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on Labour Economics |
| By: | John T. Addison; Paulino Teixeira |
| Abstract: | Using cross-country data, this paper investigates the relationship between workplace representation and strikes. Works councils are associated with reduced strike activity. However, where union members make up a majority of works councillors, such union-dominated councils experience greater strike activity than do their counterparts with minority union membership, and also more strikes than establishments with union workplace representation where union members are in a minority. Dissonance between the parties as to the state of industrial relations is associated with elevated strike activity. Finally, union density at the workplace, if not the presence of collective bargaining, is directly associated with strike incidence. |
| Keywords: | works councils, employee representation, union density, level of collective bargaining, industrial relations quality/dissonance, strike incidence, strike duration, strike frequency, strike intensity |
| JEL: | J51 J52 J53 J83 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7360&r=lab |
| By: | Christopher J. Kurz; Geng Li; Daniel J. Vine |
| Abstract: | The economic wellbeing of the millennial generation, which entered its working-age years around the time of the 2007-09 recession, has received considerable attention from economists and the popular press. This chapter compares the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of millennials with those of earlier generations and compares their income, saving, and consumption expenditures. Relative to members of earlier generations, millennials are more racially diverse, more educated, and more likely to have deferred marriage; these comparisons are continuations of longer-run trends in the population. Millennials are less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young, with lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth. For debt, millennials hold levels similar to those of Generation X and more than those of the baby boomers. Conditional on their age and other factors, millennials do not appear to have preferences for consumption that differ signi ficantly from those of earlier generations. |
| Keywords: | Consumption ; Balance sheets ; Generations ; Households ; Millennials ; Motor vehicles |
| JEL: | D12 D14 |
| Date: | 2018–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2018-80&r=lab |
| By: | Regina T. Riphahn; Rebecca Schrader |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether a cut in unemployment benefit payout periods affected older workers’ labor market transitions. We apply rich administrative data and exploit a difference-indifferences approach. We compare the reference group of 40-44 year olds with constant benefit payout periods to older treatment groups with reduced payout durations. For the latter job exit rates declined, job finding rates increased, the propensity to remain employed increased, and the propensity to remain unemployed declined after the reform. These patterns suggest that the reform of unemployment benefits may be one of the reasons behind the recent incredible rise in old age employment in Germany. |
| Keywords: | labor force participation, employment, unemployment insurance, retirement |
| JEL: | J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7334&r=lab |
| By: | David Brady; Agnes Blome; Julie A. Kmec |
| Abstract: | Prominent research has claimed that work-family reconciliation policies trigger “tradeoffs” and “paradoxes” in terms of gender equality with adverse labor market consequences for women. These claims have greatly influenced debates regarding social policy, work, family, and gender inequality. Motivated by limitations of prior research, we analyze the relationship between the two most prominent work-family reconciliation policies (paid parental leave and public childcare coverage) and seven labor market outcomes (employment, full-time employment, earnings, fulltime earnings, being a manager, being a lucrative manager, and occupation percent female). We estimate multi-level models of individuals nested in a cross-section of 21 rich democracies near 2005, and two-way fixed effects models of individuals nested in a panel of 12 rich democracies over time. The vast majority of coefficients for work-family policies fail to reject the null hypothesis of no effects. The pattern of insignificance occurs regardless of which set of models or coefficients one compares. Moreover, there is as much evidence that significantly contradicts the “tradeoff hypothesis” as is consistent with the hypothesis. Altogether, the analyses undermine claims that work-family reconciliation policies trigger tradeoffs and paradoxes in terms of gender equality with adverse labor market consequences for women. |
| JEL: | H I |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:liswps:754&r=lab |
| By: | Foster, Gigi (University of New South Wales); Stratton, Leslie S. (Virginia Commonwealth University) |
