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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Allegretto, Sylvia; Dube, Arindrajit; Reich, Michael; Zipperer, Ben |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, the states that experienced larger minimum wage increases have been spatially clustered. We show that these states also systematically differed from other states with respect to the depth of their business cycles, growthin upper-half wage inequality, increased job polarization, and political-economy. We present estimates of minimum wage effects for teens and restaurant workers using fivedatasets and six different approaches to controlling for spatial confounds. We show thatthe dis-employment results suggested by the canonical two-way fixed effects model arespurious, as these specificiations generally fail falsification tests for pre-existing trends. Using policy variation within local areas (county pairs, commuting zones) or regions, as well as inclusion of state-specific trends, typically renders the employment effect smallin magnitude and statistically indistinguishable from zero. We additionally find that employment effects are close to zero when we account for heterogeneity using lagged dependent variables and dynamic panel models. We also present evidence using the synthetic control estimator: pooling across state minimum wage increases between 1997 and 2007, the synthetic control estimate shows no evidence of job losses for teens. We confirm the validity of local controls by demonstrating that synthetic control weights decline with distance: a donor state 100 miles away receives a weight seven times as large as a state 2,000 miles away. We also directly show that neighboring counties are more similar in terms of covariates than are other counties. These findings refute the claims made in a recent paper by Neumark, Salas and Wascher that criticize the use of local controls. We conclude by proposing some guidelines for assessing convincing research designs for minimum wage studies. |
| Keywords: | Applied Economics, Credible Research Designs, Minimum Wages Studies |
| Date: | 2013–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:indrel:qt3hk7s3fw&r=lab |
| By: | George J. Borjas |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data drawn from the 1970-2010 decennial Censuses to examine the evolution of immigrant earnings in the U.S. labor market. The analysis reveals that there are cohort effects not only in the level of earnings, with more recent cohorts generally having relatively lower entry wages, but also in the rate of growth of earnings, with more recent cohorts having a smaller rate of economic assimilation. Immigrants who entered the country before the 1980s typically found that their initial wage disadvantage (relative to natives) narrowed by around 15 percentage points during their first two decades in the United States. In contrast, the immigrants who entered the country after the 1980s have a negligible rate of wage convergence. Part of the slowdown in wage convergence reflects a measurable reduction in the actual rate of human capital accumulation. In particular, there has been a concurrent decline in the rate at which the newer immigrant cohorts are “picking up” English language skills. The study isolates one factor that explains part of these trends: The rate of increase in English language proficiency is significantly slower for larger national origin groups. The growth in the size of these groups accounts for about a quarter of the decline in the rates of human capital acquisition and economic assimilation. |
| JEL: | J24 J60 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19116&r=lab |
| By: | Kevin Lang; Russell Weinstein |
| Abstract: | Using the Beginning Postsecondary Student Survey and Transcript Data, we find no statistically significant differential return to certificate or Associates degrees between for-profits and not-for-profits. Point estimates suggest a slightly lower return to a for-profit certificate and a slightly higher return to a for-profit Associates degree, largely because more students at not-for-profits earn a BA, making them less likely to have only an Associates degree. There is considerable variation in the return to certificates/degrees across majors, including many with negligible or negative returns. Differences across fields are large relative to differences across institution types. |
| JEL: | I23 J3 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19135&r=lab |
| By: | Claudia Olivetti |
| Abstract: | This paper provides additional evidence on the U-shaped relationship between the process of economic development and women's labor force participation. The experience of the United States is studied in a comparative perspective relative to a sample of rich economies observed over the period 1890-2005. The analysis confirms the existence of a U-shaped female labor supply function, coming from both cross-country and within country variation. Further analysis of a large cross section of economies observed over the post-WWII period suggests that the timing of a country's transition to a modern path of economic development affects the shape of women's labor supply. |
| JEL: | J22 N11 N12 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19131&r=lab |
