|
on Labour Economics |
|
Issue of 2014‒03‒01
thirty-two papers chosen by Erik Jonasson National Institute of Economic Research |
| By: | Krueger, Alan B. (Princeton University); Mueller, Andreas I. (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on the behavior of reservation wages over the spell of unemployment using high‐frequency longitudinal data. Using data from our survey of unemployed workers in New Jersey, where workers were interviewed each week for up to 24 weeks, we find that self‐reported reservation wages decline at a modest rate over the spell of unemployment, with point estimates ranging from 0.05 to 0.14 percent per week of unemployment. The decline in reservation wages is driven primarily by older individuals and those with personal savings at the start of the survey. The longitudinal nature of the data also allows us to test the relationship between job acceptance and the reservation wage and offered wage, where the reservation wage is measured from a previous interview to avoid bias due to cognitive dissonance. Job offers are more likely to be accepted if the offered wage exceeds the reservation wage, and the reservation wage has more predictive power in this regard than the pre‐displacement wage, suggesting the reservation wage contains useful information about workers' future decisions. In addition, there is a discrete rise in job acceptance when the offered wage exceeds the reservation wage. In comparison to a calibrated job search model, the reservation wage starts out too high and declines too slowly, on average, suggesting that many workers persistently misjudge their prospects or anchor their reservation wage on their previous wage. |
| Keywords: | reservation wage, unemployment, unemployment duration, unemployment insurance |
| JEL: | J30 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7957&r=lab |
| By: | Andri Chassamboulli; Giovanni Peri |
| Abstract: | A key controversy in US immigration reforms is how to deal with undocumented workers. Some policies aimed at reducing them, such as increased border security or deportation will reduce illegal immigrants as well as total immigrants. Other policies, such as legalization would decrease the illegal population but increase the legal one. These policies have different effects on job creation as they affect the firm profits from creating a new job. Economists have never analyzed this issue. We set up and simulate a novel and general model of labor markets, with search and legal/illegal migration between two countries. We then calibrate it to the US and Mexico labor markets and migration. We find that policies increasing deportation rates have the largest negative effect on employment opportunities of natives. Legalization, instead has a positive employment effect for natives. This is because repatriations are disruptive of job matches and they reduce job-creation by US firms. Legalization instead stimulates firms' job creation by increasing the total number of immigrants and stimulating firms to post more vacancies some of which are filled by natives. |
| JEL: | E24 J15 J64 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19932&r=lab |
| By: | David Albouy; Bert Lue |
| Abstract: | In an equilibrium model of residential and workplace choice, we estimate local willingness-to-pay measures for 2071 areas covering the United States. These measures are based on how high residential housing and commuting costs are relative to workplace wages; they index quality of life when preferences are sufficiently homogeneous. Wage levels vary little within metropolitan areas relative to across them, while individual characteristics that predict wages vary more within, suggesting patterns about sorting. Quality of life varies as much within metros as across them, and is typically high in areas that are dense, suburban, mild, safe, entertaining, and have higher school-funding. |
| JEL: | H73 Q51 R21 R23 R41 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19922&r=lab |
| By: | Lichter, Andreas (IZA); Peichl, Andreas (ZEW Mannheim); Siegloch, Sebastian (IZA) |
| Abstract: | Firms' labor demand responses to wage changes are of key interest in empirical research and policy analysis. However, despite extensive research, estimates of labor demand elasticities remain subject to considerable heterogeneity. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive meta-regression analysis to re-assess the empirical literature on labor demand elasticities. Building on 942 elasticity estimates from 105 different studies, we identify sources of variation in the absolute value of this elasticity. Heterogeneity due to the theoretical and empirical specification of the labor demand model, different datasets used or sectors and countries considered explains more than 80% of the variation in the estimates. We further find substantial evidence for the presence of publication selection bias, as estimates of the own-wage elasticity of labor demand are upwardly inflated. |
| Keywords: | labor demand, wage elasticity, meta-analysis |
| JEL: | J23 C10 C83 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7958&r=lab |