| Abstract: | Economists increasingly accept that social norms have powerful effects on human behavior and outcomes. In recent history, one norm widely adhered to in most developed nations has been for men to be the primary breadwinner within mixed-gender households. As women have entered the labor market in greater numbers and gender wage differentials have declined, female breadwinning has become more common in such nations. Has this been accompanied by worse outcomes in non-monetary realms, due to the violation of the male breadwinning norm? This would be evidence that norms act to slow the pace of social evolution. We use household data from two countries to examine whether female breadwinning makes partnerships less healthy or less stable. US data from the late twentieth century shows that female breadwinning is associated with significantly more partnership problems for older couples in cross-sections and for younger couples in fixed-effects specifications. Examining more recent US and Australian data, we find that female breadwinning is associated with a modestly higher dissolution risk and a fall in some measures of reported relationship quality, but mainly for young people in cohabiting partnerships and men in less educated partnerships. We interpret these results to reflect changing social norms, plus relationship market dynamics arising from differences in the ease of access to superior partnership alternatives for women who out-earn their partners. While gender-specific breadwinning norms may be fading with time, economic realities and marriage market dynamics continue to be drivers of behavior and outcomes. |
| Keywords: | martial dissolution, happiness, family structure, economics of gender, social norms, earnings differentials |
| JEL: | J12 J16 I31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11938&r=lab |
| By: | Brodeur, Abel (University of Ottawa); Haddad, Joanne (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the determinants behind the spatial distribution of the LGBT population in the U.S. We relate the size of the present-day LGBT population to the discovery of gold mines during the 19th century gold rushes. Comparing the surroundings of these gold mines to other current and former mining counties, we find that there are currently 10-15% more same-sex couples in counties in which gold discoveries were made during the gold rushes. We also provide empirical evidence that residents of gold rush counties still have more favorable attitudes toward homosexuality nowadays. Our findings are consistent with two mechanisms. First, gold rushes led to a large (temporary) increase in the male-to-female ratio. Second, we show that gold rush counties were less likely to house a notable place of worship at the time of the discovery (and in the following decades) and are currently less religious, suggesting a role of institutions in shaping attitudes and norms. |
| Keywords: | persistence, LGBT, attitudes, religion |
| JEL: | O13 O18 J10 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11957&r=lab |
| By: | Gutierrez, Federico H. |
| Abstract: | This paper studies to what extent gender differences in commuting patterns explain the observed disparities between husband and wife in relation to earnings and wages. It is argued that the cost of commuting is higher for women because they bear a disproportionate share of housework and child-rearing responsibilities. Therefore, female workers tend to work relatively close to home. A `job location wage gap' emerges because jobs located away from the central business district offer lower wages. Using pooled data from the American Community Survey, the results indicate that 10% of the gender pay gap among childless workers and more than 23% of the wage decline attributed to being a mother ("child pay penalty") are explained by sex differences in commuting patterns. A conditional Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition indicates that short commutes are strongly associated with working in low-paying occupations and industries. |
| Keywords: | Gender pay gap,job location,wages,commute time,wage gradient |
| JEL: | J31 R41 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:282&r=lab |
| By: | Herbert Brücker (IAB); Albrecht Glitz (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Adrian Lerche (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Agnese Romiti (University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze how the formal recognition of immigrants’ foreign occupational qualifications affects their subsequent labor market outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on a novel German data set that links respondents’ survey information to their administrative records, allowing us to observe immigrants at monthly intervals before, during and after their application for occupational recognition. Our findings show substantial employment and wage gains from occupational recognition. After three years, the full recognition of immigrants’ foreign qualifications increases their employment rates by 24.5 percentage points and raises their hourly wages by 19.8 percent relative to immigrants without recognition. We show that the increase in employment is largely driven by a higher propensity to work in regulated occupations. Relating our findings to the economic assimilation of immigrants in Germany, we further document that occupational recognition leads to substantially faster convergence of immigrants’ earnings to those of their native counterparts. |
| Keywords: | Occupational Recognition, Immigrants, Labor Markets |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J44 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1818&r=lab |
| By: | Andreas Beerli; Jan Ruffner; Michael Siegenthaler; Giovanni Peri |