| By: | Bodo Knoll; Nadine Riedel; Eva Schlenker |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to assess if parents exert an influence on the occupation choices of their children. Using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP), we find a high persistency of occupational decisions across fathers and children using nested and conditional logit models. To separate effects related to genetic factors (nature) and parental education or role models (nurture), we determine the persistency separately for children who grew up with their biological fathers and for those who did not. Our results suggest that especially nurture plays a decisive role in explaining the choice of one's occupation. |
| Keywords: | Occupational choice, SOEP, parental educational investment |
| JEL: | J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp561&r=lab |
| By: | Marta Lachowska (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the link between hourly wages and workers’ subjective assessments of how easy it would be to find another job as good as the present one, and how easy it would be for an employer to replace an employee. First, using high-quality data, I study the correlates of these two assessments. Second, I study whether respondents who report better outside opportunities and respondents who think they are difficult to replace receive higher wages. The results appear to be consistent with predictions of at least three theoretical frameworks: human capital theory, search theory, and a “locus of control” model. |
| Keywords: | Wages, Employment Relations, Outside Options, Human Capital, Locus of Control, Labor Market Frictions |
| JEL: | J31 J41 J50 M51 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:13-196&r=lab |
| By: | Gregory Kurtzon (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) |
| Abstract: | It is shown that an economy where agents with one dimensional skill choose among occupations as intermediate complementary inputs with di¤erent learning costs has an equilibrium hierarchy from the lowest cost/skill/wage occupations to the highest which agents will cascade along away from the skill level of new entrants. This can explain why di¤erently/similarly skilled agents act like comple- ments/substitutes. The distinction between lifetime wages including the learning cost and current wages implies a more elastic e¤ect of immigration, but a more inelastic e¤ect of the minimum wage. These conclusions don?t rely on the typical assumptions of scale, preferences, or comparative advantage. |
| Keywords: | Occupation, Occupational Choice, Skill, Occupational Training, Occupational Wage Differential, Wage Distriubtion, Relative Wages, Labor Complementarity |
| JEL: | J24 J21 J31 I24 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bls:wpaper:ec130050&r=lab |
| By: | Suzanne Kok |
| Abstract: | This CPB Discussion Paper shows that a job contains a different task package in a large city than the same job in a small city. We set out a theoretical model of the division of labour across cities, which shows that both the division of labour and the skill demand increase with city size. Most datasets hinder an empirical analysis of such a model as they lack spatial variation in job content. Using individual German task data, we are able to empirically estimate our model and analyse spatial variations in task content of jobs. The estimations support the predictions of the model: jobs in large cities consist of other task packages than the same jobs in small cities. Workers in large cities focus more on their core tasks and perform fewer subtasks than workers in small cities. Jobs demand more cognitive skills when they are performed in large cities. This spatial variation in job contents likely bias regional wage equations. |
| JEL: | J24 J44 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:246&r=lab |
| By: | Panagiotis Nanos; Christian Schluter |
| Abstract: | We consider the role of unobservables, such as differences in search frictions, reservation wages, and productivities for the explanation of wage differentials between migrants and natives. We disentangle these by estimating an empirical general equilibrium search model with on-the-job search due to Bontemps, Robin, and van den Berg (1999) on segments of the labour market defined by occupation, age, and nationality using a large scale German administrative dataset. The native-migrant wage differential is then decomposed into several parts, and we focus especially on the component that we label "migrant effect", being the difference in wage offers between natives and migrants in the same occupation-age segment in firms of the same productivity. Counterfactual decompositions of wage differentials allow us to identify and quantify their drivers, thus explaining within a common framework what is often labelled the unexplained wage gap. |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1306.1781&r=lab |
| By: | Suzanne Kok |
| Abstract: | Matches between workers and jobs are better in thick labour markets than in thin ones. This CPB Discussion Paper measures match quality by the gap between worker skills and their job tasks in the Netherlands. The smaller the gap, the better the match between skills and tasks. The measured gaps are 14 percent of a standard deviation smaller in cities than in the Dutch countryside. The location of work explains the observed higher quality of matches, while the location of residence does not. Robustness analyses show that these results are not explained by more efficient learning in cities or the spatial distribution of industrial and service occupations. Higher matching quality is associated with higher wages and explains part of the urban wage premia. |
| JEL: | J24 J23 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:247&r=lab |
| By: | Elena Pastorino |
