|
on Labour Economics |
| By: | Elira Kuka; Bryan Stuart |
| Abstract: | This paper studies differences in receipt and take-up of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits among White and Black individuals. We combine state-level UI regulations with data containing detailed information on individuals’ work history and UI receipt. Black individuals who separate from a job are 24% less likely to receive UI than White individuals. The UI receipt gap stems primarily from lower take-up of UI benefits among likely eligible individuals, as opposed to differences in benefit eligibility. Statistical decompositions indicate that about one-half of the take-up gap is explained by Black workers’ lower pre-unemployment earnings and higher tendency to live in the South. |
| Keywords: | racial inequality; unemployment insurance; take-up; social insurance |
| JEL: | J15 J65 H5 I38 |
| Date: | 2022–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:93868&r= |
| By: | Bastien Alvarez; Gianluca Orefice; Farid Toubal |
| Abstract: | Using large scale data on Eastern European workers, we show significant and sizable deteriorations of their wages and working conditions in regions that faced large tariff liberalization and strong erosion of collective bargaining over the process of accession to the European Union. Import tariffs liberalization reduces workers' wages. The deterioration of working conditions is mostly driven by increased labor demand due to the improvement of Eastern countries' international market access. The erosion of collective bargaining worsens wages and working conditions. |
| Keywords: | Trade Liberalization;Working Conditions;Wages;Labor Market Institutions;Eastern Europe;E.U. Enlargement |
| JEL: | F15 F16 J30 J51 J81 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2022-02&r= |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R.; Robinson, RaeAnn H. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the occupational status and distribution of free women in the antebellum United States. It considers both their reported and unreported (imputed) occupations, using the 1/100 IPUMS files from the 1860 Census of Population. After developing and testing the model based on economic and demographic variables used to explain whether a free woman has an occupation, analyses are conducted comparing their occupational distribution to free men, along with analyses among women by nativity, urbanization, and region of the country. While foreign-born and illiterate women were more likely to report having an occupation compared to their native-born and literate counterparts, they were equally likely to be working when unreported family workers are included. In the analysis limited to the slave-holding states, it is shown that the greater the slave-intensity of the county, the less likely were free women to report having an occupation, particularly as private household workers, suggesting substitution in the labor market between free women and enslaved labor. |
| Keywords: | Women,Labor Force Participation,Occupational Distribution,Unreported Family Workers,Enslaved Workers,Immigrants,1860 Census of Population |
| JEL: | N31 J16 J21 J82 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1063&r= |
| By: | Árpád Ábrahám; João Brogueira de Sousa; Ramon Marimon; Lukas Mayr |
| Abstract: | We study the welfare effects of both existing and counter-factual European unemployment insurance policies using a rich multi-country dynamic general equilibrium model with labour market frictions. The model successfully replicates several salient features of European labor markets, in particular the cross-country differences in the flows between employment, unemployment and inactivity. We find that mechanisms like the recently introduced European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE), which allows national governments to borrow at low interest rates to cover expenditures on unemployment benefits, yield sizable welfare gains, contradicting the conventional classical view that costs of business cycles are small. Furthermore, we find that a harmonized benefit system that features a one-time payment of around three quarters of income upon separation is welfare improving in all Eurozone countries relative to the status quo. |
| Keywords: | labour markets, Unemployment Insurance, job creation, job destruction, risk-sharing, Economic Monetary Union |
| JEL: | J6 E2 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1826&r= |
| By: | Fieldhouse, Andrew; Howard, Sean; Koch, Christoffer; Munro, David |
| Abstract: | Using newly digitized unemployment insurance claims data we construct a historical monthly unemployment series for U.S. states going back to January 1947. The constructed series are highly correlated with the Bureau of Labor Statics' state-level unemployment data, which are only available from January 1976 onwards, and capture consistent patterns in the business cycle. We use our claims-based unemployment series to examine the evolving pace of post-war unemployment recoveries at the state level. We find that faster recoveries are associated with greater heterogeneity in the recovery rate of unemployment and slower recoveries tend to be more uniformly paced across states. In addition, we find that the pace of unemployment recoveries is strongly correlated with a states' manufacturing share of output. |
| Keywords: | State-Level Unemployment Rates,Unemployment Insurance,Economic Recoveries,Regional Business Cycles |
| JEL: | C82 E24 E32 J64 J65 R11 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1066&r= |
