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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Michael Baker; Kirsten Cornelson |
| Abstract: | While the gender pay gap continues to decline, gender occupational segregation in the labor market has changed little in recent decades. Research on sex differences in humans provides “lab evidence” of gender differences in sensory, motor and spatial aptitudes. We provide evidence that these skills, as captured by DOT codes, strongly predict the occupational choices of men and women, in the directions indicated by this research. We estimate that if selection on these skills were eliminated, the Duncan index of gender based occupational segregation would be roughly 23 percent lower than its actual level, in both 1970 and 2012. In recent years, occupational selection on these aptitudes works, on average, to lower the gender earnings gap. |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J62 J71 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22248&r=lab |
| By: | Matsuda, Norihiko |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effects of the South African old age pension program, the largest cash transfer program in the country, on labor supply and employment of the elderly and prime-aged individuals. During 2008-2010 a policy change decreased the eligible ages for men from 65 to 60. Exploiting this change as a natural experiment, the paper finds that the pension significantly discourages the elderly to work. The intention-treat-effects estimated based on three different, independent datasets imply that the labor force participation rate of men aged 60--64 significantly decreased by 5.81% points, 9.63\% points, and 9.72% points, depending on the datasets used. Correspondingly, the probability to be employed decreased by 4.15-9.89% points. Besides, the local average treatment effects estimated suggest that once elderly people started receiving the benefit, the the probability to participate in the labor force and to be employed decreased by 29.2% points and 30.76% points, respectively, although these estimates are not statistically significant. In contrast, the paper fails to provide clear evidence of the effects on prime-aged individuals. |
| Keywords: | Social transfers, Pension, Labor supply, Retirement, South Africa, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, H55, I38, J08, J21, J26, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236193&r=lab |
| By: | Gihleb, Rania (University of Pittsburgh); Lifshitz, Osnat (Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo) |
| Abstract: | In 30% of young American couples the wife is more educated than the husband. Those women are characterized by a substantially higher employment (all else equal), which in turn amplifies income inequality across couples. Using NLSY79, we formulate and structurally estimate a dynamic life-cycle model of endogenous marriage and labor supply decisions in a collective framework. We establish that the education gap at the time of marriage, produces dynamic effects due to human capital accumulation and implied wage growth. Inequality between couples is largely driven by the persistence in labor supply choices and only slightly affected by assortative matching. |
| Keywords: | educational assortative mating, female labor supply, human capital, inequality |
| JEL: | J22 J12 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9958&r=lab |
| By: | Elva Bova; João Tovar Jalles; Christina Kolerus |
| Abstract: | This paper explores conditions and policies that could affect the matching between labor demand and supply. We identify shifts in the Beveridge curves for 12 OECD countries between 2000Q1 and 2013Q4 using three complementary methodologies and analyze the short-run determinants of these shifts by means of limited-dependent variable models. We find that labor force growth as well as employment protection legislation reduce the likelihood of an outward shift in the Beveridge curve,. Our findings also show that the matching process is more difficult the higher the share of employees with intermediate levels of education in the labor force and when long-term unemployment is more pronounced. Policies which could facilitate labor market matching include active labor market policies, such as incentives for start-up and job sharing programs. Passive labor market policies, such as unemployment benefits, as well as labor taxation render matching signficantly more difficult. |
| Keywords: | Labor markets;Labor supply;Labor demand;Unemployment;Labor market characteristics;Econometric models;Time series;vacancies, unemployment, employment protection legislation, cointegration, breaks, probit |
| Date: | 2016–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:16/93&r=lab |
| By: | Kimbrough, Gray (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A wealth of research has shown that the commutes of American women are shorter, both in time and distance, than those of American men. This study takes advantage of a large, nationally representative dataset, the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), to examine this relationship. A basic labor supply model is presented, with testable predictions about relationships between commuting time and worker characteristics that could explain the gender gap. Additionally, the detailed commuting characteristics derived from the ATUS make possible an examination of gender differences in the character of commutes, including the number, length, and type of stops along the way. Results show that women tend to make more stops between home and work. Even controlling for marital status and the presence of children, women are more likely to be accompanied by children for their commute. Moreover, the stops made by women along this journey tend to be longer than those for men. These differences in commute character necessitate the use of a methodology that accounts for stop duration in the calculation of commuting time. Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions are performed to decompose the gender commuting gap by estimating a model in which these characteristics are fully interacted with gender. Results support two previously proposed explanations for the gender commuting gap, based on gender differences in wages and types of jobs held. The evidence does not support the explanation that women's greater household responsibility contributes to the gender commuting gap. |
