Mohamed |
| Abstract: | We argue that to a better understanding of the causes of unemployment in Morocco, it seems very important to study endogenously the consequences of the interaction between the structure of the labor market and the presence of the minimum wage. Indeed, it was argued that unemployment in Morocco can be caused by the existence of monopsony power of firms offering jobs that do not seem quite decent to workers and this may also explain the large size of the informal sector. It is this fact which justifies the establishment of an appropriate policy in the minimum wage and study its impact on employment in Morocco. This is our current research agenda. |
| Keywords: | Minimum wage law; employment; poverty |
| JEL: | J3 K31 J23 J42 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38491&r=lab |
| By: | Ge, Suqin (Virginia Tech); Yang, Dennis Tao (Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | Using a national sample of Urban Household Surveys, we document several profound changes in China's wage structure during a period of rapid economic growth. Between 1992 and 2007, the average real wage increased by 202 percent, accompanied by a sharp rise in wage inequality. Decomposition analysis reveals 80 percent of this wage growth to be attributable to higher pay for basic labor, rising returns to human capital, and increases in the state-sector wage premium. Employing an aggregate production function framework, we account for the sources of wage growth and wage inequality in the face of globalization and economic transition. We find capital accumulation, skill-biased technological change, and export expansion to be the major forces behind the evolving wage structure in China. |
| Keywords: | wage growth, wage premium, wage inequality, capital accumulation, trade expansion, technological change, China |
| JEL: | J31 E24 O40 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6492&r=lab |
| By: | De Witte, Kristof (KULeuven, Maastricht Universiteit); Rogge, Nicky (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB)) |
| Abstract: | The effectiveness of problem based learning (PBL) in terms of increasing student knowledge and skills has been extensively studied for higher education students and in non-experimental settings. This paper tests the effectiveness of PBL as an alternative instruction method in secondary education. In a controlled randomized experiment, we estimate its effect on tested student attainments, on perceived student attainments, on autonomous and controlled motivation and on class atmosphere. The outcomes indicate a non-significant negative effect on student achievements, a non-significant effect on motivation and a significant positive effect on class atmosphere. |
| Keywords: | Problem-based learning; Secondary education; Student achievements; Student motivation;Classroom social climate; Randomized experiment |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hub:wpecon:201211&r=lab |
| By: | Binci, Michele (University of Florence); Giannelli, Gianna Claudia (University of Florence) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the effects of domestic and international remittances on children's well-being. Using data from the 1992/93 and 1997/98 Vietnam Living Standards Surveys, we investigate average school attendance and child labour in remittance recipient and non-recipient households. The results of our cross-section and panel analyses indicate that remittances increase schooling and reduce child labour. Although international remittances are found to have a stronger beneficial impact than domestic remittances in the cross-section analysis, the panel analysis reverses this result, showing that the only significant impact stems from domestic remittances. |
| Keywords: | migration, remittances, schooling, child labour, panel data, Vietnam |
| JEL: | F22 I39 J13 O15 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6523&r=lab |
| By: | Combes, Pierre-Philippe (GREQAM, University of Aix-Marseille); Duranton, Gilles (University of Toronto); Gobillon, Laurent (INED, France); Roux, Sébastien (DARES French Ministry of Labour) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides descriptive evidence about the distribution of wages and skills in denser and less dense employment areas in France. We confirm that on average, workers in denser areas are more skilled. There is also strong over-representation of workers with particularly high and low skills in denser areas. These features are consistent with patterns of migration including negative selection of migrants to less dense areas and positive selection towards denser areas. Nonetheless migration, even in the long run, accounts for little of the skill differences between denser and less dense areas. Finally, we find marked differences across age groups and some suggestions that much of the skill differences across areas can be explained by differences between occupational groups rather than within. |
| Keywords: | skill distribution, wage distribution, sorting |
| JEL: | J31 J61 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6501&r=lab |
| By: | McKenzie, David (World Bank); Theoharides, Caroline (University of Michigan); Yang, Dean (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | We use an original panel dataset of migrant departures from the Philippines to identify the responsiveness of migrant numbers and wages to GDP shocks in destination countries. We find a large significant elasticity of migrant numbers to GDP shocks at destination, but no significant wage response. This is consistent with binding minimum wages for migrant labor. This result implies that labor market imperfections that make international migration attractive also make migrant flows more sensitive to global business cycles. Difference-in-differences analysis of a minimum wage change for maids confirms that minimum wages bind and demand is price sensitive without these distortions. |
| Keywords: | international migration, migrant demand, labor output elasticity, minimum wages |
