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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Wolfgang Frimmel; Martin Halla; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer |
| Abstract: | Numerous papers report a negative association between parental divorce and child outcomes. To provide evidence whether this correlation is driven by a causal effect, we exploit idiosyncratic variation in the extent of sexual integration in fathers' workplaces: Fathers who encounter more women in their relevant age-occupation-group on-the-job are more likely to divorce. This results holds also conditioning on the overall share of female co-workers in a firm. We find that parental divorce has persistent, and mostly negative, effects on children that differ significantly between boys and girls. Treated boys have lower levels of educational attainment, worse labor market outcomes, and are more likely to die early. Treated girls have also lower levels of educational attainment, but they are also more likely to become mother at an early age (especially during teenage years). Treated girls experience almost no negative employment effects. The latter effect could be a direct consequence from the teenage motherhood, which may initiate an early entry to the labor market. |
| Keywords: | divorce, children, human capital, fertility, sexual integrated work- places |
| JEL: | J12 D13 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2016-13&r=lab |
| By: | Stefanie Fischer (Department of Economics, California Polytechnic State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether class composition can help explain why women are disproportionately more likely to fall out of the “STEM” pipeline. Identification comes from a standardized enrollment process at a large public university that essentially randomly assigns freshmen to different mandatory introductory chemistry lectures. Using administrative data, I find that women who are enrolled in a class with higher ability peers are less likely to graduate with a STEM degree, while men’s STEM persistence is unaffected. The effect is largest for women in the bottom third of the ability distribution. I rule out that this is driven solely by grades. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Gender, STEM, Classroom Composition Effects |
| JEL: | I20 I23 I24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpl:wpaper:1605&r=lab |
| By: | Stefano DellaVigna; Attila Lindner; Balázs Reizer; Johannes F. Schmieder |
| Abstract: | We propose a model of job search with reference-dependent preferences, where the reference point is given by recent income. Newly unemployed individuals search hard given that they are at a loss, but over time they get used to lower income, and thus reduce their search effort. In anticipation of a benefit cut their search effort rises again, then declines once they get used to the lower benefit level. The model fits the typical pattern of the exit from unemployment, even with no unobserved heterogeneity. The model also makes distinguishing predictions regarding the response to benefit changes, which we evaluate using a unique reform. In 2005, Hungary switched from a single-step UI system to a two-step system, with unchanged overall generosity. The system generated increased hazard rates in anticipation of, and especially following, benefit cuts in ways the standard model has a hard time explaining. We estimate a model with optimal consumption and endogenous search effort, as well as unobserved heterogeneity. The reference-dependent model fits the hazard rates substantially better than most versions of the standard model. We estimate a slow-adjusting reference point and substantial impatience, likely reflecting present-bias. Habit formation and a variety of alternative models do not match the fit of the reference-dependent model. We discuss one model which also fits well, but is at odds with calibrated values and other evidence. |
| JEL: | D03 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22257&r=lab |
| By: | Hagedorn, Marcus; Manovskii, Iourii; Mitman, Kurt |
| Abstract: | We critically review recent methodological and empirical contributions aiming to provide a comprehensive assessment of the effects of unemployment benefit extensions on the labor market and attempt to reconcile their apparently disparate findings. We describe two key challenges facing these studies - the endogeneity of benefit durations to labor market conditions and isolating true effects of actual policies from agents' responses to expectations of future policy changes. Marinescu (2015) employs a methodology that does not attempt to address these challenges. A more innovative approach in Coglianese (2015) and Chodorow-Reich and Karabarbounis (2016) attempts to overcome these challenges by exploiting a sampling error in unemployment rates as an exogenous variation. Unfortunately, we find that this approach falls prey to the very problems it aims to overcome and it appears unlikely that the fundamental bias at the core of this approach can be overcome. We find more promising the approach based on unexpected policy changes as in the recent contributions by Johnston and Mas (2015) and Hagedorn, Manovskii and Mitman (2015). This approach by design addresses the problem of benefit endogeneity. It does not, however, fully address the effects of expectations and generally yields a lower bound on the actual effects of policies. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment; Unemployment insurance |
| JEL: | E24 J63 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11290&r=lab |