| By: | Francesco Spadafora (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The Unemployment Insurance (UI) system in the United States has once again played a decisive lifeline role in effectively mitigating the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which prompted an expansion of UI programmes unprecedented in scope, scale and cost. However, the crisis has exposed afresh some well-known challenges for the programme, perhaps best epitomized by the fact that, on the eve of the pandemic, less than one in three unemployed workers collected UI benefits. The objective of this paper is threefold: first, it provides a comprehensive overview of the main structural characteristics of the UI system; second, it compares the role played by UI programmes in mitigating the impact of both the 2008-09 Great Recession and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic; and third, it discusses the main reform proposals put forth to address the challenges identified for the UI system. The experience with the UI system provides fundamental lessons that can usefully inform the debate on whether and how to introduce a common unemployment insurance scheme in Europe for macroeconomic stabilization. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, unemployment insurance, job acceptance, Covid-19, CARES Act |
| JEL: | E24 H7 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_673_22&r= |
| By: | Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal; Pastore, Francesco |
| Abstract: | In all the MENA countries considered in this study, namely Jordan Egypt and Tunisia, there has been a significant decrease in the female labor force participation rate over the last two decades. Moreover, existing analysis and the anecdotal evidence suggest that it may be problematic for women to reach a white collar high skill job, also in the more protected public sector, though there is very little empirical evidence on this. By using repeated cro ss sections of individuals covering periods of up to 20 years (for Egypt), we examine the evolution of the glass ceiling problem for women resorting to the matching approach, which, to our knowledge, has never been used in this field. Instead of looking at the gender gap along the wage distribution, we assess the probability to reach the top professions of manager, professional and technician or associate professional. We find a sizeable glass ceiling effect in all the countries considered. It is a persistent phenomenon across all the industrial sectors and the years considered. The present study sheds new light on the glass ceiling effect for woman in the MENA countries, which is relevant also for other countries |
| Keywords: | Glass ceilings,Woman employment,labor force,Egypt,Jordan,Tunisia |
| JEL: | J16 J71 K38 O53 P52 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1062&r= |
| By: | Boris Hirsch (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre); Philipp Lentge (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre); Claus Schnabel (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) |
| Abstract: | In Germany, employers used to pay union members and non-members in a plant the same union wage in order to prevent workers from joining unions. Using recent administrative data, we investigate which workers in firms covered by collective bargaining agreements still individually benefit from these union agreements, which workers are not covered anymore, and what this means for their wages. We show that about 9 percent of workers in plants with collective agreements do not enjoy individual coverage (and thus the union wage) anymore. Econometric analyses with unconditional quantile regressions and firm-fixed-effects estimations demonstrate that not being individually covered by a collective agreement has serious wage implications for most workers. Low-wage non-union workers and those at low hierarchy levels particularly suffer since employers abstain from extending union wages to them in order to pay lower wages. This jeopardizes unions’ goal of protecting all disadvantaged workers. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, union wage, uncovered workers, Germany |
| JEL: | J31 J53 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:408&r= |
| By: | Federico Cingano (Federico Cingano); Paolo Pinotti (Paolo Pinotti); Enrico Rettore (Enrico Rettore); Filippo Palomba (Filippo Palomba) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the employment effects of a large program of public investment subsidies that ranked applications on a score reflecting both objective criteria and local politicians’ preferences. Leveraging the rationing of funds as an ideal RDD, we characterize the heterogeneity of treatment effects and cost-per-new-job across inframarginal firms, and we estimate the cost effectiveness of subsidies under factual and counterfactual allocations. Firms ranking high on objective criteria and firms preferred by local politicians generated larger employment growth on average, but the latter did so at a higher cost-per-job. We estimate that relying only on objective criteria would reduce the cost-per-job by 11%, while relying only on political discretion would increase such cost by 47%. |
| Keywords: | Public subsidies, investment, employment, political discretion, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | H25 J08 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2207&r= |
| By: | Cheryl Carleton (Department of Economics, Villanova School of Business, Villanova University); Mary T. Kelly (Department of Economics, Villanova School of Business, Villanova University) |
