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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Couch, Kenneth A. (University of Connecticut); Fairlie, Robert W. (University of California, Santa Cruz); Xu, Huanan (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Labor force transitions are empirically examined using CPS data matched across months from 1996-2012 for Hispanics, African-Americans and whites. Transition probabilities are contrasted prior to the Great Recession and afterwards. Estimates indicate that minorities are more likely to be fired as business cycle conditions worsen. Estimates also show that minorities are usually more likely to be hired when business cycle conditions are weak. During the Great Recession, the odds of losing a job increased for minorities although cyclical sensitivity of the transition declined. Odds of becoming re-employed declined dramatically for blacks, by 2-4 percent, while the probability was unchanged for Hispanics. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, race, minorities, labor market, labor force, dynamics, Great Recession |
| JEL: | J15 J64 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9761&r=lab |
| By: | Kadija Charni (Aix-Marseille University (Aix-Marseille School of Economics), CNRS & EHESS) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes labour market position of unemployed older individuals after the implementation of two major pension reforms in France. We use the French Force Labour Survey for the period 2003-2011 to assess the effects of the 2003 and the 2010 pension reforms on the exit rate from unemployment of individuals aged over 54. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we look at the effects of these reforms on the exit from unemployment to employment, and into inactivity. We find that the 2003 pension reform reduces significantly the exit to employment, while there is no significant impact of the pension reform on the exit to inactivity. For the 2010 reform, we show that the reform leads to an increase of the probability to go back to work. At the same time, the transition out of labour force through inactivity exit also rises. Unemployment and other social schemes are used as a bridge to retire early. |
| Keywords: | Pension reforms, Unemployed older workers, Difference-in-differences estimation |
| JEL: | J3 J14 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1602&r=lab |
| By: | Claudia Olivetti; Barbara Petrongolo |
| Abstract: | Women in developed economies have made major inroads in labor markets throughout the past century, but remaining gender differences in pay and employment seem remarkably persistent. This paper documents long-run trends in female employment, working hours and relative wages for a wide cross-section of developed economies. It reviews existing work on the factors driving gender convergence, and novel perspectives on remaining gender gaps. The paper finally emphasizes the interplay between gender trends and the evolution of the industry structure. Based on a shift-share decomposition, it shows that the growth in the service share can explain at least half of the overall variation in female hours, both over time and across countries. |
| Keywords: | Female employment, gender gaps, industry structure |
| JEL: | E24 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1410&r=lab |
| By: | Shekhar Aiyar; Bergljot Barkbu; Nicoletta Batini; Helge Berger; Enrica Detragiache; Allan Dizioli; Christian Ebeke; Huidan Huidan Lin; Linda Kaltani; Sebastian Sosa; Antonio Spilimbergo; Petia Topalova |
| Abstract: | Against the background of political turmoil in the Middle-East, Europe faces an unprecedented surge in asylum applications. In analyzing the economic impact of this inflow, this paper draws from the experience of previous economic migrants and refugees, mindful of the fact that the characteristics of economic migrants can be different from refugees. In the short-run, additional public expenditure will provide a small positive impact on GDP, concentrated in the main destination countries of Germany, Sweden and Austria. Over the longer-term, depending on the speed and success of the integration of refugees in the labor market, the increase in the labor force can have a more lasting impact on growth and the public finances. Here good policies will make an important difference. These include lowering barriers to labor markets for refugees, for example through wage subsidies to employers, and, in particular, reducing legal barriers to labor market participation during asylum process, removing obstacles to entrepreneurship/self-employment, providing job training and job search assistance, as well as language skills. While native workers often have legitimate concerns about the impact of immigrants on wages and employment, past experience indicates that any adverse effects are limited and temporary. |
| Keywords: | Euro Area;Migration, Refugees, Labor Market, asylum, asylum seekers, refugee, International Migration, General, Demographic Trends and Forecasts, |
| Date: | 2016–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfsdn:16/2&r=lab |
| By: | Pilar García-Gómez; Sergi Jiménez-Martín; Judit Vall Castello |
| Abstract: | In a world with limited PAYGO financing possibilities this paper explores whether older Spanish individuals have the health capacity to work longer. For that purpose we use Milligan-Wise and Cutler-Meara Cutler-Meara- Richards-Shubik simulation methods. Our results suggest that Spanish workers have significant additional capacities to extend their working careers. |
| Keywords: | work capacity, retirement, health |
| JEL: | J11 J26 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1508&r=lab |
| By: | Andrea Garnero; Alexander Hijzen; Sébastien Martin |