| JEL: | O12 J23 F22 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6498&r=lab |
| By: | Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University); Nil Demet Güngör (Atilim University) |
| Abstract: | Several recent empirical studies have examined the gender effects of education on economic growth or on steady-state level of output using the much exploited, familiar cross-country data in order to determine their quantitative importance and the direction of correlation. This paper undertakes a similar study of the gender effects of education using province level data for Turkey. The main findings indicate that female education positively and significantly affects the steady-state level of labor productivity, while the effect of male education is in general either positive or insignificant. Separate examination of the effect of educational gender gap was negative on output. The results are found to be robust to a number of sensitivity analyses, such as elimination of outlier observations, controls for simultaneity and measurement errors, controls for omitted variables by including regional dummy variables, steady-state versus growth equations and considering different samples. |
| Keywords: | Labor Productivity, Economic Development, Education, Gender, Turkey |
| JEL: | O11 O15 I21 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1209&r=lab |
| By: | Rosendahl Huber, Laura (University of Amsterdam); Sloof, Randolph (University of Amsterdam); van Praag, Mirjam (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of early entrepreneurship education. To this end, we conduct a randomized field experiment to evaluate a leading entrepreneurship education program that is taught worldwide in the final grade of primary school. We focus on pupils' development of relevant skill sets for entrepreneurial activity, both cognitive and non-cognitive. The results indicate that cognitive entrepreneurial skills are unaffected by the program. However, the program has a robust positive effect on non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills. This is surprising since previous evaluations found zero or negative effects. Because these earlier studies all pertain to education for adolescents, our result tentatively suggests that non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills are best developed at an early age. |
| Keywords: | skill formation, field experiment, entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | L26 I21 J24 C93 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6512&r=lab |
| By: | Nordmeier, Daniela (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "This paper analyzes the importance of time aggregation in the measurement of worker flows by exploiting daily information from German administrative data. Time aggregation caused by comparing monthly labor market states leads to an underestimation of total worker flows by around 10%. Contrary to the claim of Shimer (2005, 2012), the time aggregation bias in the separation rate is relatively unaffected by business cycle fluctuations, whereas the time aggregation bias in the job finding rate is procyclical. Nevertheless, monthly time aggregation does not have notable effects on the relative contributions to steady-state unemployment dynamics. The reconsideration of German worker flows reveals that both the job finding rate and the separation rate play an important role for German unemployment dynamics, but the job finding rate dominates in the long run." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Date: | 2012–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201212&r=lab |
| By: | KODAMA Naomi; ODAKI Kazuhiko |
| Abstract: | The idea that the productivity and wages of workers are not necessarily equal has long attracted the attention of many economists. Indeed, the lack of a method to measure the productivity-wage gap has hindered the development of research on labor economics, productivity analysis, and human capital study. This paper proposes a new empirical method to measure the gap between the value of a worker's marginal product (VMP) and wage. We first define this gap. The method then aggregates the Mincer-type function of each worker's human capital service to obtain the total labor input of a firm. The semi-log form of total labor input can be inserted into Cobb-Douglas and trans-log type production functions and enable expressing of the production function as a linear form of gap parameters. This linear functional form of production function, if applied to employer-employee matched panel data, can control for firm-level productivity differences that would otherwise cause biases in estimating the gap coefficients. We apply the new method to Japanese employee-employer matched panel data and find that the gap between the VMP and wage is not so large. The traditional way of measurement, in which wage acts as a proxy of worker productivity, could be a rough approximation. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:12028&r=lab |
| By: | Tansel, Aysit; Gungor, Nil D. |
| Abstract: | Several recent empirical studies have examined the gender effects of education on economic growth or on steady-state level of output using the much exploited, familiar cross-country data in order to determine their quantitative importance and the direction of correlation. This paper undertakes a similar study of the gender effects of education using province level data for Turkey. The main findings indicate that female education positively and significantly affects the steady-state level of labor productivity, while the effect of male education is in general either positive or insignificant. Separate examination of the effect of educational gender gap was negative on output. The results are found to be robust to a number of sensitivity analyses, such as elimination of outlier observations, controls for simultaneity and measurement errors, controls for omitted variables by including regional dummy variables, steady-state versus growth equations and considering different samples. |
| Keywords: | Labor Productivity; Economic Development; Education; Gender; Turkey |