| Abstract: | With the growing attachment of older workers to the labor force and their engagement in alternative work arrangements, it is important to investigate the characteristics of older cohorts of individuals who are in the labor market and the factors that influence job satisfaction, as job satisfaction may be a predictor of which older individuals are likely to continue to work and in what type of work arrangement. This study uses several recent years of the General Social Survey to both explore the characteristics of older workers and investigate what contributes to job satisfaction, controlling for both gender and work arrangement. It splits the sample of workers into two cohorts to test for differences in job satisfaction between those who are nearing retirement age (55-64) and those who continue to work post the traditional retirement age (65-80). For the sample as a whole, and similar to other studies, we find that job satisfaction is higher for women and for those who work in alternative work arrangements as compared to those in regular jobs. We also find that there are differences in what contributes to job satisfaction between the two groups of older workers. These outcomes may inform firms about what they might do in order to keep these workers as well as informing the government on whether it is necessary to rethink how some benefits are both provided and paid for. |
| Keywords: | Job satisfaction; Alternative Work Arrangements; Older workers |
| JEL: | J28 J16 J48 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vil:papers:51&r= |
| By: | Deole, Sumit S.; Rieger, Marc Oliver |
| Abstract: | We present new descriptive evidence on the immigrant-native gap in risk and time preferences in Germany, one of the most preferred host countries for immigration. Using the recent waves of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) dataset, we find that the immigrant-native gap in risk preferences has widened for recent immigration cohorts, especially around the 2015 European Refugee Crisis. We attribute the recent widening to decreased assimilation rates of new immigrants caused by a reduced integration due to sudden increases in immigrants flows from culturally diverse parts of the world, particularly around the year 2015. We also find that the immigrant-native gap varies across different migrant groups: "Opportunity seekers", which we define as economic immigrants who intend to stay in Germany only temporarily, are very similar in their risk preferences to natives. Other immigrants, however, are substantially more risk-averse than natives. A smaller gap in risk preferences is also found among migrants who are female, highly educated, proficient in the host language, self-employed and working in predominantly high-skilled jobs. Concerning time preferences, although a noticeably large immigrant-native gap is evident, the gap is not found to vary across most individual-level socio-economic variables. |
| Keywords: | Risk aversion,time discounting,immigration,assimilation |
| JEL: | J61 D91 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1055&r= |
| By: | Anna Raute (Anna Raute); Andrea Weber (Andrea Weber); Galina Zudenkova (Galina Zudenkova) |
| Abstract: | A child’s family structure is a fundamental determinant of future well-being, making it essential to understand how public policies affect the involvement of fathers. In this paper, we exploit a reform of the German parental leave system—which increased mother’s income and reduced legal father’s financial support burden—to measure the impact on the relationship contract choices of parents who were unmarried at conception. Based on detailed birth record data, we demonstrate that short-run reform incentives during the first period after birth nudge unmarried fathers into the long-term commitment of acknowledging paternity. This shift reduces single motherhood by 6% but leaves the share of marriages at birth constant. Moreover, the change in relationship contract choices is mostly driven by parents of boys. These findings are compatible with predictions from a model where parents choose between three types of relationship contracts based on the mother’s and father’s incomes and support obligations. Our results highlight the necessity of studying intermediate relationship contracts (i.e., between the extremes of marriage and single motherhood) to improve our understanding of potential risk groups among the rising number of children growing up outside of marriage. |
| Keywords: | Paid parental leave, family structure, paternity establishment |
| JEL: | I38 J12 J13 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2206&r= |
| By: | Felipe Alves |
| Abstract: | I build a Heterogeneous Agents New Keynesian model with rich labor market dynamics. Workers search both off- and on-the-job, giving rise to a job ladder, where employed workers slowly move toward more productive and better paying jobs through job-to-job transitions, while negative shocks occasionally throw them back into unemployment. The state of the economy includes the distribution of workers over wealth, labor earnings and match productivities. In the wake of an adverse financial shock calibrated to mimic the US Great Recession unemployment dynamics, firms reduce hiring, causing the job ladder to all but “stop working.” This leaves wages stagnant for several years, triggering a sharp contraction and slow recovery in consumption and output. On the supply side, the slow pace in worker turnover leaves workers stuck at the bottom of the ladder, effectively cutting labor productivity growth in the aggregate. The interaction between weak demand and low productivity leads to inflation dynamics that resemble the missing disinflation of that period. |
| Keywords: | Business fluctuations and cycles; Inflation and prices; Labour markets; Productivity |
| JEL: | D31 D52 E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:22-14&r= |