| By: | Simon Franklin |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the link between housing conditions and household income and labour market participation in South Africa. I use four waves of panel data from 2002-2009 on households that were originally living in informal dwellings. I find that those households that received free government housing later experienced large increases in their incomes. This effect is driven by increased employment rates among female members of these households, rather than other sources of income. I take advantage of a natural experiment created by a policy of allocating housing to households that lived in close proximity to new housing developments. Using rich spatial data on the roll out of government housing projects, I generate geographic instruments to predict selection into receiving housing. I then use housing projects that were planned and approved but never actually built to allay concerns about non-random placement of housing projects. The fixed effects results are robust to the use of these instruments and placebo tests. I present suggestive evidence that formal housing alleviates the demands of work at home for women, which leads to increases in labour supply to wage paying jobs. |
| Keywords: | housing; labour supply; time allocation; home production |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:66537&r=lab |
| By: | Mahé, Clothilde (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University); Naudé, Wim (Maastricht School of Management, UNU-MERIT, and Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether the occupational productivity and employment status of individuals living in a household with migrants differ from those living in non-migrant households using the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) and the Africa Sector Database (ASD). We find that rural households and households with a head in more productive occupations are more likely to have migrant members, and that rural households and households with a head who are waged-employed are more likely to have a migrant than households with members who are self-employed. While these findings are not suprising, we find some more unexpected results. For instance, migrants do not always migrate to more productive occupations; migration can result in downward occupational mobility. Migrants in our sample do not send back much remittances. Migrant-sending households in Ghana are in fact more likely to send remittances to their relatives currently away, than to receive remittances. In an attempt to explain these somewhat puzzling findings, we argue that a motivation for rural households or households with a head in a more productive occupation to send out relatives is to support younger household members to pursue their education elsewhere. Migration is therefore a long(er)-run income-and-occupational diversification strategy of the more productively employed rural households in Ghana. |
| Keywords: | migration, occupational choice, structural transformation, Africa |
| JEL: | O15 O18 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2016018&r=lab |
| By: | Alberto González Pandiella |
| Abstract: | In the past 30 years Costa Rica has grown steadily and social indicators have improved markedly. Well-being indicators are comparable or even above the OECD average in several dimensions, such as health, environment or life-satisfaction. This paper reviews the social progress that Costa Rica has achieved and identifies reducing inequality and poverty as the main challenges. To tackle those challenges, the paper argues that there is a need to upgrade existing social assistance programmes to maximise their impact. Social policies should put more emphasis on getting more people into formal work, including by raising their skill levels. This is the most effective way to get people out of poverty. Education is the area where the largest gap with respect to OECD countries is observed. Policy efforts are also warranted to tackle informality, which is increasing rapidly, and to close the gender gap in the labour market. The health and pension systems play a fundamental role in maintaining social cohesion in Costa Rica and it is crucial to modernise them and to make them sustainable in the face of demographic challenges. Costa Rica exemplifies the benefits of preserving natural resources in generating growth and employment opportunities, thereby providing a way out of poverty. Building on its achievements in this area, Costa Rica should reinforce environmental protection efforts, such as reducing emissions from the transport sector and improving wastewater treatment. Une croissance plus inclusive au Costa Rica Au cours des 30 dernières années, le Costa Rica a connu une croissance soutenue et les indicateurs sociaux se sont améliorés de façon marquée. Les indicateurs de bien-être sont comparables ou même au-dessus de la moyenne de l'OCDE en plusieurs dimensions, comme la santé, l'environnement ou la satisfaction de vivre. Cet article examine le progrès social que le Costa Rica a réussi et identifie la réduction des inégalités et de la pauvreté comme les principaux défis. Pour faire face à ces défis, le document fait valoir qu'il est nécessaire d'améliorer les programmes d'aide sociale existants afin de maximiser leur impact. Les politiques sociales devraient mettre davantage l'accent sur l'obtention de plus de gens dans le travail formel, y compris en augmentant leur niveau de compétence. Ceci est le moyen le plus efficace pour sortir les gens de la pauvreté. L'éducation est la dimension où le plus grand écart par rapport aux pays de l'OCDE est observé. Les efforts politiques sont également nécessaire pour lutter contre l'informalité, qui est de plus en plus haut, et de combler l'écart entre les sexes sur le marché du travail. Les systèmes de santé et de retraite jouent un rôle fondamental pour maintenir la cohésion sociale en Costa Rica et il est crucial de les moderniser et de les rendre durables face aux défis démographiques. Costa Rica illustre les avantages de la préservation des ressources naturelles en générant des opportunités de croissance et d'emploi, fournissant ainsi un moyen de sortir de la pauvreté. Fort de ses réalisations dans ce domaine, le Costa Rica devrait renforcer les efforts de protection de l'environnement, tels que la réduction des émissions du secteur des transports et l'amélioration du traitement des eaux usées. |