| Abstract: | We study a reform that granted European cross-border workers free access to the Swiss labor market. Our Differences-in-Differences estimations leverage the fact that regions close to the border were affected more intensely and earlier. The greater availability of cross-border workers increased their employment but also wages and possibly employment of highly educated native workers although the new cross-border workers were also highly educated. The reason is a simultaneous increase in labor demand in skill-intensive firms: the reform increased the size, productivity, innovation performance of some incumbent firms, attracted new firms, and created opportunities for natives to pursue managerial jobs. |
| JEL: | F22 J22 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25302&r=lab |
| By: | Chabé-Ferret, Bastien; Gobbi, Paula |
| Abstract: | Using the US Census waves 1940-1990 and Current Population Surveys 1990-2010, we look at how economic uncertainty affected fertility cycles over the course of the XXth century. We use cross-state and cross-cohort variation in the volatility of income growth to identify the causal link running from uncertainty to completed fertility. We find that economic uncertainty has a large and robust negative effect on fertility. This finding contributes to the unraveling of the determinants of the post-WWII baby boom. Specifically, the difference in economic uncertainty endured by women born in 1910 compared to that faced by women born in 1935 accounts for between 45% and 61% of the one child variation across these cohorts. We hypothesize that a greater economic uncertainty increases the risk of large consumption swings, which individuals mitigate by marrying later, postponing fertility, and ultimately decreasing their completed fertility. |
| Keywords: | baby boom; baby bust; economic uncertainty; Fertility |
| JEL: | E32 J11 J13 N30 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13374&r=lab |
| By: | Steven W. Hemelt; Kevin M. Stange; Fernando Furquim; Andrew Simon; John E. Sawyer |
| Abstract: | The private return to postsecondary investment varies widely by field, but the resources required by different fields are not well known. This paper establishes five new facts about college costs using novel department-level data. First, costs vary widely across field, ranging from electrical engineering (109 percent higher costs than English) to math (22 percent lower). Costs are generally higher in fields where graduates earn more and in pre-professional programs. Second, this pattern is explained statistically by differences in class size and faculty pay, though differences in production technology enable some fields to offset higher salaries with larger classes. Third, some STEM fields experienced steep declines in expenditures over the past fifteen years while others saw increases. Fourth, increases in class size and teaching loads alongside a shift in faculty composition toward contingent faculty explain these trends. Finally, online instruction is associated with a modest reduction in cost per student, but only for undergraduate instruction. Recent policy efforts to promote enrollment in high-earning fields will thus have important implications for postsecondary costs and the social return on investment in higher education. |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I23 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25314&r=lab |
| By: | Giulia Galera (EURICSE); Leila Giannetto (EURICSE); Antonella Noya (OECD) |
| Abstract: | Significant variation across and within OECD countries reflects the diverse roles that non-state actors can play in the reception and integration of asylum seekers. This variation can be explained by the differences in the organisation of welfare service delivery, the various national schemes supporting employment and the specific legal frameworks allowing for the labour market access of asylum seekers, along with the inclination of local inhabitants to self-organise to face new challenges. Within the wide spectrum of non-state actors that provide assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, this paper focuses specifically on third sector organisations. Through a survey, it assesses the contribution of these organisations during the refugee crisis in Europe, from 2014 to 2016, in delivering reception and integration policies for refugees, protection holders and asylum seekers and in experimenting with innovative approaches. The paper concludes with a number of policy recommendations on the ways governments leverage the innovative capacity of third sector organisations in providing meaningful and effective initiatives to integrate refugees in the society, labour market and economy of host communities. |
| Keywords: | asylum seekers, integration, non-profit organisations, non-state actors, refugees, social enterprises |
| JEL: | J61 L31 L33 L38 |
| Date: | 2018–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2018/02-en&r=lab |
| By: | Diether Beuermann; C. Kirabo Jackson; Laia Navarro-Sola; Francisco Pardo |
| Abstract: | Is a school’s impact on high-stakes test scores a good measure of its overall impact on students? Do parents value school impacts on high-stakes tests, longer-run outcomes, or both? To answer the first question, we apply quasi-experimental methods to data from Trinidad and Tobago and estimate the causal impacts of individual schools on several outcomes. Schools' impacts on high-stakes tests are weakly related to impacts on low-stakes tests, dropout, crime, teen motherhood, and formal labor market participation. To answer the second question, we link estimated school impacts to parents’ ranked lists of schools and employ discrete choice models to estimate parental preferences. Parents value schools that causally improve high-stakes test scores conditional on average outcomes, proximity, and peer quality. Consistent with parents valuing the multidimensional output of schools, parents of high-achieving girls prefer schools that increase formal labor market participation, and parents of high-achieving boys prefer schools that reduce crime. |