| By: | Gertsberg, Marina (University of Melbourne); Möllerström, Johanna (George Mason University); Pagel, Michaela (Columbia GSB, NBER, and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We study shareholder support for corporate board nominees before and after the 2018 California gender quota. Pre-quota, new female nominees received greater support than new male nominees, consistent with women being held to a higher standard. Post-quota, as the number of women increased, support for new (mandated) female nominees decreased to the same level of, but not lower than, the support that new male nominees enjoy. Still, share prices reacted negatively to the quota. We show that this reaction was concentrated in firms that did not turn over their least-supported male directors when adding women to comply with the quota. |
| Keywords: | Board of directors; Gender quota; Regulation; Corporate Governance |
| JEL: | G30 G34 G38 J16 K38 |
| Date: | 2022–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1425&r= |
| By: | O'Higgins, Niall.; Pinedo Caro, Luis. |
| Abstract: | In recent years, crowdworking has emerged as a small but rapidly growing source of employment and income principally for young(er) people. Here, we build on previous work in identifying the determinants of crowdworkers’ earnings. We focus on the reasons why young crowdworkers earn significantly higher hourly wages than their older counterparts. We show that this is due to the higher returns to experience accruing to younger crowd-workers. Educational attainment does not explain this age-based differential, as education is a negligible factor in determining crowdworkers’ earnings. We also analyse why young women earn around 20% less than their male counterparts despite blind hiring. We confirm that this is partly explained by constraints on working time faced by women with children. The analysis also shows that ‘freely chosen’ crowd work - as opposed to, young people crowd-working because of a lack of alternative employment opportunities - is conducive to higher levels of job satisfaction. Moreover, young crowdworkers in middle income countries earn less than their counterparts in high income countries but report higher levels of job satisfaction. This is entirely attributable to the lower quality of their options outside of crowdwork. |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995167692802676&r= |
| By: | Halvarsson, Daniel (Ratio Institute); Lark, Olga (Department of Economics, Lund University); Gustavsson Tingvall, Patrik (National Board of Trade, Södertörn University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study foreign ownership as a vehicle for transferring gender norms across international borders. Specifically, we analyze how the wage differential between men and women in Swedish firms is affected by the degree of gender inequality in the home country of foreign investors. The results suggest that gender norms of the home country matter—the gender wage gap in foreign-owned subsidiaries appears to increase with the degree of gender inequality prevailing in the investors' home market. This finding is identified from within job-spell variation in wages and proves robust across a series of specifications. |
| Keywords: | Foreign ownership; Gender inequality; Gender wage gap; Internationalization; Gender norms |
| JEL: | F66 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2022–03–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2022_006&r= |
| By: | Brah J. Hershbein (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Bryan A. Stuart (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how government transfers respond to changes in local economic activity that emerge during recessions. Local labor markets that experience greater employment losses during recessions face persistent relative decreases in earnings per capita. However, these areas also experience persistent increases in transfers per capita, which offset 16 percent of the earnings loss on average. The increase in transfers is driven by unemployment insurance in the short run, and medical, retirement, and disability transfers in the long run. Our results show that nominally place-neutral transfer programs redistribute considerable sums of money to places with depressed economic conditions. |
| Keywords: | recessions, safety net, government transfers, demand shocks, local labor markets, event study |
| JEL: | E32 H50 R12 R28 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:22-362&r= |
| By: | Deerfield, Amanda (Economics Department); Elert, Niklas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Formal institutions, e.g., regulations, are considered crucial determinants of entrepreneurship, but what enables regulatory change when there is a regulatory void, meaning entrepreneurship clashes with existing regulations? Drawing on public choice theory, we hypothesize that regulatory freedom facilitates the introduction of legislation to fill such voids. We test this hypothesis using unique data documenting the time for ridesharing to become legalized at the state level across the United States following its local (and often illegal) rollout. Results suggest states with greater regulatory freedom passed ridesharing legislation quicker, highlighting an underappreciated way that extant regulatory freedom facilitates the accommodation of entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Regulation; Institutional change; Institutional voids; Institutional entrepreneurship; Sharing economy; Economic freedom; Survival analysis |
| JEL: | C21 O31 R49 |
| Date: | 2022–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1426&r= |
| By: | Irwin Garfinkel; Laurel Sariscsany; Elizabeth Ananat; Sophie M. Collyer; Robert Paul Hartley; Buyi Wang; Christopher Wimer |
