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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Céspedes Reynaga, Nikita (Central Bank of Peru); Rendon, Silvio (Stony Brook University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate Frisch elasticity in a labor market with high job turnover. In a context where only around 18% of the employed labor force has formal and stable jobs, we perform a fixed effects estimation as proposed by MaCurdy (1981) with a Heckman correction for selection into unemployment. We identify the positive slope of the labor supply using firms' size as an instrumental variable for wages. We use Peruvian data from the Permanent Employment Survey of Lima. We find that neglecting wage endogeneity implies a downward sloping labor supply, while the job turnover bias, not accounting for job turnover, overestimates Frisch elasticity. We estimate Frisch elasticity at around 0.38, which indicates fairly adjustable wages and little reaction of hours of work to wage variations. Moreover, we find that the Frisch elasticity is decreasing in income and tended to increase in the last decade. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, Frisch elasticity, hours of work, job turnover |
| JEL: | E24 J22 J24 J41 J60 J63 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6991&r=lab |
| By: | Centeno, Mario (Banco de Portugal); Novo, Alvaro A. (Banco de Portugal) |
| Abstract: | The fact that unemployed workers have different abilities to smooth consumption entails heterogeneous responses to extended unemployment benefits. Our empirical exercise explores a quasi-experimental setting generated by an increase in the benefits entitlement period. The results point towards a hump-shape response of unemployment duration over the one-year pre-unemployment wage distribution; individuals at the bottom and at the top of the wage distribution reacted less than those in the interquartile range. This behavior of job searchers is consistent with labor supply models with unemployment insurance and savings. It questions the optimality of very long entitlement periods to target the unemployment experiences of low-wage workers. |
| Keywords: | entitlement extension, unemployment duration, unemployment insurance, liquidity effect |
| JEL: | J65 J64 J22 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6992&r=lab |
| By: | Raquel Carrasco; Juan F. Jimeno; A. Carolina Ortega |
| Abstract: | In contrast to the pattern observed in other developed countries, Spanish wage inequality did not increase during the period from 1995-2006. In this paper we analyse the relative role of supply and demand factors when accounting for this “atypical” fact. Because noticeable changes in both labour supply and labour demand - such as educational upgrading of the labour force, huge immigration flows, and a boom in the construction sector - took place during these years, we start by decomposing observed wage changes into changes in the composition of the labour force and changes in the prices of workers’ and jobs’ characteristics. The results indicate that the compression of the wage distribution is largely explained by a decrease in the returns to education. We also provide some evidence of the relative impact of labour supply and labour demand factors on the changes of these returns, showing that both the increase in the supply of high-skilled workers and the increasing weight of low-skilled occupations are related to the decreasing trend in the skill premium over this period. |
| Keywords: | Wage structure, Quantile regressions, Composition effects, Polarization |
| JEL: | J31 J21 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we1231&r=lab |
| By: | Carrillo-Tudela, Carlos |
| Abstract: | This paper constructs and quantitatively assesses an equilibrium search model with on-the- job search and general human capital accumulation. In the model workers differ in their innate abilities and firms in their productivities. Wages are dispersed because of search frictions and workers productivity differentials. Using the (log) wage variance decomposition implied by the model I show that wage inequality among low skilled workers is mostly driven by differ- ences in their productivities. Among medium skilled workers, productivity differentials and search frictions are equally important. The model reproduces the observed cross-sectional wage distribution, the average wage-experience profile and the observed Mean-min ratio. |
| Date: | 2012–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2012-23&r=lab |
| By: | Machado, Cecilia (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) |
| Abstract: | Selection correction methods usually make assumptions about selection itself. In the case of gender wage gap estimation, those assumptions are specially tenuous because of high female non-participation and because selection could be different in different parts of the labor market. This paper proposes an estimator for the wage gap that allows for arbitrary heterogeneity in selection. It applies to the subpopulation of "always employed" women, which is similar to men in labor force attachment. Using CPS data from 1976 to 2005, I show that the gap has narrowed substantially from a -.521 to a -.263 log wage points differential for this population. |
| Keywords: | selection, gender wage gap |
| JEL: | J31 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7005&r=lab |
| By: | Guertzgen, Nicole |
| Abstract: | Using a large-scale linked-employer-employee data set from western Germany, this paper presents new evidence on the wage premium of collective bargaining contracts. In contrast to previous studies, we seek to assess the extent to which differences in wages between workers in covered and uncovered firms arise from the non-random selection of workers and firms into collective bargaining coverage. By measuring the relative wage changes of workers employed in firms that change contract status, we obtain estimates that depart considerably from previous results relying on cross-sectional data. Results from analysing separate transitions show that leaving industry-level contracts is associated with subsequent wage losses. However, the results from a trendadjusted difference-in-difference approach indicate that the particularly the transitions to no-coverage appear to be associated with negative shocks. Overall, our findings provide no evidence of a 'true' wage effect of leaving wage bargaining, once differences in pre-transition wage growth are accounted for. -- |
| Keywords: | Union Wage Premium,Collective Bargaining Coverage |
| JEL: | J31 J51 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:12073&r=lab |
| By: | Card, David; Heining, Jörg (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Kline, Patrick |