| JEL: | I2 J01 J38 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25342&r=lab |
| By: | Mercedes Ayuso; Jorge Miguel Bravo; Robert Holzman |
| Abstract: | In many policy areas it is essential to use the best estimates of life expectancy, but it is vital to most areas of pension policy. This paper presents the conceptual differences between static period and dynamic cohort mortality tables, estimates the differences in life expectancy for Portugal and Spain, and compares official estimates of both life expectancy estimates for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States for 1981, 2010, and 2060. These comparisons reveal major differences between period and cohort life expectancy in and between countries and across years. The implications of using wrong estimates for pension policy, including financial sustainability, are explored. |
| Keywords: | cross-country comparison, Lee-Carter, life expectancy indexation, balancing mechanism |
| JEL: | G22 H55 J14 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7349&r=lab |
| By: | García Suaza, Andrés Felipe; Delgado González, Miguel Ángel |
| Abstract: | We propose standardization techniques for the duration distribution in a population with respect to another taken as standard using right censored data, which forms a basis for counterfactual comparisons between distributional features of interest. Alternative standardizations are based on either a proportional hazard semiparametric specification or a nonparametric specification of the underlying conditional distribution. Applications to the restricted mean survival time and the hazard rate are discussed in detail. The proposal is applied to the counterfactual analysis of spells of unemployment duration gender gaps in Spain between 2004-2007. The behavior in small samples is investigated using Monte Carlo experiments. |
| Keywords: | Gender gaps; Spells of unemployment; RMST; Kaplan-Meier; Proportional hazard; Standardization; Right Censoring |
| JEL: | J64 C41 C24 C14 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:27821&r=lab |
| By: | Alimi, Omoniyi (University of Waikato); Maré, David C. (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust); Poot, Jacques (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Since the 1980s, income inequality in New Zealand has been a growing concern - particularly in metropolitan areas. At the same time, the encouragement of permanent and temporary immigration has led to the foreign-born accounting for a growing share of the population; this is disproportionally so in metropolitan areas. This paper investigates the impact of immigration, by skill level and length of stay, on the distribution of income in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. We apply decomposition methodologies to data obtained from the 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2013 Censuses of Population and Dwellings. We find that increases in the immigrant share of population in an area have an inequality-increasing and area-specific effect. Changes in immigrant-group-specific distributions of income are inequality reducing in non-metropolitan areas but inequality increasing in metropolitan areas. Inequality increased in metropolitan areas because the overall inequality-increasing effect of immigration is larger than the inequality-reducing changes for the New Zealand-born. The opposite is the case in non-metropolitan areas: the overall inequality-reducing change in the income distribution of the New Zealand born there is larger than the inequality-increasing effect of immigration. The methodologies adopted here can also benefit the study of income distribution changes in countries with similar immigration policies, such as Australia and Canada. |
| Keywords: | New Zealand, income inequality, international migration, metropolitan areas, decomposition methods |
| JEL: | D63 F22 J15 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11959&r=lab |
| By: | Sara Ayllón (Universitat de Girona); Natalia Nollenberger (IE Business School - IE University) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to investigate the extent to which the high levels of jobless-ness resulting from the Great Recession across Europe have translated into higher school attendance among youth. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the EU-SILC for 28 countries, we establish a robust counter-cyclical relationship between rising unemployment rates and school enrolment. The same is true of transitions back to education. Our analysis by subgroups reveals a worrying trend, with youths who have the most disadvantaged backgrounds (measured by low household income) less likely to enrol in tertiary studies when unemployment rises. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, School Enrolment, Transitions Back to Education, Youth, Great Recession, EU-SILC |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J64 E32 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2018-13&r=lab |
| By: | Inwood, Kris; Minns, Chris; Summerfield, Fraser |