| Keywords: | poverty, labour market, inclusive growth, inequality |
| JEL: | D31 H42 I10 I2 I24 I30 J01 J08 J16 J60 O15 O54 Q20 |
| Date: | 2016–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1300-en&r=lab |
| By: | Tadashi Morita (Faculty of Economics, Kindai University,); Yasuhiro Sato (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo); Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | We examine possible impacts of demographics on outcomes of capital tax compe- tition in political economy. For this purpose, we develop an overlapping generations model wherein public good provision financed by capital tax is determined by majority voting. When a population is growing, younger people represent the majority, whereas when a population is decreasing, older people represent the majority. We show that the race to the bottom is likely to emerge in the population growing economy whereas the race to the top might emerge in the population decreasing economy. |
| Keywords: | tax competition, majority voter, fiscal externality, political externality |
| JEL: | H20 J11 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:1613&r=lab |
| By: | Ayako Wakano (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | Do locally hired teachers benefit pupils f school achievements more than governmental employed teachers? This is the question to examine in this paper. Although social experiment results have shown that the marginal product in terms of test score is positive and significant when pupils are taught by PTA teachers, it is not yet known about the grelative h effectiveness between government teacher and locally hired teachers. This paper is going to find whether the PTA teacher ratio (the ratio of locally hired PTA teachers against total number of teachers in one primary school) has statistically significant explanatory power on pupil test score, after controlling various factors. In Republic of Kenya (below referred as Kenya), there are two types of teachers teaching in public primary schools. One is those teachers employed by the government and the other is those hired by the local school community, named gPTA teacher h. Although wage level for PTA teachers in public primary schools in Kenya is one fourth of that of government teachers, school outcomes of pupils taught by locally hired contract teachers are higher than those of pupils taught in controlled group schools, according to the result of social experiment (Duflo et al. 2012). This paper will examine, by using nationally representing observational data, to estimate the relative effect of PTA teachers on school outcome. In the end, by using Propensity Score Matching Estimation method, the result shows that the effect of PTA teacher ratio is positive and significant on school test score in all three subjects for lower standard grade pupils except Kernel and Radius matching and in Kiswahili subject for all seven different matching algorisms, though the magnitude of coefficient is relatively small. Although background mechanism of this finding is not solely determined, this paper is to assume that the effort level of PTA teacher in teaching tends to be higher than that of governmental teachers, based on several reasons. |
| Keywords: | Absenteeism, PTA teacher, Locally hired teacher, test score |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J18 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:1614&r=lab |
| By: | Salvador Ortigueira (Department of Economics, University of Miami); Nawid Siassi (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Universit¨atsstrasse) |
| Abstract: | We develop a dynamic model of labor supply, consumption, savings and marriage decisions to study the behavioral responses of low-income workers to anti-poverty income transfers in the U.S. The model is calibrated to match moments from a sample of non-college-educated workers with children drawn from the 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The categorical, asset and income eligibility criteria of the transfer programs, along with the income and payroll taxes, yield complex budget constraints and introduce a web of interactions whose effects we identify and measure. We examine the workers' behavioral responses across the model's equilibrium distribution over living arrangements, labor productivities, wealth and number of children. Then we use the model to assess the effects of three recent proposals to reform the U.S. tax-transfer system, including the "21st Century Worker Tax Cut Act" and the "Tax Reform Act of 2014". A core objective of these proposals is the mitigation of the disincentives introduced by the Earned Income Tax Credit to married mothers' labor market participation. |
| Keywords: | Anti-poverty income transfers, household decisions, cohabitation and marriage Publication Status: Under Review |
| JEL: | E21 H24 H31 J12 |
| Date: | 2016–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mia:wpaper:2016-04&r=lab |