| JEL: | O11 I21 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38391&r=lab |
| By: | Green, David A.; Riddell, W. Craig |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between age and literacy skills in Canada, Norway and the U.S. – countries that represent a wide range of literacy outcomes -- using data from the 1994 and 2003 International Adult Literacy Surveys. In cross-sectional data there is a weak negative partial relationship between literacy skills and age. However, this relationship could reflect some combination of age and cohort effects. In order to identify age effects, we use the 1994 and 2003 surveys to create synthetic cohorts. Our analysis shows that the modest negative slope of the literacy-age profile in cross-sectional data arises from offsetting ageing and cohort effects. Individuals from a given birth cohort lose literacy skills after they leave school at a rate greater than indicated by cross-sectional estimates. At the same time, more recent birth cohorts have lower levels of literacy. These results suggest a pervasive tendency for literacy skills to decline over time and that these countries are doing a poorer job of educating successive generations. All three countries show similar patterns of skill loss with age, as well as declining literacy across successive cohorts. The countries differ, however, in the part of the skill distribution where falling skills are most evident. In Canada the cross-cohort declines are especially large at the top of the skill distribution. In Norway declining skills across cohorts are more prevalent at the bottom of the distribution. In the U.S. the decline in literacy skills over time is most pronounced in the middle of the distribution. |
| Keywords: | Human capital, Cognitive skills, Literacy, Ageing |
| JEL: | I20 J14 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2012-16&r=lab |
| By: | Laun, Tobias (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes optimal insurance against unemployment and disability in a private information economy with endogenous health and search effort. Individuals can reduce the probability of becoming disabled by exerting, so-called, prevention effort, which is costly in terms of utility. A healthy, i.e., not disabled, individual either works or is unemployed. An unemployed individual can exert search effort in order to increase the probability of finding a new job. I show that the optimal sequence of consumption is increasing for a working individual and constant for a disabled individual. During unemployment, decreasing benefits are not necessarily optimal in this setting. The prevention constraint implies increasing benefits over time while the search constraint demands decreasing benefits while being unemployed. However, if individuals respond sufficiently much to search incentives, the latter effect dominates the former and the optimal consumption sequence is decreasing during unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment insurance; Disability insurance; Optimal contracts |
| JEL: | D86 E24 H53 J65 |
| Date: | 2012–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hastef:0742&r=lab |
| By: | Melvyn G. Coles; Dale T. Mortensen |
| Abstract: | This paper considers a dynamic, non-steady state environment in which wage dispersion exists and evolves in response to shocks. Workers do not observe firm productivity and firms do not commit to future wages, but there is on-the-job search for higher paying jobs. The model allows for firm turnover (new start-up firms are created, some existing firms die) and firm specific productivity shocks. In a separating equilibrium, more productive firms signal their type by paying strictly higher wages in every state of the market. Consequently, workers always quit to firms paying a higher wage and so move efficiently from less to more productive firms. As a further implication of the cost structure assumed, endogenous firm size growth is consistent with Gibrat's law. The paper provides a complete characterization and establishes existence and uniqueness of the separating (non-steady state) equilibrium in the limiting case of equally productive firms. The existence of equilibrium with any finite number of firm types is also established. Finally, the model provides a coherent explanation of Danish manufacturing data on firm wage and labor productivity dispersion as well as the cross firm relationship between them. |
| JEL: | D21 D49 D8 E24 J42 J64 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18022&r=lab |
| By: | Jellal, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the formation of the urban formal ector wages in the presence of rural migration in a collective bargaining framework. We show in particular that the restoration of full employment in the presence of an informal sector can be implemented through a policy of subsidy depends on the preferences of the union and its bargaining power wage. It also depends on the level of rural sector development. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Informal sector; Formal sector; Collective bargaining ; Unemployment;Policies ;Morocco |
| JEL: | O17 J51 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38365&r=lab |
| By: | Emilia Del Bono; Chiara Daniela Pronzato |
| Abstract: | This paper asks whether the availability of breastfeeding facilities at the workplace helps to reconcile breastfeeding and work commitments. Using data from the 2005 UK Infant Feeding Survey, we model the joint probability to return to work and breastfeeding and analyse its association with the availability of breastfeeding facilities. Our findings indicate that the availability of breastfeeding facilities is associated with a higher probability of breastfeeding and a higher probability to return to work by 4 and 6 months after the birth of the child. The latter effects are only found for women with higher levels of education. |
| Keywords: | breastfeeding, cognitive development, child outcomes |
| JEL: | J13 C26 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:251&r=lab |