| Abstract: | "We study the role of establishment-specific wage premiums in generating recent increases in West German wage inequality. Models with additive fixed effects for workers and establishments are fit in four distinct time intervals spanning the period 1985-2009. Unlike standard wage models, specifications with both worker and plant-level heterogeneity components can explain the vast majority of the rise in wage inequality. Our estimates suggest that the increasing variability of West German wages results from a combination of rising heterogeneity between workers, rising variability in the wage premiums at different establishments, and increasing assortativeness in the matching of workers to plants. We use the models to decompose changes in wage gaps between different education levels, occupations, and industries, and in all three cases find a growing contribution of plant heterogeneity and rising assortativeness between workers and establishments." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Lohnunterschied - Ursache, Betrieb, Lohnstruktur, Lohnhöhe, Lohnzulage, Lohnentwicklung, Beschäftigtenstruktur, Heterogenität, matching - Qualität, Lohnfindung, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien, erwerbstätige Männer, Lohnunterschied - Entwicklung, Lohndifferenzierung, Qualifikationsniveau, Berufsgruppe, Wirtschaftszweige, Tarifbindung, Gewinnbeteiligung, Westdeutschland |
| JEL: | J01 J3 J4 |
| Date: | 2012–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201226&r=lab |
| By: | Contreras, Dulce/D; Sánchez, Rosario/R; Soria, Delfina/D |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the socioeconomic and individual characteristics that favor mobility are analyzed. The stochastic frontier technique is used as an instrument of analysis to measure the differences that arise between the potential wage and the one that should be obtained for an individual with particular socioeconomic characteristics given his/her investment in human capital. A data panel of young workers who have been working at least for seven consecutive years is used for this analysis. The data set comes from the European Community Household Panel for the period 1995-2001. The results show that Spanish and Italian women have the higher changing probability; this high probability has a negative effect on the potential wage because it increases the gap between the potential and the observed wage. |
| Keywords: | Wage differentials; mobility; Europe; labor economic |
| JEL: | J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2012–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42589&r=lab |
| By: | Mojsoska-Blazevski , Nikica; Kurtishi, Nedjati |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate the performance of the Macedonian labour market in the period 2006-2011, as well as to provide a comparative analysis with the countries from the region and the EU. In particular, for over a decade, Macedonian labour market puzzles economic researchers. Despite the expected improvement in the allocative efficiency of the markets (including labour market) in the process of transition to a market economy, the performance of the Macedonian labour market has deteriorated during the transition. Unemployment rate for the population aged 15-64 reached 37.7% in 2005, though has been declining modestly since then to 31.6% in 2011. Participation and employment rates of 64.2% and 43.9%, respectively, are low compared to the peer countries form the region, and even more if compared to the EU countries. This holds even more so for Macedonian females. In this regard, the paper examines the main challenges in the labour market, in general, but also does so for specific groups of workers (differentiated by age, gender анд education). We also calculate the extent of the skill match, as well as the presence of the over/under-education phenomenon (mismatches). Moreover, it empirically tests the determinants of the employment, that is which factors might bring higher employment rates. |
| Keywords: | Labour market unemployment determinants of employment skill match labour force comparative analysis employment developments |
| JEL: | E24 J01 J64 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42045&r=lab |
| By: | Jeremy Greenwood (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, USA); Nezih Guner (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Barcelona GSE, Spain); Georgi Kocharkov (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany); Cezar Santos (Department of Economics, University of Mannheim, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Marriage has declined since 1960, with the drop being bigger for non-college educated individuals versus college educated ones. Divorce has increased, more so for the non-college educated vis-à-vis the college educated. Additionally, assortative mating has risen; i.e., people are more likely to marry someone of the same educational level today than in the past. A unified model of marriage, divorce, educational attainment and married female labor force participation is developed and estimated to fit the postwar U.S. data. The role of technological progress in the household sector and shifts in the wage structure for explaining these facts is gauged. |
| Keywords: | Assortative mating, education, married female labor supply, household production, marriage and divorce, minimum distance estimation |
| JEL: | E24 D31 J13 J17 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1221&r=lab |
| By: | Giulio Fella (Queen Mary, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of mandated severance pay in a matching model featuring wage rigidity for ongoing, but not new, matches. Mandated severance pay matters only if binding real wage rigidities imply inefficient separation under employment at will. In such a case, large enough severance payments reduce job destruction, and increase job creation and social efficiency, under very mild conditions. Furthermore, mandated severance pay never results in inefficient labor hoarding. Whenever separation is jointly optimal, the parties agree to end the match with a spot severance payment below the statutory one. The marginal effect of mandated severance pay is zero when its size exceeds that which induces the same allocation that would prevail in the absence of wage rigidity. The results hold under alternative micro-foundations for wage rigidity. |
| Keywords: | Severance pay, Renegotiation, Wage rigidity |
| JEL: | E24 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp698&r=lab |
| By: | Veronika V. Eberharter |
| Abstract: | Based on longitudinal data (CNEF 1980-2010) the paper analyzes the structuring effects of individual and family background characteristics on occupational preferences, and the influence of occupational segregation on gender wage differentials in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Notwithstanding the country differences concerning welfare state regimes, institutional settings of the labor markets, and family role patterns, the results confirm the hypotheses of the intergenerational transmission of occupational status, and occupational segregation. The decomposition analysis shows that gender wage differentials are mainly determined by structural differences in the occupational distribution. |
| Keywords: | occupational segregation, occupational choice, intergenerational occupational mobility, wage differentials |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp506&r=lab |