| Abstract: | In order to analyze careers both within and across firms, this paper proposes a matching model of the labor market that extends existing models of job assignment and learning about workers’ abilities. The model accounts for worker mobility across jobs and firms, for varying degrees of generality of ability, and for the possibility that firms affect the information they acquire about workers through job assignment. I characterize equilibrium assignment and wages, and show how, depending on how abilities and jobs are distributed across firms, equilibrium gives rise to widely varying patterns of job mobility within firms and turnover across firms, even if matching would be perfectly assortative in the absence of uncertainty. The implied job and wage dynamics display features that are consistent with a broad set of empirical findings on careers in firms and the labor market. In particular, workers can experience gradual promotions and wage increases following successful performance but few or no demotions when employed by the same firm. The model also produces turnover across firms and occupations after both successful and unsuccessful experiences, leading to wage increases or decreases following a firm or occupation change. Overall, the results in this paper provide a unified framework in which to interpret the dynamics of jobs and wages in firms and the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Labor market |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:482&r=lab |
| By: | Serafinelli, Michel |
| Abstract: | I present direct evidence on the role of firm-to-firm labor mobility in enhancing the productivity of firms located near highly productive firms. Using matched employer-employee and balance sheet data for the Veneto region of Italy, I identify a set of high-wage firms (HWF) and show they are more productive than other firms. I then show that hiring a worker with HWF experience increases the productivity of other (non-HWF) firms. A simulation indicates that worker flows explain 10-15 percent of the productivity gains experienced by other firms when HWFs in the same industry are added to a local labor market. |
| Keywords: | productivity, agglomeration advantages, linked employer-employee data, labor mobility. |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J61 R2 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–06–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47508&r=lab |
| By: | Adriana Peluffo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | This work analyses the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on productivity, the demand for skilled labour and wage inequality of the Uruguayan Manufacturing firms for the period 1997-2005. Firstly, we estimate the effects of FDI on productivity, relative wages and relative employment of skilled workers, through conventional pooled OLS. Then, we estimate quantile regressions, which reveal that consistently with firm heterogeneity, the response to foreign ownership is not homogenous, but varies over the conditional distribution of each dependent variable. Nevertheless, since we cannot attribute causality from the previous correlations we use discrete treatment effect techniques for analyzing causality. Our preliminary results seem to indicate that FDI is associated with higher productivity and an increased demand for skilled labour. Furthermore, though average wages are higher in foreign owned firms, the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers is higher in foreign owned firms than in domestic ones. Then, it follows that promoting foreign investment enhances productivity. On the other hand, due to the higher demand for skilled workers policies such as training of workers would be conductive to further productivity improvements, while other social policies could help to mitigate wage inequality effects. |
| Keywords: | Fdi, Productivity, Labour markets |
| JEL: | F23 J23 J24 J31 O39 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-02-13&r=lab |
| By: | Pavla Nikolovova; Filip Pertold; Mario Vozar |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the role of the business cycle for the transitions of Czech and Slovak workers to informal economy using Czech and Slovak Labor Force Survey data. We use two approximations for the participation in informal economy, self-employment and employment in small workplace (10 and fewer workers or 5 and fewer workers). Both statuses are potentially associated with the participation in an informal economy. Using the similar methodology as presented in Bosh and Maloney (2007), we show that recent recession caused substantial increase in transitions of workers from formal into both self-employment and employment. As compare to pre-recession time the flow into self- increased more than 4 times. The increase in transitions to small workplaces is less pronounced. |
| Keywords: | informal economy, business cycle, labor force |
| JEL: | J21 H26 |
| Date: | 2013–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:dpaper:8&r=lab |
| By: | Weiss M.; B?rsch-Supan A. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | We study the relation between workers age and their productivity in work teams, based on a new and unique data set that combines data on errors occurring in the production process of a large car manufacturer with detailed information on the personal characteristics of workers related to the errors. We correct for non-random sample selection and the potential endogeneity of the age-composition in work teams. Our results suggest that productivity in this plant which is typical for large-scale manufacturing does not decline at least up to age 60. |
| Keywords: | Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity; Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity; |