| Keywords: | commuting; gender; household travel behavior |
| JEL: | J16 J22 R40 |
| Date: | 2016–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2016_004&r=lab |
| By: | J. Ignacio Giménez-Nadal (University of Zaragoza); Lucia Mangiavacchi (Universitat de les Illes Balears); Luca Piccoli (Universitat de les Illes Balears) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between the gender division of housework time of parents, with children living in the parental home, and that of the same children when they become adults and form their own families. Using the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), we exploit its panel structure jointly with detailed information on children and parent’s time use, to analyse the time devoted by parents during their children’s adolescence (between 1994 and 1999) and that of the same children about ten years later (from 2006 to 2009). The results suggest that a greater involvement of fathers in the domestic activities traditionally done by mothers is related to a reduction in gender inequality in their children’s future families: father’s involvement in domestic activities has a significant impact on their sons’ time spent in the same activities. These findings shed light on the persistence of parental behaviour across generations. |
| Keywords: | Time Use; Housework, Gender Roles, Attitudes, Intergenerational Transmission, Russia |
| JEL: | D13 J16 J22 P13 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubi:deawps:80&r=lab |
| By: | Molina, Jose Alberto; Velilla, Jorge; Ortega, Raquel |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the role of innovation, and other socio-demographic variables, in the entrepreneurial activity in the OECD. We use the index from the GEM 2014 Global Individual Level database, which contains international micro-data for individuals. Our pooled and cross-country results show that young male individuals tend to entrepreneur more than their counterparts. Innovation is also positive strongly related to entrepreneurship. Furthermore, making use of unbiased estimates based on relatively novel and underused techniques we give strong robustness to this result. We find that family and well-being variables follow a mixed relationship with entrepreneurship. Skills, transmission by meeting and opportunities also play an important role. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, TEA, OECD. |
| JEL: | C21 L26 O31 |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71592&r=lab |
| By: | Herrera, Catalina; Sahn, David; Villa, Kira |
| Abstract: | Women represent the majority of informal sector workers in developing countries. This is especially true in Sub-Saharan Africa where early childbearing rates are still high. However, to date, there is little empirical evidence on the role of early fertility in female labor force participation in the informal sector. We analyze the effect of young women’s timing of first birth on her entry into the labor market and selection into different types of employment. Using a panel survey in Madagascar, designed to capture the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and a multinomial approach, we estimate the effect of early childbearing on selection into four employment categories: non-participation, informal, formal, and student. Our results suggest that young mothers are more likely to work than young women without children. However, women whose first birth occurred during adolescence largely select into low-quality informal jobs. This effect is partially, but not entirely, mediated by the effect of adolescent pregnancy on schooling. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, informal sector, adolescence, female labor force participation, Madagascar, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, J24, O15, J1, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235749&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Holzner (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany); Makoto Watanabe (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique vacancy dataset, we fnd that the Public Employment Agency (PEA) distributes workers more evenly across vacancies than the private market. We investigate the implications of having such a market place by using a directed search model, where firms can search via the PEA or the private market. Lower coordination frictions reduce wage competition and enable registered firms to pay lower wages compared to the private market. This advantage has to be traded o against the negative selection of applicants coming through the PEA. We take these theoretical predictions to the data and find strong support for them. |
| Keywords: | Labor Search; Intermediation; Public Employment Agency |
| JEL: | J6 |
| Date: | 2016–05–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20160041&r=lab |