| By: | Stenberg, Anders (Stockholm University); Westerlund, Olle (Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | Training programs for the unemployed typically involve teaching a specific skill to ease the transition into employment. However, in 1997, the Swedish unemployed could choose general/theoretical training through enrollment in one year of full-time studies at the upper secondary school level. This study provides an empirical assessment of the relative earnings impact of general vs. specific training 13 years post-enrollment. In the long term, general training may compensate for the short-term relative earnings loss by enhancing the ability to adapt to changes in demand for skills. The analyses are based on population register data 1990-2010 and an unusually rich set of control variables. The results indicate that both programs are associated with earnings increases. Our relative program estimates reveal a short-term advantage of specific training that converges within 5-7 years. With a longer perspective, there is considerable heterogeneity in the relative earnings estimates. For females with short educations, the earnings increases following general training substantially exceed those following specific training. |
| Keywords: | Active labor market programs; adult education; vocational training; general training |
| JEL: | I21 J62 J68 |
| Date: | 2014–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2014_003&r=lab |
| By: | Morris M. Kleiner; Allison Marier; Kyoung Won Park; Coady Wing |
| Abstract: | Occupational licensing laws have been relaxed in a large number of U.S. states to give nurse practitioners the ability to perform more tasks without the supervision of medical doctors. We investigate how these regulations may affect wages, employment, costs, and quality of providing certain types of medical services. We find that when only physicians are allowed to prescribe controlled substances that this is associated with a reduction in nurse practitioner wages, and increases in physician wages suggesting some substitution among these occupations. Furthermore, our estimates show that prescription restrictions lead to a reduction in hours worked by nurse practitioners and are associated with increases in physician hours worked. Our analysis of insurance claims data shows that the more rigid regulations increase the price of a well-child medical exam by 3 to 16 %. However, our analysis finds no evidence that the changes in regulatory policy are reflected in outcomes such as infant mortality rates or malpractice premiums. Overall, our results suggest that these more restrictive state licensing practices are associated with changes in wages and employment patterns, and also increase the costs of routine medical care, but do not seem to influence health care quality. |
| JEL: | D02 D42 H7 I1 I12 I18 I28 J0 J18 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19906&r=lab |
| By: | Alena Bicakova |
| Abstract: | The Krugman hypothesis attributes high wage inequality in the US and high unemployment in continental Europe in the 1980s to the same negative change in the demand for the low skilled under different degrees of wage rigidity. This paper revisits the hypothesis in order to explain the labor market developments in France, the UK, and the US in the 1990s. We estimate a labor supply and labor demand model with heterogenous types of labor to analyze the effects of market forces and wage rigidity on changes in skill-group labor market outcomes. The results provide evidence in favor of the Krugman hypothesis when France is compared to the US and the UK. We also find support for an extended version of the Krugman hypothesis, which suggests that, when labor supply is sensitive to wages, there is a trade-off between unemployment on one hand, and wage inequality and inactivity on the other. |
| Keywords: | Krugman hypothesis; wage rigidity; unemployment; inactivity; |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp502&r=lab |
| By: | Nezih Guner; Ezgi Kaya; Virginia Sánchez-Marcos |
| Abstract: | We document recent trends in gender equality in employment and wages in Spain. Despite an impressive decline in the gender gap in employment, females are still less likely to work than males: about 76% of working age males and 63% of working age females were employed in 2010. If females work they are more likely to be employed part time and with temporary contracts. The large increase in female employment, from 28% in 1977 to 63% in 2010, was accompanied by a significant decline in fertility. The gender gap in wages, after controlling for worker and job characteristics as well as for selection, is high. It was about 20% in 2010, quite close to its value in 1994. Furthermore, the gender gap in wages is driven mainly by differences in returns to individual characteristics. While women are more qualified than men in observable labor market characteristics, they end up earning less. There have been several important policy changes that try to help families reconcile family responsibilities with market work. The existing literature suggests that households do react to incentives generated by different policies and policy changes are at least partly responsible for changes in female labor supply. In recent decades, the large inflow of immigrants, who provided relatively cheap household services, allowed more educated women to enter the labor market. Policy challenges, however, remain. |
| Keywords: | gender employment gap, gender wage gap, occupational segregation, quantile regressions, selection, public policy |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:751&r=lab |