| Abstract: | We conduct a benefit-cost analysis of a U.S. child allowance, based on a systematic literature review of the highest quality available causal evidence on the short- and long-term effects of cash and near-cash transfers. In contrast to the previous studies we synthesize, which tend to measure a subset of benefits and costs available in a particular dataset, we establish a comprehensive accounting of potential effects and secure estimates of each. We produce core estimates of the benefits and costs per child and per adult of increasing household income by $1,000 in one year; these can be applied to value any cash or near-cash program that increases household income. Using microsimulation, we then apply these estimates to determine net aggregate benefits of three child allowance policies, including the expanded Child Tax Credit as enacted for the year 2021 in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Our estimates indicate that making that expansion permanent would cost $97 billion per year and generate social benefits with net present value of $982 billion per year. Sensitivity analyses indicate that our estimates are robust to alternative assumptions and that all three child allowance policies we evaluate produce very high net returns for the U.S. population. |
| JEL: | H2 H23 I38 J18 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29854&r= |
| By: | Pierre Koning (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Paul Muller (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Roger Prudon (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Workers with fixed-term contracts typically have worse health than workers with permanent contracts. We show that these differences in health translate into a substantially higher (30%) risk of applying for disability insurance (DI) in the Netherlands. Using unique administrative data on health and labor market outcomes of all employees in the Netherlands, we decompose this differential into: (i) selection of workers types into fixed-term contracts; (ii) the causal impact of temporary work conditions on worker health; (iii) the impact of differential employer incentives to reintegrate ill workers; and (iv) the differential impact of labor market prospects on the decision to apply for DI benefits. We find that selection actually masks part of the DI risk premium, whereas the causal impact of temporary work conditions on worker health is limited. At the same time, the differences in employer commitment during illness and differences in labor market prospects between fixed-term and permanent workers jointly explain more than 80% of the higher DI risk. |
| Keywords: | Disability Insurance, Temporary Work, Employer Incentives, Worker Health |
| JEL: | H53 J08 I1 |
| Date: | 2022–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20220024&r= |
| By: | Jason Sockin (University of Pennsylvania); Aaron Sojourner (University of Minnesota and IZA Institute of Labor Economics); Evan Starr (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: | We examine how non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) influence the flow of information in labor markets, leveraging workers' reviews of their employers on the website Glassdoor. Beginning in 2019, three states passed laws that 'narrowed NDAs' by prohibiting firms from using NDAs to restrict workers from sharing about unlawful conduct, and strengthened workers' anti-retaliation protections for speaking out. On average, these laws reduced ratings of firms by approximately 5%, with stronger effects in industries where NDAs are more prevalent. The rise in negative information pertains to many dimensions of jobs, including a 22% increase in reviews related to problems with harassment. The laws also reduced the likelihood with which employees who write negative reviews conceal aspects of their identity---consistent with reduced concern about retaliation risks. Finally, these laws increased dispersion in firm ratings within a market, suggesting that broad NDAs facilitate equilibria where firms with worse employment practices can 'pool' reputations among firms with better practices. Our results highlight how firms can use broad NDAs to preserve their reputation by silencing workers, but doing so imposes negative externalities on jobseekers who value such information and competing 'high-road' employers who are less able to distinguish themselves. |
| Keywords: | Imperfect Information, Non-Disclosure Agreements, Externalities, Firm Reputation |
| JEL: | M55 K31 J58 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:22-360&r= |
| By: | Michael Christl (European Commission - JRC); Ilias Livanos (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)); Andrea Papini (European Commission - JRC); Alberto Tumino (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a first assessment of the fiscal and distributional consequences of the ongoing structural changes in the labour markets of EU Member States, mostly driven by technological progress and ageing. Cedefop 2020 Skill forecasts, EUROSTAT population projections and the forecast on pension expenditures from the 2021 Ageing Report depict a scenario of an ageing population, an inverted U-shaped unemployment trend and potentially polarising labour markets, the latter mostly driven by a surge in high-skill occupations. This analysis makes use of the microsimulation model EUROMOD and reweighting techniques to analyse the fiscal and distributional impacts of these trends, given the current tax-benefit policies. The results suggest that the macro trends will increase pressure on government budgets. The analysis also shows evidence of the capacity of the current tax-benefit systems to counterbalance the increases in income inequality and poverty risks triggered by the expected future labour markets developments. |