| By: | Marc A. C. Hafstead; Roberton C. Williams III |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of environmental policy on employment (and unemployment) using a new general-equilibrium two-sector search model. We find that imposing a pollution tax causes substantial reductions in employment in the regulated (polluting) industry, but this is offset by increased employment in the unregulated (nonpolluting) sector. Thus the policy causes a substantial shift in employment between industries, but the net effect on overall employment (and unemployment) is small, even in the short run. An environmental performance standard causes a substantially smaller sectoral shift in employment than the emissions tax, with roughly similar net effects. The effects on the unregulated industry suggest that empirical studies of environmental regulation that focus only on regulated firms can be misleading (and those that use nonregulated firms as controls for regulated firms will be even more misleading). The paper’s results also suggest that overall effects on employment are not a major issue for environmental policy, and that policymakers who want to minimize sectoral shifts in employment might prefer performance standards over environmental taxes. |
| JEL: | E24 H23 J64 Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22269&r=lab |
| By: | Kenjiro Hirata (Faculty of Economics, Kobe International University); Ayako Suzuki (School of International Liberal Studies, Waseda University); Katsuya Takii (Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how managers' tenures in target firms influence their probability of retention as board members after mergers or acquisitions in Japanese firms. It develops a model that distinguishes several hypotheses about the effect of tenure on separation. Our results suggest that experience as an employee increases firm-specific skills, but at the expense of the ability to learn new skills. However, experience as a board member does not have this effect in Japanese firms, the structure of which is known to encourage specific skills. Further, we provide a novel method to correct for selection biases when using data on managers. |
| Keywords: | Tenure, Retention of Managers and Post M&As |
| JEL: | G34 M5 J62 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:16e006&r=lab |
| By: | Ghoshray, Atanu (Newcastle University); Ordóñez, Javier (Universitat Jaume I de Castelló); Sala, Hector (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the occurrence of structural breaks in European unemployment associated with major events experienced by the European economies at an institutional level: the creation of the European and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999, and the Euro/financial crisis in 2008-2009, which was followed by a general and intensive reform process in the years afterwards. Beyond the well documented asymmetries across countries, we uncover different responses of adult and youth unemployment rates. While adult unemployment is more prone to experience structural breaks, youth unemployment is more sensitive to business cycle oscillations. This has been especially so in the recent crisis and calls for fine tuning policy measures specifically targeted to youth unemployed in bad times. One important implication of our findings is that generic labour market reforms are not effective enough to solve the youth unemployment problem across Europe. We point to educational policies that raise average qualifications and help school-to-work transitions as suitable complementary cures. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, structural breaks, crisis, Eurozone, youth, education |
| JEL: | J64 O52 J08 F66 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9952&r=lab |
| By: | Carrillo, B.; Branco, D. |
| Abstract: | It is now widely recognized that birth endowments can have long-lasting effects on later-life outcomes. An intriguing question is how parents respond to shifts in child endowments. Some of the estimates in literaturemay be affected by small samples and unobservable mother-specific factors, limiting the power of policy implications. We exploit variation within twins to estimate the effect of birth weight on health investments in children. Using data from 68 developing countries, we find that lower birth weight babies receive less health care investments in infancy. These effects are larger for countries with higher infant mortality rates, lower life expectancy,and poorer sanitation facilities. Collectively, the findings suggest that parental behaviors contribute to amplify the baseline effects of birth endowments on long-run outcomes. |
| Keywords: | twins; birth weight; parental investments; |
| JEL: | D1 I1 J1 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:16/06&r=lab |
| By: | Bruno Lanz (IHEID, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva); Simon Dietz (LSE, London School of Economics and Political Science); Tim Swanson (IHEID, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | We structurally estimate a two-sector Schumpeterian growth model with endogenous population and finite land reserves to study the long-run evolution of global population, technological progress and the demand for food. The estimated model closely replicates trajectories for world population, GDP, sectoral productivity growth and crop land area from 1960 to 2010. Projections from 2010 onwards show a slowdown of technological progress, and, because it is a key determinant of fertility costs, significant population growth. By 2100 global population reaches 12.4 billion and agricultural production doubles, but the land constraint does not bind because of capital investment and technological progress. |