| By: | Janssen, Simon (University of Zurich); Tuor Sartore, Simone N. (University of Zurich); Backes-Gellner, Uschi (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the relationship between social attitudes on gender equality and firms' pay-setting behavior by combining information about regional votes relative to gender equality laws with a large data set of multi-branch firms and workers. The results show that multi-branch firms pay more discriminatory wages in branches located in regions with a higher social acceptance of gender inequality than in branches located in regions with a lower acceptance. The results are similar for different subsamples of workers, and we cannot find evidence that regional differences in social attitudes influence how firms assign women and men to jobs and occupations. The investigation of a subsample of performance pay workers for whom we are able to observe their time-based and performance pay component separately shows that social attitudes on gender equality only influence the time-based pay component but not the performance pay component of the same workers. Because regional-specific productivity differences should influence the workers' performance pay and time-based pay, unobserved gender-specific productivity differences are not likely to explain the regional variation in within firm gender pay gaps. The results support theories and previous evidence showing that social attitudes influence gender pay gaps in the long run. |
| Keywords: | gender pay gaps, social attitudes, firms' pay setting |
| JEL: | J31 J33 J71 M5 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7959&r=lab |
| By: | Felbermayr, Gabriel (University of Munich); Impullitti, Giammario (University of Nottingham); Prat, Julien (CREST) |
| Abstract: | Increasing wage inequality between similar workers plays an important role for overall inequality trends in industrialized societies. To analyze this pattern, we incorporate directed labor market search into a dynamic model of international trade with heterogeneous firms and homogeneous workers. Wage inequality across and within firms results from their different hiring needs along their life cycles and the convexity of their adjustment costs. The interaction between wage posting and firm growth explains some recent empirical regularities on firm and labor market dynamics. Fitting the model to capture key features obtained from German linked employer-employee data, we investigate how falling trade costs and institutional reforms interact in shaping labor market outcomes. Focusing on the period 1996-2007, we find that neither trade nor key features of the Hartz labor market reforms account for the sharp increase in residual inequality observed in the data. By contrast, inequality is highly responsive to the increase in product market competition triggered by domestic regulatory reform. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, international trade, directed search, firm dynamics, product and labor market regulation |
| JEL: | F12 F16 E24 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7960&r=lab |
| By: | Susanne Prantl; Alexandra Spitz-Oener; ; |
| Abstract: | Does interacting product and labor market regulation alter the impact of immigration on wages of competing native workers? Focusing on the large, sudden and unanticipated wave of migration from East to West Germany after German reunification and allowing for endogenous immigration, we compare native wage reactions across dierent segments of the West German labor market: one segment without product and labor market regulation, to which standard immigration models best apply, one segment in which product and labor market regulation interact, and one segment covering intermediate groups of workers. We nd that the wages of competing native West Germans respond negatively to the large influx of similar East German workers in the segment with almost free firm entry into product markets and weak worker influence on the decision-making of firms. Competing native workers are insulated from such pressure if firm entry regulation interacts with labor market institutions, implying a strong influence of workers on the decision-making of profit-making firms. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Product Market Regulation, Labor Market Regulation |
| JEL: | J61 L50 J3 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2014-018&r=lab |
| By: | Frédéric Gavrel (TEPP - Travail, Emploi et Politiques Publiques - CNRS : FR3435 - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée (UPEMLV), CREM - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Management - CNRS : UMR6211 - Université de Rennes 1 - Université de Caen Basse-Normandie) |
| Abstract: | This paper reexamines the efficiency of participation with heterogeneous workers in a search-matching model with bargained wages and free entry. Assuming that firms hire their best applicants, we state that participation is insufficient whatever workers' bargaining strengths. The reason for this is that, when holding a job, the marginal participant should receive the entire output. As a consequence, introducing a (small) minimum wage raises participation, job creation, and employment. Therefore the aggregate income of the economy is enhanced. |
| Keywords: | Search and matching, participation, heterogeneous workers, applicant ranking, effi ciency, minimum wage |
| Date: | 2014–02–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00948453&r=lab |
| By: | Britta Kohlbrecher; Christian Merkl; Daniela Nordmeier |
| Abstract: | Many labor market models use both idiosyncratic productivity and a vacancy free entry condition. This paper shows that these two features combined generate an equilibrium comovement between matches on the one hand and unemployment and vacancies on the other hand, which is observationally equivalent to a constant returns Cobb-Douglas function commonly used to model match formation. We use German administrative labor market data to show that the matching function correlation solely based on idiosyncratic productivity and free entry is very close to the empirical matching function. Consequently, we argue that standard matching function estimations are seriously biased if idiosyncratic productivity plays a role for match formation. In this case, they are not suitable for the calibration of labor market models |