| JEL: | J24 J14 D24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umagsb:2013029&r=lab |
| By: | Christophe Rault (LEO - Laboratoire d'économie d'Orleans - CNRS : UMR6221 - Université d'Orléans, CESifo - Center for Economic Studies and Ifo for Economic Research - CESifo Group Munich); Anne-Gaël Vaubourg (LEO - Laboratoire d'économie d'Orleans - CNRS : UMR6221 - Université d'Orléans) |
| Abstract: | We explore whether finance influences the impact of labour market institutions on unemployment. Using a data set of 18 OECD countries over 1980-2004, we estimate a panel Vector AutoRegressive model. We check whether causalities from labour market variables (labour market regulation, union density, coordination in wage bargaining) to unemployment are a ffected by the introduction of financial factors (stock market capitalisation, intermediated credit and banking concentration) in the estimation. In Australia, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Spain, accounting for financial indicators mitigates the bene fits of labour market flexibilization or makes it harmful to employment. In Austria, Canada, Finland and Portugal, it reduces its detrimental impact or makes it bene ficial. In Ireland and Netherlands, both e ffects prevail, depending on the labour market indicator used. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment ; labour market ; financial factors ; institutional interactions ; panel VAR. |
| Date: | 2013–06–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00833452&r=lab |
| By: | Liina Malk |
| Abstract: | Flexibility of employment protection is considered to be essential for rapid adjustments in the workforce to changing economic conditions and for the reallocation of labour towards more productive activities. This was one of the main arguments for the new Employment Contracts Act in Estonia, which eased employment protection by reducing the costs of terminating employment relationships. Since such substantial changes in employment protection legislation (EPL) are quite rare, this reform provides a good chance to examine the outcomes of the relaxation of employment protection. This paper evaluates the effects of this institutional change on labour reallocation. Exploiting the microdata of the Labour Force Surveys for the years 2007–2011, we analyse worker flows and employ the difference in differences approach to identify the effects of the EPL reform, using Lithuanians as a control group for Estonians. Subsequent to the reform, labour flows out of and into employment increased in Estonia relative to Lithuania. However, from the regression analysis, a statistically significant impact of the EPL reform was identified only on the former of these two types of flows. Both the assessment of aggregate flows and the estimation of difference in differences effects for transition probabilities indicate that the reform of employment protection resulted in lower job-to-job flows while the overall effect on labour reallocation was positive. |
| Keywords: | employment protection legislation, labour reallocation, policy evaluation, difference in differences estimation |
| JEL: | J60 K31 |
| Date: | 2013–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eea:boewps:wp2013-4&r=lab |
| By: | Golsteyn B.H.H.; Borghans L. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether defaults affect the choice for courses followed at work. In addition, we analyze whether the size of the default effect varies with employees' personality and skill- deficiencies. We perform an experiment in which workers are hypothetically offered three courses which they can accept or exchange for other courses. Randomizing the default package of courses, we identify the default effect. Default courses are chosen approximately three times more often than other courses. They are chosen more often if people have skill-deficiencies in these courses, suggesting that people consider the default to be an advice. Women choose default courses more often than men. Women with less self-confidence and men with lower cognitive skills choose the default courses more often. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials; |
| JEL: | J24 J31 I2 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umagsb:2013006&r=lab |
| By: | Paul Beaudry; David A. Green; Benjamin M. Sand |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present a spatial equilibrium model where search frictions hinder the immediate reallocation of workers both within and across local labour markets. Because of the frictions, firms and workers find themselves in bilateral monopoly positions when determining wages. Although workers are not at each instant perfectly mobile across cities, in the baseline model we assume that workers flows are sufficient to equate expected utility across markets. We use the model to explore the joint determination of wages, unemployment, house prices and city size (or migration). A key role of the model is to clarify conditions under which this type of spatial equilibrium setup can be estimated. We then use U.S. data over the period 1970-2007 to explore the fit of model and it quantitative properties of the model. Our main goal is to highlight forces that influence spatial equilibria at 10 year intervals. |
| JEL: | J01 J2 J3 J6 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19118&r=lab |
| By: | Jose L. Groizard (Universitat de les Illes Balears); Priya Ranjan (University of California, Irvine); Antonio Rodriguez-Lopez (University of California, Irvine) |