| By: | Katharine G. Abraham (University of Maryland); Susan N. Houseman (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | During the recent recession, workers were eligible for UI benefits only if they were laid off in most states. At the start of the recent recession only 17 states offered short-time compensation (STC)—pro-rated unemployment benefits for workers whose hours are temporarily reduced for economic reasons. The severity of the recession, however, has sparked interest in STC as a tool for mitigating unemployment during downturns. New federal legislation enacted in 2012 will encourage more states to adopt STC programs and will promote greater use of work sharing among all states. In this paper we review arguments concerning the desirability of expanding STC programs in the United States and present new evidence on the use of these programs during the recent recession. Our evidence indicates that jobs saved as a consequence of STC could have been significant in sectors like manufacturing that made extensive use of the program. We conclude, however, that, with the possible exception of Rhode Island, the overall scale of the STC program operating in the 17 states was too small to have substantially mitigated the aggregate job losses these states experienced in the recent recession. Expansion of the program within STC states as well as to states without the program is necessary for STC to be an effective countercyclical tool in the future. |
| Keywords: | short-time compensation, work sharing, unemployment insurance, manufacturing |
| JEL: | J65 J08 J20 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:12-181&r=lab |
| By: | Talarowski, David |
| Abstract: | This article exploits a sub-sample of the French employment survey data of 2009 of the Insee (National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies) to deduct in the style of Lancaster and Chesher (1983) the additional stylized parameters of the model of job search, that is the reservation wage and the elasticities. The necessary information to implement this approach is minimal. The elasticities and the reservation wage are calculated on the whole reserved sample as well as on the strata built on the sex and the educational level of the individuals. |
| Keywords: | Salaire de réservation; probabilité de réemploi; salaire accepté; indemnités chômage; taux d’arrivée des offres; distribution des salaires offerts |
| JEL: | J64 C19 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38366&r=lab |
| By: | Lo Turco, Alessia (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona); Maggioni, Daniela (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona); Picchio, Matteo (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between offshoring and job stability in Italy in the period 1995–2001 by using an administrative dataset on manufacturing workers. We find that the international fragmentation of production negatively affects job stability. Service offshoring and material purchases from developed countries foster job-to-job transitions within manufacturing of all workers and white collars, respectively. However, the most detrimental effects for job stability come from material offshoring to low income countries which drives blue collar workers out of manufacturing. Therefore, policy interventions should especially focus on this latter category of workers more exposed to fragmentation processes and foreign competition. |
| Keywords: | offshoring, job stability, manufacturing, duration analysis, proportional hazard |
| JEL: | C41 F14 F16 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6514&r=lab |
| By: | Ramos, Raul (University of Barcelona); Duque, Juan Carlos (Universidad EAFIT); Nieto, Sandra (University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Despite the large number of studies that draw on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) microdata in their analyses of the determinants of educational outcomes, no more than a few consider the relevance of geographical location. In going some way to rectify this, our paper examines the differences in educational outcomes between students attending schools in rural areas and those enrolled in urban schools. We use microdata from the 2006 and 2009 PISA survey waves for Colombia. The Colombian case is particularly interesting in this regard due to the structural changes suffered by the country in recent years, both in terms of its political stability and of the educational reform measures introduced. Our descriptive analysis of the data shows that the educational outcomes of rural students are worse than those of urban students. In order to identify the factors underpinning this differential, we use the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition and then exploit the time variation in the data using the methodology proposed by Juhn-Murphy-Pierce. Our results show that most of the differential is attributable to family characteristics as opposed to those of the school. From a policy perspective, our evidence supports actions addressed at improving conditions in the family rather than measures of positive discrimination of rural schools. |
| Keywords: | educational outcomes, rural-urban differences, decomposition methods |
| JEL: | J24 I25 R58 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6515&r=lab |
| By: | Justine Ruitenberg (Programma Dienstbare Overheid, Inspectie Werk & Inkomen, Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid) |