| Keywords: | matching function, idiosyncratic productivity, job creation, vacancies |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1909&r=lab |
| By: | Lanot, Gauthier (Department of Economics, Umeå School of Business and Economics); Sousounis , Panos (Keele Management School, Economics) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) on the workforce composition, in terms of distinct age groups with similar qualifcations, within the low paying sectors of the economy. Our interest is in the degree of substitutability between labour inputs (young and old employees) in the production process. We find evidence that both the introduction and regu- lar uprating of the NMW have a signifcant effect on determining observed changes in average wages for age groups older than 16-17 years of age. However, our results show that the effects of the NMW and its uprating on the sectoral cost of labour are rather weak and we conclude that, if any, the influence of the NMW has to be small and limited to the very young (16-17 year olds) or the 18-20 year olds. We estimate the elasticity of substitution, between 18-20 year olds and old workers, to be around 0.2-0.5, which would imply signifcant complementarity (or at least argue against perfect substitution) between younger and old employees. |
| Keywords: | labour substitution; minimum wage |
| JEL: | J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0877&r=lab |
| By: | Matthias Krapf (Empirical Research in Business, Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management, University of Zürich, Switzerland); Heinrich W. Ursprung (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany); Christian Zimmermann (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63166-0442, USA) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of parenthood on the research productivity of academic economists. Combining the survey responses of nearly 10,000 economists with their publication records as documented in their RePEc accounts, we do not find that motherhood is associated with low research productivity. Nor do we find a statistically significant unconditional effect of a first child on research productivity. Conditional difference-in-differences estimates, however, suggest that the effect of parenthood on research productivity is negative for unmarried women and positive for untenured men. Moreover, becoming a mother before 30 years of age appears to have a detrimental effect on research productivity. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, research productivity, gender gap, life cycle |
| JEL: | J13 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–02–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1404&r=lab |
| By: | Weshah Razzak (The Treasury) |
| Abstract: | A persistent increase in the unemployment rate ignites speculations about whether the changes to unemployment are structural or cyclical. The New Zealand economy has been through major restructuring since the mid-1980s. The labour market’s institutional changes were the last in the sequence of these reforms. As reforms began to take effect and expectations adjusted, unemployment in New Zealand has declined steadily and persistently since 1993-1994. Along the way, however, transitory increases in unemployment occurred. Major increases occurred after the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis with similar dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Natural Rate of Unemployment; Speed of adjustment of the New Zealand labour market; estimation |
| JEL: | J60 C2 C3 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzt:nztwps:14/03&r=lab |
| By: | Majlesi, Kaveh (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that school enrollment in developing countries responds to the changes in demand for low-skilled and high-skilled labor in the market. Using data from Mexico, I show that the negative effects of increases in relative demand for low-skilled labor are not limited to lower rates of school enrollment. Parents respond to the increases in labor market opportunities for low-skilled labor in the manufacturing sector by spending less time helping children with their studies and spending less on children's education while they are enrolled at school. This suggests that households respond along the intensive margin as well as on the extensive margin. |
| Keywords: | Low-skilled labor; Parental investment; Children’s education; Human capital |
| JEL: | I21 I25 J23 J24 O54 |
| Date: | 2014–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2014_005&r=lab |
| By: | Ching-Yang Lin (International University of University); Hiroaki Miyamoto (International University of University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how well a simple search and matching model can describe aggregate Japanese labor market dynamics in a full information setting. We develop a discrete-time search and matching model with a convex vacancy posting cost and three shocks: productivity, separation, and markup shocks. We use the model as a data-generating process for our empirical analysis and estimate it by using Bayesian methods. The model is successful in replicating the behavior of unemployment and vacancies in Japan. However, we also find that the success of the model relies on shock processes that are not empirically plausible. |
| Keywords: | Search and matching model, Unemployment, Bayesian Estimation, Japanese labor market |
| JEL: | C11 C51 E24 J64 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iuj:wpaper:ems_2014_02&r=lab |
| By: | James Banks; Carl Emmerson; Gemma Tetlow |