| Abstract: | We construct a heterogeneous-firm model with a continuum of inputs to study the impact of offshoring on job flows at both the intensive and extensive margins. We identify three channels through which a reduction in the cost of offshoring affects firm-level employment: a job-relocation effect, a productivity effect, and a competition effect. Whether there is net job creation or job destruction crucially depends on the elasticity of substitution between inputs: the greater the elasticity, the more likely it is that offshoring causes overall job destruction. When firms are allowed to export, a reduction in the cost of offshoring makes offshoring firms more productive in the export market, which leads to further job creation. This offshoring-induced job creation due to exporting possibilities increases the likelihood that the overall effect of offshoring on industry employment is positive. |
| Keywords: | heterogeneous firms, employment, offshoring costs. |
| JEL: | F12 F16 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubi:deawps:61&r=lab |
| By: | Liliana D. Sousa |
| Abstract: | This study uses linked employer-household data to measure the impact of immigrant social networks, as identified via neighborhood and workplace affiliation, on immigrant earnings. Though ethnic enclaves can provide economic opportunities through job creation and job matching, they can also stifle the assimilation process by limiting interactions between enclave members and non-members. I find that higher residential and workplace ethnic clustering among immigrants is consistently correlated with lower earnings. For immigrants with a high school education or less, these correlations are primarily due to negative self-selection. On the other hand, self-selection fails to explain the lower earnings associated with higher ethnic clustering for immigrants with post-secondary schooling. The evidence suggests that co-ethnic clustering has no discernible effect on the earnings of immigrants with lower education, but may be leading to human capital traps for immigrants who have more than a high school education. |
| Keywords: | migration, ethnic enclaves, neighborhood effects, labor market assimilation |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-29&r=lab |
| By: | Mahlberg, Bernhard; Freund, Inga; Crespo Cuaresma, Jesús; Prskawetz, Alexia |
| Abstract: | Current demographic developments are expected to challenge the sustainability of welfare in industrialised economies. Persistent low fertility levels and increasing survival rates to older age imply a decreasing share of younger individuals within the labour force that needs to support an increasing share of old people out of the labour force. We use matched employeremployee data for Austria at the firm level in order to study the link between the age structure and labour productivity and concentrate on the role played by regional location and sector affiliation. We apply multilevel estimation techniques in order to account for systematic variation of the age-productivity pattern with regard to these two dimensions. Our results indicate that the age-productivity pattern differs significantly across regions and across sectors and that sectoral differences are the more sizable source of heterogeneity in the link between the age structure and firm productivity. -- |
| Keywords: | age-productivity profile,firm heterogeneity,employer-employee data,multilevel regression methods,regional variability,sectoral variability |
| JEL: | C21 J14 J24 J82 R11 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuweco:012013&r=lab |
| By: | Isabelle Chort (LEDa, UMR DIAL-Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | (english) This paper defines new measures of horizontal and vertical mismatch based on the discrepancies between the skill content of occupations in which individuals have a self-assessed productive advantage and that of their actual job. Based on these definitions, this paper provides the first direct empirical test of the causal impact of networks on mismatch, in the particular case of immigrants. The data used are original survey data collected among 1,200 Senegalese migrants in four host countries. Potential endogeneity issues are dealt with by using migrants' ethnic and religious characteristics to instrument for network help to find a job. Analyses show that migrants who obtained their job through migrant networks have a higher probability of horizontal mismatch. However, they have a lower probability of negative mismatch and thus seem to be protected from a loss in occupational status. _________________________________ (français) Ce papier présente de nouveaux indicateurs d’inadéquation professionnelle verticale et horizontale, définis à partir du décalage entre le niveau de qualifications associé au métier des individus et à leur emploi. Sur la base de ces définitions, ce papier est le premier à tester directement l’impact causal des réseaux sur l’inadéquation professionnelle, dans le cas particulier des immigrants. Les données utilisées sont des données d’enquêtes originales, collectées auprès de 1200 migrants sénégalais dans quatre pays de destination. Je traite les problèmes d’endogénéité potentiels en utilisant les caractéristiques ethniques et religieuses des migrants pour instrumenter le recours à l’aide du réseau pour trouver un emploi. Cette analyse montre que les migrants qui ont obtenu leur emploi par leur réseau de migrants ont une probabilité plus élevée d’inadéquation professionnelle horizontale. En revanche, ils ont une probabilité moindre de déclassement professionnel, ce qui suggère que le réseau joue un rôle protecteur. |