| By: | Meyer, Tobias; Thomson, Stephan L. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how post-school education decisions are affected by a one-year reduction of secondary school duration with an unchanged curriculum. Until recently, Germany had had a longstanding tradition of 13 years of schooling in preparation for university. During the last decade, however, most states abolished the 13th year. The implementation of the reform in 2003 in the state of Saxony-Anhalt provides a natural experiment for identification. Based on data from the double cohort of graduates, our estimates show significant effects of the reform. Affected female students in particular significantly delay university enrollment by one year, show a slightly lower participation in university education overall and are more likely to start a vocational education course. We can also reveal effect heterogeneity with respect to the fields of study. Due to the reform the probability of affected males studying mathematics or natural sciences is significantly reduced. |
| Keywords: | school duration, learning intensity, education decision, natural experiment, Germany |
| JEL: | I21 J18 C21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-509&r=lab |
| By: | Rampino, Tina; Taylor, Mark P. |
| Abstract: | Abstract: We use data from the youth component of the British Household Panel Survey to examine how educational attitudes and aspirations among 11-15 year olds vary across the business cycle. We find that the impact of the local unemployment rate on childrens attitudes and aspirations varies significantly with parental education level and parental attitudes to education children from highly educated families react more positively to low labour demand those from less educated families. Therefore the aspirations of children from low socioeconomic status backgrounds are more adversely affected by recessions than those from higher status backgrounds, representing a barrier to social mobility for a generation. |
| Date: | 2012–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2012-26&r=lab |
| By: | Raquel Carrasco; J. Ignacio García Pérez |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how unemployment and employment durations for immigrants and natives respond differently to changes in the economic conditions due to the 2008 crisis and to the receipt of unemployment benefits when the economy declines. Using administrative data for Spain, we estimate multi-state multi-spell duration models that disentangle unobserved heterogeneity from true duration dependence. Our findings suggest that immigrants are more sensitive to changes in economic conditions, both in terms of unemployment and employment hazards. Moreover, the effect of the business cycle is not constant but decreases with duration at a higher rate among immigrants. The results also point to a disincentive effect of unemployment benefits on unemployment duration, which is stronger for immigrants but only at the beginning of the unemployment spell and mainly during good times (before the 2008 recession). Finally, we find evidence of a positive effect of unemployment benefits on subsequent employment duration, but only for native workers with temporary contracts. Nonetheless, this effect vanishes as workers qualify again for unemployment benefits. |
| Keywords: | Duration models, Multiple spells, Unobserved heterogeneity, Unemployment benefits, Economic cycle, Immigration |
| JEL: | J64 J61 C23 C45 J65 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we1232&r=lab |
| By: | Shatnawi, Dina (Naval Postgraduate School); Oaxaca, Ronald L. (University of Arizona); Ransom, Michael R. (Brigham Young University) |
| Abstract: | Our study evaluates and extends existing wage decomposition methodologies that seek to measure the contributions of endowments, pure wage discrimination, and job segregation. Of particular interest is the model of hierarchical segregation in Baldwin, Butler, and Johnson (2001). We employ data from a regional supermarket that faced a Title VII class-action lawsuit to examine how standard wage specifications integrated with a model of hierarchical segregation might perform in wage decompositions. Our results show that a common misspecification of the wage structure leads to false inferences about the presence of pure wage discrimination. We demonstrate the generalizability of our methodology using CPS data. |
| Keywords: | gender discrimination, job segregation, wage decompositions |
| JEL: | J71 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7001&r=lab |
| By: | Apps, Patricia (University of Sydney); Kabatek, Jan (Tilburg University); Rees, Ray (University of Munich); van Soest, Arthur (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces a static structural model of hours of market labor supply, time spent on child care and other domestic work, and bought in child care for married or cohabiting mothers with pre-school age children. The father's behavior is taken as given. The main goal is to analyze the sensitivity of hours of market work, parental child care, other household production and formal child care to the wage rate, the price of child care, taxes, benefits and child care subsidies. To account for the non-convex nature of the budget sets and, possibly, the household technology, a discrete choice model is used. The model is estimated using the HILDA dataset, a rich household survey of the Australian population, which contains detailed information on time use, child care demands and the corresponding prices. Simulations based on the estimates show that the time allocations of women with pre-school children are highly sensitive to changes in wages and the costs of child care. A policy simulation suggests that labor force participation and hours of market work would increase substantially in a fiscal system based solely on individual rather than joint taxation. |
| Keywords: | time use, income tax, child care subsidies |
| JEL: | J22 J13 H24 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7007&r=lab |
| By: | Chen, Jihui Susan (Illinois State University); Liu, Qihong (University of Oklahoma); Billger, Sherrilyn M. (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: | We use data from the 2007-2008 Ph.D. economist job market to investigate initial job placement in terms of job location, job type, and job rank. Our results suggest gender differences in all three dimensions of job placement. Relative to their male counterparts, female candidates are less (more) likely to be placed into academic (government or private sector) jobs and, on average, are placed into worse ranked jobs. Foreign female candidates are also more likely than foreign males to stay in the U.S. When foreign students are placed outside the U.S., they are more likely to be in academia than in government or private sector, while the opposite holds when foreign students are placed in the U.S., which is largely consistent with a stylized theory model. Our results also reveal various country/region heterogeneities in the type, location, and rank of job placements. |
| Keywords: | Ph.D. labor market, job type, job location, job rank |