| Abstract: | This paper examines to what extent differences in employment rates across those in better and worse health in the UK can be explained by the availability of publicly-funded disability insurance and the financial incentives provided by other retirement income schemes. Using an option value approach, we find that individuals’ labor force participation is affected by financial incentives. A one standard deviation change in the option value is estimated to reduce the likelihood of an individual leaving the labor market in the next year by between 2.7 and 3.1 percentage points, relative to an average exit probability of 9.4%. This suggests the variation in financial incentives across different individuals could explain a significant proportion of retirements. However, we find no evidence that individuals with different levels of health respond to our measure of financial incentives differently. We also conclude that it would require a very large change in the stringency of the disability insurance program on its own to generate an economically significant change in overall employment rates of older workers in the UK. This reflects the fact that – for many individuals in the UK – the level of disability benefits they might be able to receive is low relative to the amount they could earn and, therefore, large changes in rates of eligibility would not induce large changes in overall employment rates. |
| JEL: | H55 J21 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19907&r=lab |
| By: | Gourio, Francois (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Rudanko, Leena (Boston University) |
| Abstract: | Intangible capital is an important factor of production in modern economies that is generally neglected in business cycle analyses. We demonstrate that intangible capital can have a substantial impact on business cycle dynamics, especially if the intangible is complementary with production capacity. We focus on customer capital: the capital embodied in the relationships a firm has with its customers. Introducing customer capital into a standard real business cycle model generates a volatile and countercyclical labor wedge, due to a mismeasured marginal product of labor. We also provide new evidence on cyclical variation in selling effort to discipline the exercise. |
| Keywords: | Business cycle; capital; labor wedge |
| JEL: | E13 E32 |
| Date: | 2014–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2014-02&r=lab |
| By: | Majlesi, Kaveh (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Despite the perceived importance of labor market opportunities in shaping married women's outside option, and their bargaining power within households as a result, this link has received very little empirical attention. Using longitudinal data on who makes the decision on a wide range of issues within Mexican households and data from the administrative records of the Mexican Social Security Institute, this paper identifies the effects of relative changes in labor market opportunities for men and women on both working and non-working women's decision making power. The implications for children's health are also investigated. Using the differential effects of China's admission to the WTO across Mexican industries, I check the robustness of my results. |
| Keywords: | Bargaining power; Labor demand; Women; China |
| JEL: | D13 J13 J16 J23 O14 |
| Date: | 2014–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2014_004&r=lab |
| By: | Fabio Berton; Matteo Richiardi; Stefano Sacchi |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to analyze phenomena such as the diffusion of non-standard work and the incidence of low-paid work from a distinctive, and generally neglected angle: that of occupations. Much can be gained from a more fine-grained analysis of labour market dynamics that casts light on which occupations contributed to aggregated trends and how, and highlights different paths for different occupations, or groups thereof. This is what is done in this paper, using the Italian case to provide evidence for an exploratory – and, at this stage, mainly descriptive – study of trends observable in many advanced labour markets (the spread of non-standard work and of low-paid work), carried out within a perspective that focuses on occupations rather than on the whole labour market. After having depicted in the next section the main economic and employment trends over the past 20 years as well as the basic features of the regulatory framework of the Italian labour market, the second section carries out a detailed empirical analysis of the Italian labour market with an occupational perspective looking at the determinants of three outcome variables: non-standard work, part-time and low-pay work, and at the transitions in and out of those employment states. The third section focuses on a selection of specific occupations that are singled out and analysed with the intent to illustrate their distinctive features. The final section concludes. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:336&r=lab |
| By: | Michelle Rendall; Franziska J. Weiss |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of the apprenticeship system on innovation and labor market polarization. A stylized model with two key features is developed: (1) apprentices are more productive due to industry-specific training, but (2) from the firm’s perspective, when training apprentices, technological innovation is costly since training becomes obsolete. Thus, apprentices correlate with slower adoption of skillreplacing technologies, but also less employment polarization. We test this hypothesis on German regions given local variation in apprenticeship systems until 1976. The results shows no employment polarization related to apprentices, but similar displacement of non-apprentices as in the US. |
| Keywords: | Apprentices, educational system, employment polarization, technology adoption |