| Abstract: | Working patterns among Dutch mothers differ remarkably. This variation makes the Netherlands an interesting case to study the origins of the labour participation pattern of women and mothers in particular. This article explores the influence of mothers’ work and gender attitudes and preferences on their diverse employment pattern through 39 semi-structured interviews with mothers living in Amsterdam. Previous studies have already addressed the question to what extent women’s attitudes correspond with their labour market behaviour. Yet, most of these studies are based on large surveys which lack the detail to study the intricacies of the relationship between attitudes, preferences and behaviour. This study shows that a woman’s employment behaviour is the result of a dynamic relationship between her personal work preferences and gender and work attitudes on the one hand, and het work experiences and cultural normative gender expectations on the other, rather than the outcome of a free choice. The study further reveals the prevalence of ‘a narrative of non-complaining’ among Dutch mothers regarding their spouses’ contribution to the home work. This finding may help to understand why the division of labour at home along gender lines persists. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:aiaswp:119&r=lab |
| By: | Esther Mbise (College of Business Education, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. ermbise@yahoo.com); Ronald S.J. Tuninga (Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, the Netherlands. ron.tuninga@ou.nl) |
| Abstract: | Purpose: An extended SERVQUAL instrument is developed, validated and used to measure perceived service quality delivered to students by business schools in an emerging market economy. Design/ Methodology/Approach: The study adopts a quantitative approach. A longitudinal survey is conducted with conveniently selected students in their final year of study from two business schools in an emerging market economy. The study is based on the Gaps model (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Procedures for developing a reliable and a valid multi-item instrument are observed. Pre-testing of the instrument has been conducted before it is administered to the sampled population. Findings: The students’ gap scores on perceived education services from an emerging economy are presented. The use of the extended SERVQUAL model is suggested to monitor student/employee expectations and perceptions during and after the education service delivery process. Students attach different weights to the service quality dimensions. The new Process Outcome dimension is found to substantially add to the SERVQUAL model and is more important than the other dimensions. The validity of the extended SERVQUAL model for practical use is >0.95. Prediction of the level of service quality delivered, using six dimensions, indicates that the level of service quality is explained mostly by Process Outcome and Tangibles dimensions. Research Limitations/Implications: The study was conducted at only two business schools, conveniently selected in an emerging market. This limits the generalization of results. The data were collected at two points in time using the same participants. This may have prompted the participants to remember responses given in the previous survey while responding in the second survey. Practical Implications: It is suggested that using the extended SERVQUAL model as a tool can enable managers of business schools to identify the factors on which students/employees base their quality assessment of the education services they receive. Knowledge of these factors will enable managers in emerging economies to periodically assess, sustain and improve quality of the whole service delivery process. Priorities can be set to allocate scarce resources properly to make effective investment decisions to improve quality per school and in higher education, in general. The paper further suggests that Regulatory bodies make use of this model when comparing performance of business schools, focusing on student experiences as a supplement to the traditional performance measures. Originality/Value: An extended SERVQUAL model has been developed and validated to measure education services quality of business schools from the perspective of students as customers who receive such services in an emerging market economy. A Process Outcome dimension measuring students’ satisfaction with the knowledge and skills received from education services has been added to the original SERVQUAL model. The study is longitudinal making it different from previous studies, which are mostly cross-sectional in nature. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2012/04&r=lab |
| By: | Lo Turco, A.; Maggioni, D.; Picchio, M. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: We study the relationship between offshoring and job stability in Italy in the period 1995–2001 by using an administrative dataset on manufacturing workers. We find that the international fragmentation of production negatively affects job stability. Service offshoring and material purchases from developed countries foster job-to-job transitions within manufacturing of all workers and white collars, respectively. However, the most detrimental effects for job stability come from material offshoring to low income countries which drives blue collar workers out of manufacturing. Therefore, policy interventions should especially focus on this latter category of workers more exposed to fragmentation processes and foreign competition. |
| Keywords: | Offshoring;job stability;manufacturing;duration analysis;proportional hazard. |
| JEL: | C41 F14 F16 J62 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2012034&r=lab |
| By: | Werner Eichhorst (IZA); Corrado Giulietti (IZA); Martin Guzi (IZA); Michael J. Kendzia (IZA) |
| Abstract: | Based on a study conducted for the European Parliament, Bonn 2011 (133 pages) |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izarrs:40&r=lab |
| By: | Luc Masure |
| Abstract: | The 1996 Act establishes a preventive wage norm, based on the expected evolution of the labour costs in three reference countries, namely France, Germany and the Netherlands. It refers for those three countries to forecasts drawn up by the OECD. In its "Economic Outlook", the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB) analyses in the chapter on the labour market, particularly since the 2007 edition, the monitoring of the “wage norm”. This analysis revealed the existence of different concepts of wage costs. This note aims to clarify and explain these concepts as well as the wage developments in these different meanings. It also seeks to raise questions related to these concepts |