| Abstract: | This paper provides comprehensive cross-country evidence on the relationship between earnings inequality and intra-generational mobility by simulating individual earnings and employment trajectories in the long-term using short panel data for 24 OECD countries. On average across countries, about 25% of earnings inequality in a given year evens out over the life cycle as a result of mobility. Moreover, mobility is not systematically higher in countries with more earnings inequality in general. However, a positive and statistically significant relationship is found only in the bottom of the distribution. This reflects the role of mobility between employment and unemployment and not that of mobility up and down the earnings ladder. Ce document fournit une analyse approfondie de la relation entre l’inégalité des revenus d’activité et la mobilité intra-générationnelle en simulant les trajectoires professionnelles à l’aide de données de panel sur une courte période pour 24 pays de l’OCDE. En moyenne et pour l’ensemble des pays, environ 25% de l'inégalité des revenus observée une année donnée s’égalise au cours du cycle de vie du fait de la mobilité. De plus, la mobilité n’est pas systématiquement plus élevée dans les pays généralement plus inégalitaires en termes de revenus. Toutefois, on observe une relation positive et statistiquement significative entre inégalité et mobilité dans la partie inférieure de la distribution. Cela reflète le rôle de la mobilité entre emploi et chômage, et non celui de la mobilité ascendante et descendante sur l'échelle des salaires. |
| Keywords: | simulation, intra-generational mobility, earnings-experience profiles, life-time inequality |
| JEL: | E24 J30 J62 O57 |
| Date: | 2016–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:177-en&r=lab |
| By: | Hélène Périvier-Timbeau (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | The GDP collapse phase of the economic crisis has less affected female employment than male employment, whereas the austerity phase was particularly harsh for women. This gendered impact of the different stages of the crisis is described in the literature as follows: “from he-cession to sh(e)austerity”. This article aims to analyse the gendered trends in labour market for eight European countries. The quarterly evolution of the participation of women and men and the employment at the sectorial level are decomposed. The “he-cession to sh(e)austerity” scenario does not apply to all the selected countries. The other channels through which austerity policies can jeopardize gender equality and women’s rights are identified by referring to a typology of these policies. |
| Keywords: | Gender; Recession; Austerity; Segregation; Economic policies; Employment |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/41isuana4r9csqvq548poclp6e&r=lab |
| By: | Rehwald, Kai (Aarhus University); Rosholm, Michael (Aarhus University); Rouland, Benedicte (University of Nantes) |
| Abstract: | Using data from a large-scale randomized controlled trial conducted in Danish job centers, this paper investigates the effects of an intensification of mandatory return-to-work activities on the subsequent labor market outcomes for sick-listed workers. Using variations in local treatment strategies, both between job centers and between randomly assigned treatment and control groups within a given job center, we compare the relative effectiveness of alternative interventions. Our results show that the use of partial sick leave increases the length of time spent in regular employment and non-reliance on benefits, and also reduces the time spent in unemployment. Traditional active labor market programs and the use of paramedical care appear to have no effect at all, or even an adverse effect. |
| Keywords: | long-term sickness, vocational rehabilitation, treatment effects, randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | J68 C93 I18 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9771&r=lab |
| By: | Orrenius, Pia M. (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas); Zavodny, Madeline (Agnes Scott College) |
| Abstract: | Unauthorized immigration is on the rise again in the EU. Although precise estimates are hard to come by, proximity to nations in turmoil and the promise of a better life have drawn hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants to the EU in 2014-2015. Further complicating the ongoing challenge is the confounding flow of humanitarian migrants, who are fleeing not for a job but for their lives. Those who flee for better economic conditions are irregular migrants, not humanitarian migrants, but the lines between the two are often blurred. This policy brief surveys the state of irregular immigration to the EU and draws on lessons from the U.S. experience. It focuses on economic aspects of unauthorized immigration. There are economic benefits to receiving countries as well as to unauthorized migrants themselves, but those benefits require that migrants are able to access the labor market and that prices and wages are flexible. Meanwhile, mitigating fiscal costs requires limiting access to public assistance programs for newcomers. Successfully addressing irregular migration is likely to require considerable coordination and cost-sharing among EU member states. |
| Keywords: | Irregular migration; European Union; migration policy; refugees; asylum seekers |
| JEL: | J15 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:1603&r=lab |
| By: | Nicolas Houy (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne,F-69130 Ecully, France); Jean-Philippe Nicolaï (ETH Zürich, Chair of Integrative Risk Management and Economics, Zurichbergstrasse 18, 8032 Zürich); Marie Claire Villeval (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne,F-69130 Ecully, France) |
| Abstract: | Achieving an ambitious goal frequently requires succeeding in a sequence of intermediary tasks, some being critical for the final outcome, and others not. Individuals are not always able to provide a level of effort sufficient to guarantee success in all the intermediary tasks. The ability to manage effort throughout the sequence of tasks is therefore critical. In this paper we propose a criterion that defines the importance of a task and that identifies how an individual should optimally allocate a limited stock of exhaustible efforts over tasks. We test this importance criterion in a laboratory experiment that reproduces the main features of a tennis match. We show that our importance criterion is able to predict the individuals’ performance and it outperforms the Morris importance criterion that defines the importance of a point in terms of its impact on the probability to achieve the final outcome. We also find no evidence of choking under pressure and stress, as proxied by electrophysiological measures. |