| JEL: | E24 I24 J24 J62 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:141&r=lab |
| By: | Arni, Patrick (IZA); Caliendo, Marco (University of Potsdam); Künn, Steffen (IZA); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA and University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | This reference paper describes the sampling and contents of the IZA Evaluation Dataset Survey and outlines its vast potential for research in labor economics. The data have been part of a unique IZA project to connect administrative data from the German Federal Employment Agency with innovative survey data to study the out-mobility of individuals to work. This study makes the survey available to the research community as a Scientific Use File by explaining the development, structure, and access to the data. Furthermore, it also summarizes previous findings with the survey data. |
| Keywords: | survey data, scientific use file, labor market policies, evaluation, migration, ethnicity, attitudes, behavior, skills |
| JEL: | C81 H43 J68 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7971&r=lab |
| By: | Michael Siegenthaler (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Tobias Stucki (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to study the factors determining labor’s share of income on the level of the individual firm, employing an unusually informative panel data set. The empirical examination is concerned with Switzerland which stands out as one of the very few developed countries with a stable labor share. Broadly confirming results from previous cross-country and industry-level studies, we find that the main factor decreasing the labor share in the estimation period is the increase in the share of workers using ICT in the firm. The main reasons why Switzerland’s labor share remained almost constant are its relatively slow-rate of technological progress and shifts towards industries with above-average labor shares. |
| Keywords: | Labor share, factor income distribution, firm-level analysis |
| JEL: | D33 E25 J24 O30 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:14-352&r=lab |
| By: | Erlend Berg; Sambit Bhattacharyya; D Rajasekhar; R Manjula |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of the Indian government’s major rural public works programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG), on agricultural wages. The rollout of NREG in three phases is used to identify difference-in-difference estimates of the programme effect. Using monthly wage data from the period 2000-2011 for a panel of 209 districts across 18 Indian states, we find that on average NREG boosts the growth rate of real daily agricultural wages 4.8 per cent per year. The effect is concentrated in some states and in the agricultural season. The effect appears to be gender-neutral and biased towards unskilled labour. We argue that rural public employment programmes constitute a potentially important anti-poverty policy tool. |
| Keywords: | public works; workfare; agricultural wages; NREG; India |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:13/317&r=lab |
| By: | Carolina V. Zuccotti (European University Institute) |
| Abstract: | The paper studies the role of class of origin in the occupational outcomes of ethnic minorities and British natives in the UK. Two main hypotheses are tested. The first states that the class of origin helps explaining differences in occupational outcomes between ethnic minorities and natives (due to a higher concentration of low parental classes among the former). The second says that social reproduction processes vary between groups (due to divergent explanatory mechanisms). Using data from the United Kingdom Housing Longitudinal Study (Wave 1), the paper finds partial evidence for both hypotheses. Most importantly, it reveals that the lower social reproduction of Pakistani, Caribbean and African men has particularly negative consequences for higher educated minorities, who do not gain – as the natives do – from more advantageous origins. On the other hand, it also shows that the higher social reproduction of Bangladeshi women benefits those with lower educational levels. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic minorities; England and Wales; second generation; social mobility; status attainment |
| JEL: | J15 |
| Date: | 2014–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1405&r=lab |
| By: | Carsten Sauer; Katrin Auspurg; Thomas Hinz; Stefan Liebig; Jürgen Schupp |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the implementation of a factorial survey within the SOEP-Pretest of 2008 and investigates (1) respondents' comments about the vignettes, (2) interviewers' assessments of respondents comprehension and willingness to answer, and (3) response behavior regarding response time, use of the answering scale, and consistency of evaluations by different age groups and educational background. The respondents evaluated 24 vignettes consisting of ten dimensions that described full-time employees and their gross earnings. The evaluation task was to assess whether the given earnings were just or unjust, and if they were rated as unjust, respondents had to specify the amount of injustice on an 100-point rating scale. In regard to respondents' comments, the critique mentioned most frequently by respondents referred to the content (unrealistic descriptions) and the number of the vignettes. The analysis of the interviewers' assessments of respondents' comprehension and willingness to answer revealed less comprehension and willingness to answer for older and less well educated respondents, although these differences were similar to those found for the complete questionnaire. The analysis of the response behavior revealed no di erences of response time between the groups. Analyses of response consistency show that one should consider hints for simplifying heuristics: such heuristics can lead to an artificially high response consistency. The implications of the findings are discussed. |