| JEL: | A11 A23 J44 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6990&r=lab |
| By: | Philip Oreopoulos; Ryan Dunn |
| Abstract: | High school students from disadvantaged high schools in Toronto were invited to take two surveys, about three weeks apart. Half of the students taking the first survey were also shown a 3 minute video about the benefits of post secondary education (PSE) and invited to try out a financial-aid calculator. Most students' perceived returns to PSE were high, even among those not expecting to continue. Those exposed to the video, especially those initially unsure about their own educational attainment, reported significantly higher expected returns, lower concerns about costs, and expressed greater likelihood of PSE attainment. |
| JEL: | I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18551&r=lab |
| By: | H. Lehmann; A. Muravyev |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes, using country-level panel data from transition economies and Latin America, the impact of labor market institutions on informal economic activity. The measure of informal economic activity is taken from Schneider et al. (2010), the most comprehensive study to date. The data on institutions, which cover employment protection legislation (EPL), the tax wedge, the unemployment benefit level, unemployment benefit duration and union density, are assembled at the IZA (transition countries) and the World Bank (LAC countries). We find that a more regulated labor market (higher EPL) increases the size of the informal economy. There is also evidence that a larger tax wedge increases informality. The tax wedge elasticity of informal economy, when evaluated at the sample mean, is rather modest, around 0.1%. Our results are broadly in line with the literature, which identifies labor market regulation and the tax wedge as important drivers of informality. |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J42 O17 P20 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp854&r=lab |
| By: | Valletta, Robert G. (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco) |
| Abstract: | A recent decline in geographic mobility in the United States may have been caused in part by falling house prices, through the "lock in" effects of financial constraints faced by households whose housing debt exceeds the market value of their home. I analyze the relationship between such "house lock" and the elevated levels and persistence of unemployment during the recent recession and its aftermath, using data that covers the period through the end of 2011. Because house lock will extend job search in the local labor market for homeowners whose home value has declined, I focus on differences in unemployment duration between homeowners and renters across geographic areas differentiated by the severity of the decline in home prices. The empirical analyses rely on microdata from the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) files and an econometric method that enables the estimation of individual and aggregate covariate effects on completed unemployment durations in "synthetic cohort" (pseudo-panel) data. The estimates indicate the absence of a meaningful house lock effect on unemployment duration. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, house prices, mobility |
| JEL: | J6 R31 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7002&r=lab |
| By: | Navarro Paniagua, Maria (Lancaster University); Walker, Ian (Lancaster University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effect of being born to a teenage mother on children's outcomes, exploiting compulsory schooling changes as the source of exogenous variation. We impose external estimates of the direct effect of maternal education on child outcomes within a plausible exogeneity framework to isolate the transmission from teen motherhood per se. Our findings suggest that the child's probability of post compulsory education decreases when born to a teenage mother, and that the daughters of teenage mothers are significantly more likely to become teenage mothers themselves. |
| Keywords: | teenage motherhood, education, fertility, children, instrumental variables, compulsory schooling laws |
| JEL: | I2 J13 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6995&r=lab |
| By: | Z. Eylem Gevrek (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany); Deniz Gevrek (Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, Texas); Sonam Gupta (Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of culture on the work behavior of second-generation immigrant women in Canada. We contribute to the current literature by analyzing the role of intermarriage in intergenerational transmission of culture and its subsequent effect on labor market outcomes. Using relative female labor force participation and total fertility rates in the country of ancestry as cultural proxies, we find that culture matters for the female labor supply. Cultural proxies are significant in explaining number of hours worked by second-generation women with immigrant parents. Our results provide evidence that the impact of cultural proxies is significantly larger for women with immigrant parents who share same ethnic background than for those with intermarried parents. The fact that the effect of culture is weaker for women who were raised in intermarried families stresses the importance of intermarriage in assimilation process. Our findings imply that government policies targeting labor supply of women may have differential effect on labor market behavior of immigrant women of different ancestries. |
| Keywords: | culture, immigrant women, intermarriage, labor supply, immigrant assimilation |
| JEL: | J12 J15 J22 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1228&r=lab |
| By: | Bartels, Charlotte |
| Abstract: | Generous income support programs as provided by European welfare states have often been blamed to reduce work incentives for lower income classes and to increase durations of unemployment. Standard studies measure work incentives based on annual income concepts. This paper analyzes how work incentives inherent in the German tax-benefit system evolve when extending the time horizon to three years (long-term). Participation tax rates are computed for 3-year periods 1995-1997 and 2005-2007 to reveal potential effects of the labor market reforms between 2003 and 2005. Results show that long-term work incentives increased even more than short-term work incentives. Particularly for middle-income individuals, this is largely explained by the abolition of earnings-related unemployment assistance. -- |
| Keywords: | welfare,work incentives,unemployment,unemployment insurance |
| JEL: | H31 J65 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:201220&r=lab |