| Keywords: | Critical ability, choking under pressure, Morris-importance, Skin Conductance Responses, experiment |
| JEL: | C72 C92 D81 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1609&r=lab |
| By: | Heinz, Matthias; Normann, Hans-Theo; Rau, Holger A. |
| Abstract: | We show that choices in competitive behavior may entail a gender wage gap. In our experi ments, employees first choose a remuneration scheme (competitive tournament vs. piece rate) and then conduct a real-effort task. Employers know the pie size the employee has generated, the remuneration scheme chosen, and the employee's gender. Employers then decide how the pie will be split, as in a dictator game. Whereas employers do not discriminate by gender when tournaments are chosen, they take substantially and significantly more from female employees who choose piece-rate remuneration. A discriminatory wage gap occurs which cannot be attributed to employees' performance. |
| Keywords: | dictator game,discrimination,gender wage gap,laboratory experiment,real-effort task |
| JEL: | C91 J16 M52 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:213&r=lab |
| By: | Garcia Perez, J. Ignacio (Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Marinescu, Ioana E. (Harris School, University of Chicago); Vall-Castello, Judit (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) |
| Abstract: | By reducing the commitment made by employers, fixed-term contracts can help low-skilled youth find a first job. However, the long-term impact of fixed-term contracts on these workers' careers may be negative. Using Spanish social security data, we analyze the impact of a large liberalization in the regulation of fixed-term contracts in 1984. Using a cohort regression discontinuity design, we find that the reform raised the likelihood of male high-school dropouts working before age 19 by 9%. However, in the longer run, the reform reduced number of days worked (by 4.5%) and earnings (by 9%). |
| Keywords: | temporary contracts, long-term impact, labour market career |
| JEL: | J08 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9777&r=lab |
| By: | Geir B. Asheim (Department of Economics, University of Oslo - University of Oslo); Stéphane Zuber (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Climate policies have stochastic consequences that involve a great number of generations. This calls for evaluating social risk (what kind of societies will future people be born into) rather than individual risk (what will happen to people during their own lifetimes). We respond to this call by proposing and axiomatizing probability adjusted rank-discounted critical-level generalized utilitarianism (PARDCLU) through a key axiom ensuring that the social welfare order both is ethical and satisfies first-order stochastic dominance. PARDCLU yields a new useful perspective on intergenerational risks, is ethical in contrast to discounted utilitarianism, and avoids objections that have been raised against other ethical criteria. We show that PARDCLU handles situations with positive probability of human extinction and is linked to decision theory by yielding rank-dependent expected utilitarianism — but with additional structure — in a special case. |
| Keywords: | Social evaluation,population ethics,decision-making under risk,critical-level utilitarianism,social discounting |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01278075&r=lab |
| By: | Papadopoulos, Fotis (Athens University of Economics and Business); Tsakloglou, Panos (Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the degree of overlap between people who experience chronic material deprivation and those who face long term income poverty (longitudinal poverty) in 22 EU countries for the period 2005-2008, using the longitudinal information of the EU-SILC. In order to approximate chronic material deprivation we use a three-step index of chronic cumulative disadvantage. In the first step, population members deprived in three domains of static material deprivation are identified. In the second step, the extent of cumulative disadvantage of these individuals is examined and, in the final step, persons suffering from chronic cumulative disadvantage over the period 2005-2008 are identified, by aggregating the information on static cumulative disadvantage in each year covered. Then, we examine the overlap between chronic material deprivation and (smoothed) longitudinal poverty. The results reveal considerable differences across EU countries regarding both the level and the structure of the population at high risk of chronic material deprivation and longitudinal poverty. Finally, each country's population is subdivided into mutually exhaustive and exclusive groups according to the characteristics of the population member, according to seven alternative criteria: Sex, age employment status and education level of the household's reference person, age and education of the individual and household type. The results of the analysis reveal a number of qualitative similarities and quantitative differences across EU member states. Nevertheless, in almost all countries under examination, lack of full employment by the individual or, especially, by the household's reference person, low educational qualifications, being a member of a lone parent household or living in a household headed by a woman or by a very young or, to a lesser extent, an elderly person, lead to high risks of chronic material deprivation as well as longitudinal poverty. |
| Keywords: | chronic relative material deprivation, EU‐SILC, Europe, income smoothing, consistent poverty, longitudinal poverty |
| JEL: | I31 I32 J64 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9751&r=lab |