| Abstract: | Little evidence is available to assess the effect of substituting occupation-based income scores for individual incomes before 1940. The example of immigrant assimilation in Canada 1911-1931 reveals differences in the extent and even the direction of assimilation depending on whether income scores are used and how the occupational income score is constructed. Given the increasingly wide use of income scores, we summarize a number of procedures to address the limitations associated with the absence of individual level income variation. An adjustment of conventional income scores for either group earnings differences and/or intertemporal change using summary information for broad groups of occupations reduces the deviation between scores and actual incomes. |
| JEL: | J01 J11 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:91317&r=lab |
| By: | Ksenia V. Rozhkova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Sergey Yu. Roshchin (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Sergey A. Solntsev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Wage adjustments for employees are a reaction mechanism to changing market conditions and form a significant part of pay policy. Though various attempts to explore wage levels and wage differentials have been made, wage adjustment policies remain an understudied topic. This paper analyses the determinants of wage adjustments based on data from Russian enterprises 2015–17. The analysis is based on detailed data from an employer survey which covers more than 5,000 firms in both the public and private sector. The study adopts probit models to identify the reasons which determine wage revisions, depending on internal employer characteristics and external labour market conditions. The results are in line with previous research on the topic (Bayo-Moriones et al., 2016) and suggest that both internal and external factors influence wage adjustments. A wage adjustment is a reflection of the ability to pay meaning that revisions are often made by successful firms with high employee turnover. Institutional frameworks, especially trade union activity, affects the firm’s decision to adjust wages despite the general opinion on the insignificance of unions in Russia. This study contributes to the limited literature by analysing the determinants of wage policies depending on the firm’s characteristics. This is the first study of its kind based on extensive Russian data. |
| Keywords: | Russia, wage adjustment, pay policy, pay settlement, trade union |
| JEL: | D22 J01 J31 J33 J51 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:205/ec/2018&r=lab |
| By: | Neidhöfer, Guido |
| Abstract: | Countries with high income inequality also show a strong association between parents' and children's economic well-being; i.e. low intergenerational mobility. This study is the first to test this relationship in a between-country and within-country setup; using harmonized micro data from 18 Latin American countries, spanning multiple cohorts. It is shown that experiencing higher income inequality in childhood is associated with lower intergenerational mobility measured in adulthood. Following the same methodology, the influence of economic growth and public education is evaluated: both are positively, significantly, and substantially associated with intergenerational mobility. |
| Keywords: | Inequality,Intergenerational Mobility,Equality of Opportunity,Human Capital,Growth,Development,Public Education,Great Gatsby Curve,Latin America |
| JEL: | D63 I24 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18049&r=lab |
| By: | Chen, Xi; Wang, Tianyu; Busch, Susan H. |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of pension enrollment on mental well-being using China’s New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS), the largest existing pension program in the world. Since its launch in 2009, more than 400 million Chinese have enrolled in the NRPS. We first describe plausible pathways through which pension may affect mental health. We then use the national sample of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to examine the effect of pension enrollment on mental health, as measured by CES-D and self-reported depressive symptoms. To overcome the endogeneity of pension enrollment or of income change on mental health, we exploit geographic variation in pension program implementation. Results indicate modest to large reductions in depressive symptoms due to pension enrollment; this effect is more pronounced among individuals eligible to claim pension income, among populations with more financial constraints, and among those with worse baseline mental health. Our findings hold for a rich set of robustness checks and falsification tests. |
| Keywords: | pension enrollment,pension income,depression,mental health,older populations |
| JEL: | H55 I18 I38 J14 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:285&r=lab |
| By: | Vandenbroucke, Guillaume (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) |
| Abstract: | The entry of baby boomers into the labor market in the 1970s slowed growth for physical and human capital per worker because young workers have little of both. Thus, the baby boom could have contributed to the 1970s productivity slowdown. I build and calibrate a model a la Huggett et al. (2011) with exogenous population and TFP to evaluate this theory. The baby boom accounts for 75% of the slowdown in the period 1964-69, 25% in 1970-74 and 2% in 1975-79. The retiring of baby boomers may cause a 2.8pp decline in productivity growth between 2020 and 2040, ceteris paribus. |