| Keywords: | Wage bargaining |
| JEL: | J3 J5 C82 |
| Date: | 2012–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpb:wpaper:1202&r=lab |
| By: | Robert J. McCann; Xianwen Shi; Aloysius Siow; Ronald Wolthoff |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a tractable framework for studying frictionless matching in school, work, and marriage when individuals have heterogeneous social and cognitive skills. In the model, there are gains to specialization and team production, but specialization requires communication and coordination between team members, and individuals with more social skills communicate and coordinate at lower resource cost. The theory delivers full task specialization in the labor and education markets, but incomplete specialization in marriage. It also captures well-known matching patterns in each of these sectors, including the commonly observed many-to-one matches in firms and schools. Equilibrium is equivalent to the solution of an utilitarian social planner solving a linear programming problem. |
| Keywords: | Matching, Specialization, Comparative Advantage, Span of Control, Education, Marriage |
| JEL: | C78 J24 J31 D50 |
| Date: | 2012–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-454&r=lab |
| By: | Marco Biagetti (Ministry of Economic Development, Rome); Leone Leonida (Queen Mary, University of London); Sergio Scicchitano (Ministry of Economic Development, Rome) |
| Abstract: | We define the wage incentive to management as the wage premium the manager earns because of his/her supervising role. We adopt an approach based on what if questions and estimate the premium at different quantiles of the distribution of wages for 26 European economies. To ease comparisons we make use of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions inquiry released in 2009. The premium is found to be higher at the right tail of the distribution of wages, suggesting that the incentive to management differs across individuals at different quantiles of the distribution within each economy. Results also suggest that the premium differs across individuals located at the same quantiles of the distribution of different economies. |
| Keywords: | Distribution of wages, Incentives to management, Semiparametric methods |
| JEL: | C14 J31 J41 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp687&r=lab |
| By: | Marx, Ive (University of Antwerp); Marchal, Sarah (University of Antwerp); Nolan, Brian (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the role of minimum wages, tax and benefit policies in protecting workers against financial poverty, covering 21 European countries with a national minimum wage and three US States (New Jersey, Nebraska and Texas). It is shown that only for single persons and only in a number of countries, net income packages at minimum wage level reach or exceed the EU's at-risk-of poverty threshold, set at 60 per cent of median equivalent household income in each country. For lone parents and sole breadwinners with a partner and children to support, net income packages at minimum wage are below this threshold almost everywhere, usually by a wide margin. This is the case despite shifts over the past decade towards tax relief and additional income support provisions for low-paid workers. We argue that there appear to be limits to what minimum wage policies alone can achieve in the fight against in-work poverty. The route of raising minimum wages to eliminate poverty among workers solely reliant on it seems to be inherently constrained, especially in countries where the distance between minimum and average wage levels is already comparatively small and where relative poverty thresholds are mostly a function of the dual-earner living standards. In order to fight in-work poverty new policy routes need to be explored. The paper offers a brief discussion of possible alternatives and cautions against 'one size fits all' policy solutions. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage, poverty, taxes, social transfers, subsidies |
| JEL: | I3 H2 J8 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6510&r=lab |
| By: | Barth, Erling (Institute for Social Research, Oslo); Moene, Karl Ove (University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | The complementarity between wage setting and welfare spending can explain how almost equally rich countries differ in economic and social equality among their citizens. More wage equality increases the welfare generosity via political competition in elections. A more generous welfare state fuels wage equality via an empowerment of weak groups in the labor market. Together the two effects generate a cumulative process that adds up to a social multiplier explaining how equality multiplies. Using data on 18 OECD countries over the period 1976-2002 (determined by the availability of the generosity index of welfare spending) we test the main predictions of the model and identify a sizeable magnitude of the equality multiplier. We obtain additional support by using spending data to extend the panel up to 2007, and by applying another data set for the US over the period 1945-2001. |
| Keywords: | welfare state, wage inequality |
| JEL: | H53 I31 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6494&r=lab |
| By: | Kriechel, Ben (ROA, Maastricht University); Mühlemann, Samuel (University of Bern); Pfeifer, Harald (BIBB); Schuette, Miriam (BIBB) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the effects of works councils on apprenticeship training in Germany. The German law attributes works councils substantial information and co-determination rights to training-related issues. Thus, works councils may also have an impact on the cost-benefit relation of workplace training. Using detailed firm-level data containing information on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training, we find that firms with works councils make a significantly higher net investment in training compared with firms without such an institution. We also find that the fraction of former trainees still employed with the same firm five years after training is significantly higher in the presence of works councils, thus enabling firms to recoup training investments over a longer time horizon. Furthermore, all works council effects are much more pronounced for firms covered by collective bargaining agreements. |