| By: | Hirsch, Boris; Jahn, Elke J. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates immigrants' and natives' labour supply to the firm within a semi-structural approach based on a dynamic monopsony framework. Applying duration models to a large administrative employer-employee data set for Germany, we find that once accounting for unobserved worker heterogeneity immi-grants supply labour less elastically to firms than natives. Under monopsonistic wage setting the estimated elasticity differential predicts a 4.7 log points wage penalty for immigrants thereby accounting for almost the entire unexplained native-immigrant wage differential of 2.9-5.9 log points. Our results imply that employers profit from discriminating against immigrants. -- Mithilfe eines semistrukturellen Schätzansatzes, der auf ei-nem dynamischen Monopsonmodell beruht, untersuchen wir das Arbeitsangebot von Immigranten und Einheimischen auf Firmenebene. Unter Verwendung von Verweil-dauermodellen und eines großen administrativen Firmen-Beschäftigten-Datensatzes für Deutschland finden wir, dass Immigranten eine geringere Arbeitsangebotselasti-zität auf Firmenebene aufweisen als Einheimische, sofern für unbeobachtete Personenheterogenität kontrolliert wird. Wird monopsonistische Lohnsetzung unter-stellt, so folgt aus den gefundenen Elastizitätsunterschieden ein Lohnabschlag für Immigranten von 4.7 Logpunkten. Dies entspricht nahezu dem gesamten unerklärten Lohndifferential zwischen Immigranten und Einheimischen in Höhe von 2.9-5.9 Log-punkten. Unsere Ergebnisse implizieren, dass Arbeitgeber von Lohndiskriminierung gegen Immigranten profitieren. |
| Keywords: | monopsony,native-immigrant wage differential,discrimination,Germany |
| JEL: | J42 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:79&r=lab |
| By: | Marc van der Steeg; Roel van Elk; Dinand Webbink |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of coaching in vocational education on school dropout using data from a randomized experiment. We find that one year of coaching reduces school dropout by more than 40 percent from 17 to 10 percentage points. The reduction in school dropout results from two equally important channels: a reduction of dropout from the study and a reduction of dropout from the education system once students dropped out of their studies. This suggests that coaching interventions before as well as after study dropout have contributed to less school dropout. The effectiveness of coaching is largest for students with a high ex ante probability of dropout, such as older students, males and students with an adverse socioeconomic background. A cost-benefit analysis suggests that one year of coaching is likely to yield a net social gain. |
| JEL: | I2 H43 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:224&r=lab |
| By: | Murat Tasci (Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an empirical method for estimating a long-run trend for the unemployment rate that is grounded in the modern theory of unemployment. I write down an unobserved components model and identify the cyclical and trend components of the underlying unemployment flows, which in turn imply a time varying estimate of the unemployment trend, the natural rate. I identify a sharp decline in the outflow rate - job finding rate- since 2000, which was partly offset by the secular decline in the inflow rate separation rate since 1980s, implying a relatively stable natural rate, currently at 6 percent. Numerical examples show that slower labor reallocation along with the weak output growth explains most of the persistence in unemployment since the Great Recession. Contrary to the business-cycle movements of the unemployment rate, a signi cant fraction of the low-frequency variation can be accounted for by changes in the trend of the inflows, especially prior to 1985. Finally, I highlight several desirable features of this natural rate concept that makes it a better measure than traditional counterparts. These include statistical precision, the signi cance of required revisions to past estimates with subsequent data additions, policy relevance and its tight link with the theory. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment; Natural Rate; Unemployment Flows; Labor Market Search |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J64 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1233&r=lab |
| By: | Berlingieri, Francesco; Erdsiek, Daniel |
| Abstract: | In this study, we examine the incidence and direct consequences of job mismatch for German graduates. Beyond measuring job mismatch by the comparison of qualification obtained by employees and required for a job, we employ self-reported skill mismatch variables concerning overall skills and more detailed information about the surplus or deficit in specific competences. The results indicate that a substantial share of graduates underutilizes own skills in the job. The rate of overqualification and skill mismatch is found to differ strongly between fields of study, type of university and gender. In addition, we investigate to what extent jobs of matched graduates differ from jobs held by mismatched graduates. Jobs of the latter are found to exhibit lower complexity and creativity requirements but to be more monotone than matching jobs. Furthermore, we provide a conceptual underpinning of the possible explanations of job-worker mismatch and its implication for different actors in the economy. -- |
| Keywords: | job mismatch,overqualification,skill mismatch |
| JEL: | J24 I2 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:12075&r=lab |
| By: | Nicholas Spaull (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Stephen Taylor (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we question the existing practice of reporting enrolment statistics that ignore quality, but also quality-statistics that ignore enrolment differentials. The extant literature on education in Africa is bifurcated in that reports focus either on the quality of education or on access to education, but not both. This is problematic for two reasons: 1) observing access to education without regard for the quality of that education clouds the analysis, primarily because labour-market prospects and social mobility are driven by cognitive skills acquired rather than only by years of education attained, and 2) analysing the quality of education without taking cognizance of the enrolment and dropout profiles of the countries under review is likely to bias the results due to sample selection. In the paper we propose a new composite statistic - effective enrolment - that calculates the proportion of the age-appropriate population that has reached some basic threshold of numeracy and literacy proficiency. Put simply, it is enrolment that produces learning. To do so we combine household data on enrolment (from the Demographic and Health Surveys - DHS) with survey data on cognitive outcomes (from the Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality - SACMEQ III) for ten sub-Saharan African countries: Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We calculate and report the effective enrolment rates for each country by gender, location and wealth quintile as well as highlighting the patterns of differential access and achievement across countries and sub-groups. As far as we are aware, these figures are the most accurate and comprehensive statistics on basic education system performance for each of the ten countries under review. Using these figures for analyses overcomes the selection bias inherent in all cross-national comparisons of educational achievement, and is far superior to simple comparisons of traditional enrolment rates. We argue that the method should be applied to all developing regions, and outline the prerequisites for doing so. The paper refocuses the discussion on education system performance in Africa by providing a composite measure of access and quality and in so doing places educational outcomes at the centre of the discourse. |