| Keywords: | Global population; Technological progress; Economic growth; Agriculture; Environment; Malthusian constraints; Land conversion; Structural estimation |
| JEL: | O11 O13 J11 C53 C61 Q15 Q24 Q50 |
| Date: | 2016–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:giihei:heidwp04-2016&r=lab |
| By: | Umut Özek; David N. Figlio |
| Abstract: | We make use of a new data source – matched birth records and longitudinal student records in Florida – to study the degree to which student outcomes differ across successive immigrant generations. Specifically, we investigate whether first, second, and third generation Asian and Hispanic immigrants in Florida perform differently on reading and mathematics tests, and whether they are differentially likely to get into serious trouble in school, to be truant from school, to graduate from high school, or to be ready for college upon high school graduation. We find evidence suggesting that early-arriving first generation immigrants perform better than do second generation immigrants, and second generation immigrants perform better than third generation immigrants. Among first generation immigrants, the earlier the arrival, the better the students tend to perform. These patterns of findings hold for both Asian and Hispanic students, and suggest a general pattern of successively reduced achievement – beyond a transitional period for recent immigrants – in the generations following the generation that immigrated to the United States. |
| JEL: | I20 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22262&r=lab |
| By: | Jayet, Hubert; Marchal, Léa |
| Abstract: | This article focuses on an apparent conflict between the standard trade theory and available empirical evidence on factor flows. Theoretically, labor and capital flows must be substitutes. However, empirical papers find migration and FDI to be either substitutes or complements, depending upon the skill content of migration. To reconcile the standard theory with these empirical results, we develop a two-country general equilibrium model. We consider three factors - capital, unskilled and skilled labor - and two internationally traded goods. Countries only differ in their factor endowments. The first country is a developing country amply endowed with unskilled labor; the second one is a developed country well endowed with skilled labor. Under imperfect factor mobility, we find that capital and unskilled labor flows are substitutes, while capital and skilled labor flows are complements. |
| Keywords: | Capital flows,Migration,Skills,Standard trade theory |
| JEL: | F11 F21 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2039&r=lab |
| By: | Hatton, Timothy J. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines some key aspects of migration for asylum to provide a background to the recent crisis and the policy debate that it has spawned. After outlining some of the key facts I focus on the origin and destination factors that influence asylum applications, particularly the policies adopted in developed countries. I then examine different aspects of public opinion that condition the scope for the development of asylum policies. In this light I focus on three issues: border controls, resettlement policies and burden-sharing among destination countries. The existing asylum system that encourages migrants to make hazardous maritime or overland crossings to gain access to an uncertain prospect of obtaining refugee status is inefficient, poorly targeted and lacks public support. In the long run it should be replaced by a substantial joint programme of resettlement that would help those most in need of protection, that would eliminate the risks to refugees, and that would command more widespread public support. |
| Keywords: | Asylum Migration; Asylum Policy; Refugees |
| JEL: | F22 F53 J15 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11271&r=lab |
| By: | Mark E. McGovern |
| Abstract: | There is a growing literature which documents the importance of early life environment for outcomes across the life cycle. Research, including studies based on Irish data, demonstrates that those who experience better childhood conditions go on to be wealthier and healthier adults. Therefore, inequalities at birth and in childhood shape inequality in wellbeing in later life, and the historical evolution of the mortality and morbidity of children born in Ireland is important for understanding the current status of the Irish population. In this paper, I describe these patterns by reviewing the existing literature on infant health in Ireland over the course of the 20th century. Up to the 1950s, infant mortality in Ireland (both North and South) was substantially higher than in other developed countries, with a large penalty for those born in urban areas. The subsequent reduction in this penalty, and the sustained decline in infant death rates, occurred later than would be expected from the experience in other contexts. Using records from the Rotunda Lying-in Hospital in Dublin, I discuss sources of disparities in stillbirth in the early 1900s. Despite impressive improvements in death rates since that time, a comparison with those born at the end of the century reveals that Irish children continue to be born unequal. Evidence from studies which track people across the life course, for example research on the returns to birthweight, suggests that the economic cost of this early life inequality is substantial. |
| Keywords: | Infant Mortality; Early Life Conditions; Inequality |
| JEL: | I10 J10 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qub:wpaper:1605&r=lab |