| Keywords: | works councils, collective bargaining agreement, apprenticeship training, firm-sponsored training |
| JEL: | J24 J50 M53 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6497&r=lab |
| By: | Bratberg, Espen (University of Bergen); Nilsen, Øivind Anti (Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)); Vaage, Kjell (University of Bergen) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses whether children's exposure to parents receiving disability benefits induces a higher probability of receiving such benefits themselves. Most OECD countries experience an increasing proportion of the working-age population receiving permanent disability benefits. Using data from Norway, a country where around 10% of the working-age population rely on disability benefits, we find that the amount of time that children are exposed to their fathers receiving disability benefits affects their own likelihood of receiving benefits positively. This finding is robust to a range of different specifications, including family fixed effects. |
| Keywords: | disability, intergenerational correlations, siblings fixed effects |
| JEL: | H55 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6508&r=lab |
| By: | Jaap Dronkers (Maastricht University); Manon de Heus |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the scientific literacy of immigrant children in a cross-classified multilevel framework. Using data from the 2006 PISA survey, features of immigrant children's countries of origin, countries of destination, and communities (the specific origin-destination combination) are taken into account in order to explain macro-level differences in immigrants' educational performance. Our sample consists of 9414 15-year-old immigrant children, originating from 46 different countries, living in 16 Western countries of destination. Results show that differences in scientific performance between immigrant children from different origins and between children living in different countries of destination cannot be fully explained by compositional differences. Contextual attributes of origin countries, destination countries, and communities matter as well. It is for instance shown that the better educational performance of immigrant children living in traditional immigration receiving countries cannot be explained by these children's favourable background characteristics. The political and economic features of the origin countries did not influence the science performance, in contrast with the origin countries' prevailing religions. |
| Keywords: | immigration, origin, destination, educational performance, PISA. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1213&r=lab |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet are increasingly viewed as a vital infrastructure for all sectors of the economy. Already, employment in the ICT industry and employment of ICT specialist skills each accounts for up to 5% of total employment in OECD countries and ICT intensive-users account for more than 20% of all workers. In addition, the emerging "green" economy is a "smarter" economy that has increased demand for ICT-skilled jobs not only in the ICT sector, but more rapidly across the wider non-ICT economy. The further creation of new jobs can only occur, however, if the right mix of skills and competences are available in the labour market. Shortages of required ICT-related skills have been observed in some OECD countries, and this is particularly true for skills related to green ICTs. |
| Date: | 2012–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:198-en&r=lab |
| By: | De Witte, Kristof (KULeuven, Maastricht Universiteit); Rogge, Nicky (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB)); Cherchye, Laurens (KULeuven, Tilburg University); Van Puyenbroeck, Tom (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB)) |
| Abstract: | Teaching and research are widely regarded as the two key activities of academics. We propose a tailored version of the popular Data Envelopment Analysis methodology to evaluate the overall performance of university faculty. The methodology enables accounting for the potential presence of economies of scope between the teaching and research activities. It is illustrated with a dataset of professors working at a Business & Administration department of a university college. The estimation results reveal that overall the performance scores of faculty decrease if we allow for spillovers from research to teaching and vice-versa. |
| Keywords: | Teaching-research nexus, Data envelopment analysis, Conditional efficiency, Economies of scope, Higher education |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hub:wpecon:201210&r=lab |
| By: | Richard W. Evans (Department of Economics, Brigham Young University); Kerk L. Phillips (Department of Economics, Brigham Young University) |
| Abstract: | In 2008, the Utah Retirement System experienced a negative return of almost 25 percent on its portfolio. This resulted in an underfunding of the pension system. In 2010 the Utah legislature reformed state pension participation, placing all new employees hired after mid-2011 in a new hybrid pension system. Employees hired prior to July 2011 continue to participate in the previous defined benefits program. This paper models and simulates the effects of Utah's pension reform on the balance in the defined benefits fund. In our baseline simulations, we find that the recent reform has extended fund solvency, but not eliminated the threat. Our simulations show that there is at least a ten percent chance of pension fund insolvency sometime in the next two decades. |