| Keywords: | Access to education, quality of education, educational statistics, Education For All, Millenium Development Goals, SACMEQ, DHS |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I25 I28 I32 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers174&r=lab |
| By: | Geishecker, Ingo (University of Göttingen); Siedler, Thomas (University of Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | There is a large body of literature analyzing the relationship between objective economic conditions and voting behavior, but there is very little evidence of how perceived economic insecurity impacts on political preferences. Using seventeen years of household panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we examine whether job loss fears impact on individuals’ party identification. Consistent with the deprivation theory, we find strong and robust evidence that subjective job loss fears foster affinity for parties at the far right-wing of the political spectrum. The effects are broadly comparable in direction and magnitude with the ones from objective unemployment and being out of the labor force. However, our empirical estimates do not suggest that job loss fears result in people withdrawing their support from political parties altogether or increasingly identify with extremist left-wing parties. |
| Keywords: | job insecurity, party identification, prospective voting, economic worries |
| JEL: | J01 J63 P16 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6996&r=lab |
| By: | Calvo, Guillermo; Coricelli, Fabrizio; Ottonello, Pablo |
| Abstract: | This paper offers empirical evidence showing that, relative to "normal" recessions, financial crises hit the labor market by either enhancing the degree of joblessness and/or by further depressing the real wage – a situation that the paper labels "wageless recovery." This holds for a sample of both advanced and emerging-market economies recession episodes, using credit market data prior to the recession episode as instrumental variable for financial crises. Results also indicate that inflation determines the type of recovery: low inflation is associated with jobless recovery, while high inflation is associated with wageless recovery. The paper shows that these outcomes are consistent with a simple model in which collateral requirements are higher (lower), the larger is the share of labor costs (physical capital expenditure) involved in a loan contract. This is motivated by the conjecture that if a loan becomes delinquent, physical capital is easier to confiscate than human capital. Evidence from advanced economies supports the model. An implication of these findings is that a spike of inflation during financial crisis may help to reduce jobless recoveries, but at the expense of sharply lower real wages. Only relaxing credit constraint might help both unemployment and wages. |
| Keywords: | Financial crises; Jobless recovery; Wageless recovery |
| JEL: | E24 E44 G01 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9218&r=lab |
| By: | Britta Augsburg; Ralph De Haas; Heike Harmgart; Costas Meghir |
| Abstract: | We use an RCT to analyze the impact of microcredit on poverty reduction, child and teenage labour supply, and education. The study population consists of loan applicants to a major MFI in Bosnia who would have been rejected through regular screening. Access to credit allowed borrowers to start and expand small-scale businesses. Households that already had a business and where the borrower had more education, ran down savings, presumably to complement the loan and achieve the minimum investment amount. However, in less-educated households consumption went down. A key new finding is a substantial increase in the labor supply of children aged 16-19 year old together with a reduction in their school attendance, raising important questions about the unintended intergenerational consequences of relaxing liquidity constraints for self-employment and business creation or expansion. |
| JEL: | D1 D12 D14 G21 H52 H53 J22 J24 O16 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18538&r=lab |
| By: | Konietzko, Thorsten |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the time allocation of self-employed men and women compared to men and women in paid employment and the impact of house-work on earnings of self-employed individuals using data from two German datasets. Self-employed women spend more time on housework activities and self-employed men spend more time on market work than their paid counterparts. While descriptive statistics and pooled OLS earnings regressions show a negative impact of time spent on housework on earnings, fixed-effects earnings regressions show only a negative impact on monthly earnings of self-employed men. This impact disappears after controlling for potential endogeneity via instrumental variable estimators. -- Auf Grundlage zweier deutscher Datensätze untersucht diese Studie die Zeitallokation von selbständigen Frauen und Männern im Vergleich zu abhängig beschäftigten Frauen und Männern sowie den Einfluss der Hausarbeits-zeit auf die Verdienste der Selbständigen. Im Gegensatz zu abhängig Beschäftigten verwenden selbständige Frauen mehr Zeit für Hausarbeit, während selbständige Männer mehr Zeit für Marktarbeit aufwenden. Sowohl die deskriptiven Analysen als auch gepoolte OLS Einkommensregressionen zeigen einen negativen Einfluss der Hausarbeitszeit auf die Einkommen der Selbständigen auf. Im Gegensatz dazu wird in den Fixed-Effekts-Einkommensschätzungen nur beim Monatslohn selbständiger Männer ein negativer Zusammenhang gefunden. Dieser Effekt verschwindet nach einer Kontrolle auf potentielle Endogenität mittels Instrumentenvariablen. |
| Keywords: | self-employment,time use,earnings,gender pay gap,Germany |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J22 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:78&r=lab |
| By: | Markaki, Yvonni |
| Abstract: | This paper explores individual and regional characteristics as sources of anti-immigration attitudes of white UK born respondents using survey data from the five rounds of the European Social Survey, between 2002 and 2010, alongside regional indicators of population composition, labour market and skills context computed from the Labour Force Survey. Contrary to expectations, the regional unemployment rates for natives and immigrants are not statistically associated with a higher or lower probability of expressing anti-immigration attitudes. Furthermore, findings sug- gest that native respondents are more likely to support immigration restriction of those from poorer countries regardless of whether they are European or not and irrespective of ethnicity. |