| Keywords: | Demography; baby boom; aggregate productivity; productivity slowdown; human capital |
| JEL: | E24 J11 J24 |
| Date: | 2018–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2018-037&r=lab |
| By: | Ikhenaode, Bright Isaac |
| Abstract: | Focusing on a selected group of 19 OECD countries, we analyze the effects of immigration on natives welfare, labor market outcomes and fiscal redistribution. To this end, we build and simulate a search and matching model that allows for endogenous natives skill acquisition and intergenerational transfers. The obtained results are then compared with different variations of our benchmark model, allowing us to assess to what extent natives skill adjustment and age composition affect the impact of immigration. Our comparative statics analysis suggests that when natives adjust their skill in response to immigration, they successfully avoid, under most scenarios, any potential displacement effect in the labor market. Moreover, taking into account age composition plays a key role in assessing the fiscal impact of immigration, which turns out to be positive when we include retired workers that receive intergenerational transfers. Finally, we find that, under any scenario, our model yields more optimistic welfare effects than a standard search model that abstracts from skill decision and intergenerational redistribution. These welfare effects are found to be overall particularly positive when the migration flows comprise high-skilled workers. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Welfare, Unemployment, Skill Acquisition, Fiscal Redistribution. |
| JEL: | F22 J24 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2018–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89897&r=lab |
| By: | Julien Albertini (Univ Lyon, Université Lumière Lyon 2, GATE UMR 5824, F-69130 Ecully, France); Anthony Terriau (Univ Lyon, Université Lumière Lyon 2, GATE UMR 5824, F-69130 Ecully, France) |
| Abstract: | In developing countries, informality is mainly concentrated on younger and older workers. In this paper, we propose a dual labor market theory that highlights how frictions and taxation in the formal sector as well as educational choices interact to shape the informality rate over the life-cycle. We develop a life-cycle model with search frictions, skill heterogeneities, and endogenous educational choices. We carry out a numerical analysis and show that our model reproduces remarkably well the life-cycle patterns of informality, non-employment and formal employment in Argentina. We analyze several public policies and show that an educational grant reduces both informality and non-employment and may be fully financed by the extra tax revenues generated by the increase in formal employment and wages. Lowering taxes may achieve similar results but is detrimental for the government budget, in the case of Argentina, despite increasing the base on which they are levied. |
| Keywords: | Informality, Search and Matching, Life-cycle, Public policy, Laffer curve |
| JEL: | E26 O17 J64 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1834&r=lab |
| By: | Giulia Galera (EURICSE); Leila Giannetto (EURICSE); Andrea Membretti; Antonella Noya (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether immigration can operate as a counter-process of depopulation and economic recession. Based on the comparative analysis of four case studies in Belluno (Italy), Klagenfurt-Villach (Austria), Dalarna (Sweden), and Haßberge (Germany), it analyses the key socio-economic factors explaining the successful integration of migrants, refugees, status holders and asylum seekers and examines under which conditions the arrival of newcomers can turn into a local development opportunity for these territories. The case studies feature four remote territories with the following common characteristics: they have undergone significant socio-economic transformations over the past decade, they face a population decline with an alarming outmigration of youth combined with an increasing ageing population, and central governments have channelled recent immigration and asylum seekers to peripheral areas to counterbalance negative demographic trends. Results show that integration paths undertaken by recipients differ significantly across the four territories. However, all case studies suggest that stable jobs and accommodations render remote and mountain localities attractive for refugees and status holders, who are usually more inclined to move to urban centres. Lastly, results from the case studies highlight the importance of designing individualised integration paths backed by social inclusion initiatives that can incite spontaneous collaborations and work relations with local inhabitants. |
| Keywords: | ageing, asylum-seekers, immigration, integration, migrants, refugees, social innovation |
| JEL: | H75 J08 J61 J68 L31 |
| Date: | 2018–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2018/03-en&r=lab |
| By: | Bloom, David E. (Harvard University); Canning, David (Harvard School of Public Health); Kotschy, Rainer (LMU Munich); Prettner, Klaus (University of Hohenheim); Schünemann, Johannes (University of Göttingen) |