| Keywords: | Occupational mismatch, networks, immigration, labor market, skill recognition, Déclassement professionnel, immigration, réseau migratoire, marché du travail. |
| JEL: | J24 J61 J62 F22 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201304&r=lab |
| By: | Michaela Kreyenfeld (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Gunnar Andersson (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Studies that have investigated the role of unemployment in childbearing decisions have often provided conflicting results. We argue that many of the inconsistencies of prior research may be attributed to a neglect of group-specific differences in behavior. In this study, we examine how the effects of unemployment on fertility vary by socio-demographic subgroups using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and from Danish population registers. We find that male unemployment leads to a postponement of first and second childbearing in both countries. The role of female unemployment is less clear at these parities. Both male and female unemployment is positively correlated with third birth risks. More importantly, our results show that there are strong educational gradients in the unemployment and fertility nexus, and that the relationship between unemployment and fertility varies by socioeconomic group. Fertility tends to be lower during periods of unemployment among highly educated women and men, but not among their less educated counterparts. |
| Keywords: | Germany, fertility |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2013-008&r=lab |
| By: | Leen Meeusen; Annemie Nys |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades, the number of individuals entitled to work incapacity (WI) benefits increased strongly in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. The caseload has consequently increased but this has happened at a very different pace and to a very different degree. In order to draw correct conclusions regarding the actual growth in national caseload and to gain a new perspective on the very large cross-national variation, we introduce corrections on the growth of WI benefit uptake. By controlling for the evolution of the labor force and its respective gender and age components, we are able to formulate an answer to the following question: 'To what extent can the increase and cross-national variation in work incapacity caseload be explained by the evolution of the labor force and its components?' The results show that the evolution of the female labor force, and this mainly in the age brackets 15-49, had the greatest impact on the growth of WI caseload. We conclude that the corrections, based on the evolution of the different components of the labor force, reduce the growth rate of national WI caseload and narrow the gap in cross-national variation. Nevertheless, a proportion of national growth and cross-national variation remains unexplained. |
| Keywords: | labor force, female labor force participation rate, work incapacity caseload |
| JEL: | J21 Y10 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:wpaper:1303&r=lab |
| By: | Julian Conrads (University of Cologne); Bernd Irlenbusch (University of Cologne); Tommaso Reggiani (University of Cologne); Rainer Michael Rilke (University of Cologne); Dirk Sliwka (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | How to hire voluntary helpers? We shed new light on this question by reporting a field experiment in which we invited 2,859 students to help at the 'ESA Europe 2012' conference. Invitation emails varied non-monetary and monetary incentives to convince subjects to offer help. Students could apply to help at the conference and, if so, also specify the working time they want to offer. Just asking subjects to volunteer or offering them a certificate turned out to be significantly more motivating than mentioning that the regular conference fee would be waived for helpers. Increasing monetary incentives by varying hourly wages of 1, 5, and 10 Euros shows positive effects on the number of applications and on the working time offered. However, when comparing these results with treatments without any monetary compensation, the number of applications could not be increased by offering money and may even be reduced. |
| Keywords: | Recruitment, Voluntary work, Monetary incentives, Field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2013–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgr:cgsser:04-03&r=lab |
| By: | Jeannette Brosig-Koch; Heike Hennig-Schmidt; Nadja Kairies; Daniel Wiesen |
| Abstract: | Recent reforms in health care have introduced a variety of pay-for-performance programs using financial incentives for physicians to improve the quality of care. Their effectiveness is, however, ambiguous as it is often difficult to disentangle the effect of financial incentives from the ones of various other simultaneous changes in the system. In this study we investigate the effects of introducing financial pay-for-performance incentives with the help of controlled laboratory experiments. In particular, we use fee-for-service and capitation as baseline payment schemes and test how additional pay-for-performance incentives affect the medical treatment of different patient types. Our results reveal that, on average, patients significantly benefit from introducing pay-forperformance, independently of whether it is combined with capitation or fee-for-service incentives. The magnitude of this effect is significantly infl uenced by the patient type, though. These results hold for medical and non-medical students. A cost-benefit analysis further demonstrates that, overall, the increase in patient benefits cannot overcompensate the additional costs associated with pay-for-performance. Moreover, our analysis of individual data reveals different types of responses to pay-for-performance incentives. We find some indication that pay-forperformance might crowd out the intrinsic motivation to care for patients. These insights help to understand the effects caused by introducing pay-for-performance schemes. |