| Date: | 2012–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2012-24&r=lab |
| By: | Bhalotra, Sonia; Umana-Aponte, Marcela |
| Keywords: | insurance, women.s labour supply, added worker effect, business cycles, Africa |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2012-66&r=lab |
| By: | Felix Ebeling; Gerlinde Fellner; Johannes Wahlig |
| Abstract: | We study the influence of peer pressure in multi-dimensional work tasks theoretically and in a controlled laboratory experiment. Thereby, workers face peer pressure in only one work dimension. We find that effort provision increases in the dimension where peer pressure is introduced. However, not all of this increase translates into a productivity gain, since the effect is partly offset by a decrease of effort in the work dimension without peer pressure. Furthermore, this tradeoff is stronger for workers who run behind in the dimension of peer pressure. Finally, we analyze the optimal group composition to harness peer pressure. Effort in the dimension of peer pressure and overall productivity seem to be unaffected by group composition, but the effort reduction in the dimension that is not subject to peer pressure is stronger when workers’ skills are highly diverse. Hence, it seems like optimal group composition depends on work environment. While existing literature recommends maximizing worker-groups’ skill diversity in one-dimensional work tasks, our results suggest to mix similar workers in multi-dimensional tasks. |
| Keywords: | Peer Effects, Multi Tasking, Incentives, Laboratory Experiment |
| JEL: | D03 D2 J21 |
| Date: | 2012–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kls:series:0057&r=lab |
| By: | Matthew S. Rutledge |
| Abstract: | Workers over age 55 with chronic health conditions must choose between applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or continuing to work until their Social Security retirement benefits become available. Previous research has investigated the influence of macroeconomic conditions on disability application and, separately, on retirement claiming. This project uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation Gold Standard File to determine whether there is a relationship between national and state unemployment rates and disability applications, taking into account the current or future receipt of Social Security retirement benefits. First, reduced-form estimates indicate that retirement beneficiaries are more likely to apply for SSDI as unemployment increases – and, conversely, eligible individuals who have not yet claimed benefits are less likely to apply when unemployment rises. But after accounting for unobserved characteristics associated with both the decision to apply for disability insurance and Social Security benefits, individuals are no more likely to apply for disability benefits when unemployment is high. Second, we find that the probability of SSDI application among individuals age 55-61 is unrelated to macroeconomic conditions and unrelated to proximity to one’s 62nd birthday. These results suggest that, unlike prime-age adults, the decision among older individuals to apply for disability is based primarily on health, and not financial incentives. |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2012-26&r=lab |
| By: | Ott Toomet (Tartu University); Marco van der Leij (University of Amsterdam); Meredith Rolfe (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between unexplained racial/ethnic wage differentials on the one hand and social network segregation, as measured by inbreeding homophily, on the other hand. Our analysis is based on both U.S. and Estonian surveys, supplemented with Estonian telephone communication data. In case of Estonia we consider the regional variation in economic performance of the Russian minority, and in the U.S. case we consider the regional variation in black-white differentials. Our analysis finds a strong relationship between the size of the differential and network segregation: regions with more segregated social networks exhibit larger unexplained wage gaps. |
| Keywords: | social networks; wage differential; homophily; segregation; race; minorities |
| JEL: | J71 J31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2012–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20120120&r=lab |
| By: | Arcidiacono, Peter (Duke University); Aucejo, Esteban (London School of Economics); Coate, Patrick (Duke University); Hotz, V. Joseph (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | Proposition 209 banned using racial preferences in admissions at California's public colleges. We analyze unique data for all applicants and enrollees within the University of California (UC) system before and after Prop 209. After Prop 209, graduation rates of minorities increased by 4.4%. We characterize conditions required for better matching of students to campuses to account for this increase. We find that Prop 209 did improve matching and this improvement was important for the graduation gains experienced by less-prepared students. At the same time, better matching only explains about 20% of the overall graduation rate increase. Changes after Prop 209 in the selectivity of enrolled students explains 34-50% of the increase. Finally, it appears UC campuses responded to Prop 209 by doing more to help retain and graduate its students, which explains between 30-46% of the post-Prop 209 improvement in the graduation rate of minorities. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action, college enrollment, college graduation, mismatch |
| JEL: | I23 J15 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7000&r=lab |
| By: | Oshio, Takashi; Inoue, Akiomi; Tsutsumi, Akizumi |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have shown that workplace social capital (WSC) affects workers' health, but its role as a moderator of the associations between job stressors and health outcomes has been largely understudied. The current study investigated whether and to what extent WSC moderates the associations between job stressors and psychological distress among Japanese workers. We used cross-sectional data (N = 9,350) collected from a baseline survey of an occupational cohort study (Japanese Study of Health, Occupation, and Psychosocial Factors Related Equity; J-HOPE) conducted among the employees of 12 companies/organizations in Japan. We focused on the bonding and horizontal aspects of WSC at the individual level, considering job demands/control, effort/reward, and two types of organizational justice (procedural and interactional justice) as job stressors. We defined psychological distress as scoring ≥5 on the K6 scale. Our multilevel, multivariate logit models showed that individual-level WSC moderated the associations of psychological distress with high job demands, high effort, and low interactional justice, but not those with low job control, reward, or procedural justice. We also observed a moderation effect of dichotomized WSC only with a higher cutoff point for high WSC. These results suggest that WSC selectively moderates the associations between job stressors and mental health and that it works as a moderator only at sufficiently high levels. |