| Abstract: | Micro-based and macro-based approaches have been used to assess the effects of health on economic growth. Micro-based approaches aggregate the return on individual health from Mincerian wage regressions to derive the macroeconomic effects of population health. Macro-based approaches estimate a generalized aggregate production function that decomposes output into its components. The microbased approach tends to find smaller effects than the macro-based approach, thus presenting a micromacro puzzle regarding the economic return on health. We reconcile these two strands of literature by showing that the point estimate of the macroeconomic effect of health is quantitatively close to that found by aggregating the microeconomic effects, controlling for potential spillovers of population health at the aggregate level. Our results justify using the micro-based approach to estimate the direct economic benefits of health interventions. |
| Keywords: | productivity, population health, human capital, economic development, return on health |
| JEL: | I15 I25 J11 O11 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11940&r=lab |
| By: | Donaldson, John B.; Koulovatianos, Christos; Li, Jian; Mehra, Rajnish |
| Abstract: | Following the introduction of the one-child policy in China, the capital-labor (K/L) ratio of China increased relative to that of India, and, simultaneously, FDI inflows relative to GDP for China versus India declined. These observations are explained in the context of a simple neoclassical OLG paradigm. The adjustment mechanism works as follows: the reduction in the growth rate of the (urban) labor force due to the one-child policy permanently increases the capital per worker inherited from the previous generation. The resulting increase in China's (domestic K)/L thus "crowds out" the need for FDI in China relative to India. Our paper is a contribution to the nascent literature exploring demographic transitions and their effects on FDI flows. |
| Keywords: | Lucas paradox,capital-labor ratio,FDI-intensity,one-child policy |
| JEL: | F11 F21 J11 O11 E13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cfswop:613&r=lab |
| By: | Nicole Maestas; Kathleen J. Mullen; Alexander Strand |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of cyclical job displacement during the Great Recession on the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. Exploiting variation in the severity and timing of the recession across states, we estimate the effect of unemployment on SSDI applications and awards. We find the Great Recession induced nearly one million SSDI applications that otherwise would not have been filed, of which 41.8 percent were awarded benefits, resulting in over 400,000 new beneficiaries who made up 8.9 percent of all SSDI entrants between 2008-2012. More than one-half of the recession-induced awards were made on appeal. The induced applicants had less severe impairments than the average applicant. Only 9 percent had the most severe, automatically-qualifying impairments, 33 percent had functional impairments and no transferable skills, and the rest were denied for having insufficiently severe impairments and/or transferable skills. Our estimates imply the Great Recession increased claims processing costs by $2.960 billion during 2008-2012, and SSDI benefit obligations by $55.730 billion in present value, or $97.365 billion including both SSDI and Medicare benefits. |
| JEL: | H51 H53 H55 J14 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25338&r=lab |
| By: | Sato, Yasuhiro; Zenou, Yves |
| Abstract: | We develop a model in which ethnic minorities can either assimilate to the majority's norm or reject it by trading off higher productivity and wages with a greater social distance to their culture of origin. We show that "oppositional" minorities reside in more segregated areas, have worse outcomes (in terms of income) but are not necessary worse off in terms of welfare than assimilated minorities who live in less segregated areas. We find that a policy that reduces transportation cost decreases rather than increases assimilation in cities. We also find that when there are more productivity spillovers between the two groups, ethnic minorities are more likely not to assimilate and to reject the majority's norm. Finally, we show that ethnic minorities tend to assimilate more in bigger and more expensive cities. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration; cities; Ethnic identity; welfare |
| JEL: | J15 R14 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13364&r=lab |
| By: | Ning Sun; Zaifu Yang |
| Abstract: | We study a senior level job matching model with multiple heterogeneous incumbents and entrants. Incumbents can be committed or uncommitted (i.e., free). A committed agent is an incumbent (firm or worker) who has initially had a partner (worker or firm) and is bound by her commitment. A free agent is an entrant or an incumbent whose relation with by her initial partner is not binding. Every agent tries to find her best possible partner with contract. A committed agent cannot unilaterally dissolve her partnership unless her partner agrees to do so. We examine the problem of how to match workers and firms as well as possible and at the same time to set committed agents free as many as possible without violating their commitments to their partners. We show the existence of (strongly) stable and (strict) core matchings through a constructive algorithm and derive several properties of such outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Matching state, core, stability, commitment, procedure. |
| JEL: | C71 C78 J12 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:18/20&r=lab |