| Keywords: | Pension reform, Numerical simulation, Simulation modeling, State pensions, Utah |
| JEL: | C63 C68 E37 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:byu:byumcl:201201&r=lab |
| By: | Amelie Constant (IZA, DIW DC, Georgetown University); Bienvenue N. Tien (DIW DC) |
| Abstract: | Report prepared for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Bonn 2011 (39 pages) |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izarrs:41&r=lab |
| By: | Axel H. Börsch-Supan; Michela Coppola; Anette Reil-Held |
| Abstract: | Riester pensions are voluntary, but heavily subsidized private pension schemes in Germany. They were designed as a matching defined contribution scheme to fill the emerging “pension gap” that is being generated by the gradually declining generosity of the public pay-as-you-go pensions in response to population aging. This paper investigates how the uptake of the recently introduced “Riester pensions” depends on the state-provided saving incentives and how well the targeting to families and low-income households has worked in practice. It documents the costs of the scheme, and collects circumstantial evidence on displacement effects between saving for old-age provision and other purposes. After a slow start and several design changes, Riester pension plans took off very quickly. While saving incentives were effective in reaching parents, they were somewhat less successful in attracting low-income earners, although Riester pensions exhibit a more equal pattern by income than occupational pensions and unsubsidized private pension plans. Riester pension savings totaled €9.4bn in 2010 with an associated cost of €3.5bn. One average one Euro of subsidies is thus associated with 2 Euros of households’ own Riester saving. There is no evidence that Riester pensions have crowded out other saving. While households who plan to purchase housing and who attach high importance to a bequest motive are less likely to have a Riester pension, several regression results show that occupational pensions and other forms of private pensions act as complements rather than as substitutes. Aggregate national saving has increased since the introduction of Riester pensions. |
| JEL: | D14 D91 H31 H55 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18014&r=lab |
| By: | Danielle Hay (Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University); Stephen Howes (Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | The Australian Government introduced the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme (PSWPS) in 2008 to allow Pacific Islanders to fill seasonal labour shortages in the horticulture industry, and announced in December 2011 that the scheme would be made permanent. Take-up of the scheme is increasing but has been very low. As of the end of March 2012, only 1,100 PSWPS workers have arrived since the scheme's commencement. This study tries to explain why the PSWPS has not employed more Pacific workers. It distinguishes between different hypotheses that could explain the poor outcome, and uses quantitative and qualitative analysis to test each hypothesis, including a survey of growers. The study finds a number of reasons for the low take-up. Growers are largely satisfied with their current labour supply, in terms of both quantity and quality: 93 percent of growers interviewed said they had no trouble finding labour, and 81 percent were satisfied with the quality of their existing labour force. The scheme is not well known: half the growers surveyed had simply not heard of the scheme, and most of those who had lacked information about it. The scheme also suffers from perceptions of high levels of risk and costs, including excessive red tape. Despite its slow start, PSWPS might still succeed on the basis of the productivity gains it has already shown it can deliver. But this is by no means assured: even growers who are unhappy with their current labour supply arrangements are reluctant to try the PSWPS. For the scheme to expand, the Australian Government will need to promote the scheme much more vigorously, and reduce the scheme's financial and compliance costs. The Government also needs to attend to illegal horticultural labour practices, and tackle the booming working holiday visa category. Most growers now rely mainly on backpackers, and their numbers have increased rapidly in recent years: we estimate the number of backpackers working on farms increased from 13,000 in 2001-02 to 37,000 in 2007-08. In particular, the special preference which horticulture receives under the working holiday visa category should be removed. The policy challenges involved in making the PSWPS work should not be underestimated. Other avenues should also be explored for promoting Pacific migration, including adoption of New Zealand's quota-based Pacific permanent migration schemes. |
| Keywords: | migration, Pacific |
| JEL: | F22 N37 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:devpol:1217&r=lab |
| By: | Werner Eichhorst (IZA); Maarten Gerard (IDEA Consult); Michael J. Kendzia (IZA); Christine Mayrhuber (WIFO); Conny Nielsen (NIRAS); Gerhard Rünstler (WIFO); Thomas Url (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | Based on a study conducted for the European Parliament, Bonn 2011 (144 pages) |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izarrs:42&r=lab |
| By: | Alicia H. Munnell |
| Abstract: | The 2012 Trustees Report shows a significant increase in the program's 75 year deficit from 2.22 percent to 2.67 percent of taxable payroll and an advance in the date of trust fund exhaustion from 2036 to 2033. These changes reflect the slow recovery from the recession and rising disability rolls, among other factors. While the deficit is larger and the date of exhaustion nearer, the story remains the same. The program faces a manageable financing shortfall over the next 75 years, which should be addressed soon to restore confidence in the nation's major retirement program and to give people time to adjust to needed changes. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2012-9&r=lab |