| Keywords: | Workplace social capital, Psychological distress, Job strain, Effort-reward imbalance, Procedural justice, Interactional justice |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:cisdps:575&r=lab |
| By: | Randall Q. Akee (Tufts and IZA); Timothy J. Halliday (University of Hawaii at Manoa and IZA); Sally Kwak (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation) |
| Abstract: | Due to the large social costs of juvenile crime, policymakers have long been concerned about its causes. In the 2009-10 school year, the State of Hawaii responded to fiscal strains by furloughing all school teachers employed by the Department of Education and cancelling class for seventeen instructional days. We examine the effects of this unusually short school year to draw conclusions about the relationship of time in school with crime rates. We calculate marginal effects from a negative binomial model and find that time off from school is associated with significantly fewer juvenile assault and drug-related arrests, although there are no changes in other types of crimes, such as thefts and burglaries. These results are more pronounced in rural parts of the islands which tend to have lower educated, lower income households. |
| Keywords: | Education, Crime, Inequality |
| JEL: | J08 I24 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:201221&r=lab |
| By: | Chabé-Ferret, Sylvain |
| Abstract: | This paper compares matching and Difference-In-Difference matching (DID) when estimating the effect of a program on a dynamic outcome. I detail the sources of bias of each estimator in a model of entry into a Job Training Program (JTP) and earnings dynamics that I use as a working example. I show that there are plausible settings in which DID is consistent while matching on past outcomes is not. Unfortunately, the consistency of both estimators relies on conditions that are at odds with properties of earnings dynamics. Using calibration and Monte-Carlo simulations, I show that deviations from the most favorable conditions severely bias both estimators. The behavior of matching is nevertheless less erratic: its bias generally decreases when controlling for more past outcomes and it generally provides a lower bound on the true treatment effect. I finally point to previously unnoticed empirical results that confirm that DID does well, and generally better than matching on past outcomes, at replicating the results of an experimental benchmark. |
| Keywords: | Matching - Difference in Difference - Evaluation of Job training Programs. |
| JEL: | C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:26567&r=lab |
| By: | Julian Donaubauer; Dierk Herzer; Peter Nunnenkamp |
| Abstract: | We address the question of whether foreign aid helps attract foreign direct investment (FDI). This could be achieved if well targeted aid removed critical impediments to higher FDI inflows. In particular, test the hypothesis that aid for education is an effective means to increase FDI flows to host countries in Latin America where schooling and education appears to be inadequate from the viewpoint of foreign investors. We employ panel data techniques covering 21 Latin American countries over the period from 1984 to 2008. We find that aid for education has a statistically significant positive effect on FDI. This effect is robust to potential outliers, sample selection, alternative specifications and different estimation methods |
| Keywords: | foreign aid, foreign direct investment, aid effectiveness, human capital |
| JEL: | E24 F21 F35 O15 O19 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1806&r=lab |
| By: | Elena Stancanelli (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, OFCE SciencesPo and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Earlier studies conclude that spouses time their retirement closely together. Here, we exploit early retirement age legislation to identify the effect of own and spousal retirement on spouses' hours of work. The sample for the analysis includes over 85000 French couples. We conclude that hours of work fall significantly upon own and partner's retirement, for both spouses. The own effect is dramatically large and equal to a drop in hours worked of 65 to 77 per cent while the cross effects are small, suggesting an average reduction of one or two hours per week upon spousal retirement. |
| Keywords: | Ageing, retirement, regression discontinuity, policy evaluation. |
| JEL: | J14 C1 C36 D04 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12074&r=lab |
| By: | Mun-Heng Toh (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)) |
| Abstract: | This paper traces the development of the education sector from its nascent stage of serving economic development needs to the internationalization stage of fulfilling Singapore’s aspiration to be a global education hub. The state plays an important role in guiding and fostering development of the education sector in the creation and production of human capital for domestic production as well as cross-border trading to generate income and employment, and attract talent to the economy. Regional trading agreements can play a facilitating role for internationalization of higher education services, especially when commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) are weak. Private education enterprises need no less regulatory measures than other economic sectors to function properly in the market economy—to add value, assure quality services, and yield benefits for education services purchasers. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education Services, Singapore, GATS, education sector, Human Capital, Private education, Regional trading agreements |
| JEL: | F16 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:tradew:23349&r=lab |
| By: | Elena Stancanelli (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne, OFCE - Centre de recherche en économie de Sciences Po - Sciences Po, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor) |
| Abstract: | Earlier studies conclude that spouses time their retirement closely together. Here, we exploit early retirement age legislation to identify the effect of own and spousal retirement on spouses' hours of work. The sample for the analysis includes over 85000 French couples. We conclude that hours of work fall significantly upon own and partner's retirement, for both spouses. The own effect is dramatically large and equal to a drop in hours worked of 65 to 77 per cent while the cross effects are small, suggesting an average reduction of one or two hours per week upon spousal retirement. |
| Keywords: | Ageing; retirement; regression discontinuity; policy evaluation |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00755648&r=lab |
| By: | Luca Paolo Merlino; Pierpaolo Parrotta; Dario Pozzoli |
| Keywords: | assortative matching; gender gap; glass ceiling; sticky floor |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/132162&r=lab |