| JEL: | C81 D63 J31 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp629&r=lab |
| By: | Buetler, Monika; Lechner, Michael; Thiemann, Petra; Deuchert, Eva; Staubli, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Disability insurance (DI) beneficiaries lose some of their benefits if their earnings exceed certain thresholds (“cash-cliffs”). When this reduction is too high, this implicit taxation of earnings is considered to be one of the prime reasons for the low outflow from DI. This paper analyzes a conditional cash program that incentivizes work related reductions of disability benefits in Switzerland. A randomized group of DI beneficiaries receive the offer to claim a payment of up to CHF 72,000 (USD 71,000) if they take up or expand employment and reduce DI claims. This paper presents the results of the short-term evaluation by analyzing the first reactions to the announcement of seed capital. Overall, the interest in taking-up the financial incentive is low at only 3%. Individuals close to cash-cliffs react more on seed capital but the overall magnitude is small. Our results suggest that workdisincentives imposed by cash-cliffs are unlikely to be the main driver for low employment and outflow from the Swiss disability insurance system, despite the fact that the partial disability insurance system generates a non-linear budget set and bunching behavior at cashcliffs prior to the implementation of seed capital. |
| Keywords: | Disability insurance, field experiment, financial incentive |
| JEL: | H55 J14 C93 D04 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2014:06&r=lab |
| By: | Katharina M. Eckartz (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World) |
| Abstract: | This study is directly motivated by the results of Eckartz et al (2012). Subjects exerted suprisingly high efforts irrespectively of how they were compensated. This paper discusses a number of potential explanations and then it will focus on two of them: first, subjects might exert effort simply because they enjoy working on the tasks. Second, subjects might exert effort because they feel obliged to do so or because they do not have opportunity costs of working. These questions are crucial to better understand the robustness of experimental results and also to be eventually able to transfer the results to the world outside the laboratory. We replicate our earlier results: in the baseline treatment we do not find effects of incentive schemes on the output. Decreasing the attractiveness of the tasks, we also do not observe differences between the incentive schemes. When we introduce, however, a paid outside option, the efforts are higher in the performance-dependent pay treatments than under flat payment. The size of the effect differs between the tasks, the direction is, however, the same. |
| Keywords: | Creativity, Incentives, Real effort task, Experimental methods |
| JEL: | C90 C91 J33 |
| Date: | 2014–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2014-005&r=lab |
| By: | Henry S. Farber |
| Abstract: | It is well known that the organizing environment for labor unions in the U.S. has deteriorated dramatically over a long period of time, contributing to the sharp decline in the private sector union membership rate and resulting in many fewer representation elections being held. What is less well known is that, since the late 1990s, average turnout in the representation elections that are held has dropped substantially. These facts are related. I develop a model of union decision making regarding selection of targets for organizing through the NLRB election process with the clear implication that a deteriorating organizing environment will lead to systematic change in the composition of elections held. The model implies that a deteriorating environment will lead unions not only to contest fewer elections but also to focus on larger potential bargaining units and on elections where they have a larger probability of winning. A standard rational-voter model implies that these changes in composition will lead to lower turnout. I investigate the implications of these models empirically using data on turnout in over 140,000 NLRB certification elections held between 1973 and 2009. The results are consistent with the model and suggest that changes in composition account for about one-fifth of the decline in turnout between 1999 and 2009. |
| JEL: | J5 J50 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19908&r=lab |
| By: | Jean M. Abraham, Ph.D.; Roger Feldman, Ph.D.; Peter Graven, M.S. |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how changes in the economic incentives created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will affect the probability that private-sector U.S. employers will offer health insurance. Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component for 2008-2010, we predict employers’ responses to key ACA provisions. Our simulations predict that overall demand for insurance will rise, driven by workers’ desire to avoid the individual mandate penalty and the availability of premium tax credits in exchanges. Our analyses also suggest that the average probability of an establishment offering insurance will decline from .83 to .66 with ACA implementation, although there is considerable variation by firm size, industry and union status. |
| Keywords: | health insurance, Affordable Care Act; premium tax credits; employer behavior |
| JEL: | I1 I13 J3 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:14-02&r=lab |