| Keywords: | Physician incentive schemes; pay-for-performance; fee-for-service; capitation; laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C91 I11 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0413&r=lab |
| By: | Bertranou, Fabio; Casanova, Luis; Saravia, Marianela |
| Abstract: | In a brief period of time after the 2001-2002 crisis, there was a dramatic fall in informal salaried employment in Argentina. Informal employment—also called “non-registered employment”—refers to employment for which no social security contribution is made. This indicator dropped by fifteen percentage points, from 49% to 34% from 2003 to 2012. This paper analyzes the recent evolution of informal employment and the main policies designed to reduce its scope and to encourage the creation of quality employment. It has been observed that the decline in informal employment, measured as non-registered salaried employment, is primarily due to net creation of formal employment and, to a lesser extent, to net destruction of non-registered employment. The rate of informal employment declined in all sectors of the economy and in establishments of all sizes. Extensive mobility between non-registered salaried employment and inactivity (mainly among low-skilled women workers) has been observed as well and, albeit to a lesser extent, between non-registered salaried employment and formal employment. Since most informal workers are unskilled and perform their jobs in work units that are difficult for public policies to identify, a comprehensive policy approach is necessary, one that considers economic, social and employment issues. |
| Keywords: | Informal employment, informal economy, labor market, labor policies, Argentina |
| JEL: | J21 J80 O17 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47467&r=lab |
| By: | Larsson, Johan P. (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Jönköping International Business School.) |
| Abstract: | I analyze the effects of sub-city level density of economic activity on worker productivity. Using a geocoded dataset on employment and wages in the city areas of Sweden, the analysis is based on squares representing “neighborhoods” (0.0625 km2), “districts” (1 km2), and “agglomerations” (10 km2). The wage-density elasticity depends crucially on spatial resolution, with the elasticity being highest in neighborhood squares. The results are consistent with i) the existence of a localized density spillover effect and ii) quite sharp attenuation of human capital spillovers. An implication of the findings is that if the data source is not sufficiently disaggregated, analyses of the density-productivity link risk understating the benefits of working in dense parts of regions, such as the central business districts. |
| Keywords: | Density; productivity; spatial dependence; geo-coded data; neighborhood effects; human capital; agglomeration economies |
| JEL: | J24 J31 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–06–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0318&r=lab |
| By: | Loukas Karabarbounis; Brent Neiman |
| Abstract: | The stability of the labor share of income is a key foundation in macroeconomic models. We document, however, that the global labor share has significantly declined since the early 1980s, with the decline occurring within the large majority of countries and industries. We show that the decrease in the relative price of investment goods, often attributed to advances in information technology and the computer age, induced firms to shift away from labor and toward capital. The lower price of investment goods explains roughly half of the observed decline in the labor share, even when we allow for other mechanisms influencing factor shares such as increasing profits, capital-augmenting technology growth, and the changing skill composition of the labor force. We highlight the implications of this explanation for welfare and macroeconomic dynamics. |
| JEL: | E21 E22 E25 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19136&r=lab |
| By: | Martin Kahanec |
| Keywords: | migration, migration policy, skilled migration, European Union, European Union Neighborhood, ASEAN |
| Date: | 2013–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:report:1&r=lab |
| By: | Vera Messing; Klara Brozovicova; Brian Fabo; Martin Kahanec |
| Date: | 2013–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:report:4&r=lab |
| By: | Agnes Baeker; Mario Mechtel (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, University of Trier) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes experimentally how the interaction of task meaning and peer presence affects work effort. We build on the experimental designs of Falk and Ichino (2006) and Ariely et al. (2008). Confirming previous results from the literature, we find positive peer effects and negative effects of low task meaning. In addition, we find that peer effects are even stronger if task meaning is low. We conclude that a peer setting is able to overcome the negative effort effect of low task meaning. |
| Keywords: | task meaning, peer effects, experimental economics |
| JEL: | J20 J30 M50 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201308&r=lab |