| Keywords: | income distribution, budget, deficit, job polarisation, population ageing |
| JEL: | J11 J21 H68 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:taxref:202202&r= |
| By: | Marta Lachowska (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Alexandre Mas (Princeton University and NBER); Stephen A. Woodbury (Michigan State University and W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the quality of quarterly records on work hours collected from employers in the State of Washington to administer the unemployment insurance (UI) system, specifically to determine eligibility for UI. We subject the administrative records to four “trials,” all of which suggest the records reliably measure paid hours of work. First, distributions of hours in the administrative records and Current Population Survey outgoing rotation groups (CPS) both suggest that 52–54% of workers work approximately 40 hours per week. Second, in the administrative records, quarter-to-quarter changes in the log of earnings are highly correlated with quarter-to-quarter changes in the log of paid hours. Third, annual changes in Washington’s minimum wage rate (which is indexed) are clearly reflected in year-to-year changes in the distribution of paid hours in the administrative data. Fourth, Mincer-style wage rate and earnings regressions using the administrative data produce estimates similar to those found elsewhere in the literature. |
| Keywords: | unemployment insurance, administrative data, paid work hours, data quality |
| JEL: | C81 H83 J65 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:22-361&r= |
| By: | Gueyon Kim (University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | I study the trade-induced restructuring process using a novel measure of new work that captures the firm’s demand for jobs employing new knowledge, skills, and technologies. To construct measures of new work, I identify newly emerged job titles using word embedding models. Using both regional and firm-level analyses, I find that greater import exposure causes a persistent increase in new work in managerial occupations, but a decrease in new work in other occupations. Examining the activities performed in managerial new work, I find evidence of increased investments in post-production activities such as customer support, marketing, and sales. I further show that the trade-induced increase in managerial new work is driven by college-educated workers, thereby shedding light on the role of new work adoption in the distributional consequences of import shocks. |
| Keywords: | restructuring, word embedding models, import shocks |
| JEL: | J60 O00 F16 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2022-007&r= |
| By: | Pierre-André Chiappori (Columbia University); Carlo Fiorio (University of Milan); Alfred Galichon (New York University and Sciences Po); Stefano Verzillo (European Commission) |
| Abstract: | We analyze marital matching on income using an extremely rich Dutch data set containing all income tax files over four years. We develop a novel methodology that directly extends previous contributions to allow for highly flexible matching patterns. Investigating all marriages that took place between 2011 and 2014, we find that marital patterns remain remarkably stable over the period. While a majority of couples match assortatively, a small but significant minority display negative assortative matching. We also show that standard approaches, which consider all married couples using current incomes, may generate misleading conclusions. Finally, we find that, in contrast with recent results, whether his income exceeds her does not seem to play any significant role. |
| Keywords: | Marriage, The Netherlands, income disparities in marriage |
| JEL: | J12 H24 C78 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2022-006&r= |
| By: | Benton, Eleanor; Karlsson, Jacob; Pinter, Ilona; Provan, Bert; Scanlon, Kathleen; Whitehead, Christine M E |
| Abstract: | This report estimates the monetised social and economic gains (benefits) of removing of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition for certain household in England. It compares this to the costs of allowing them to be able to apply for welfare benefits and various public services paid for from public funds. This is in the form of a Social Cost Benefit Analysis and was prepared as an independent analysis for the Greater London Authority. The households in scope are households and families with visas statuses including the right to work, some of whom are on visa routes that could lead to long-term settlement in the UK. These includes holders of Tier 1, 2 or 5 visas who come to the UK to work and their dependents; those who are in the UK because of family links; dependents or others who are linked to the primary visa holder and those estimated to come via the Hong Kong British National Overseas scheme. The report estimates that there are approximately 362,000 households, including 106,000 households with children, would potentially be affected by lifting the NRPF condition. Access to public funds would be restricted by existing qualifying conditions limiting access to welfare benefits and other services to households in need of this public assistance. It found that, over ten years, removing the NRPF condition just for households with children and other vulnerable individuals would result in a net gain of £872 million. Removing the condition for all those on these visas would result in a £428 million net gain. |
| JEL: | E6 J1 |
| Date: | 2022–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:114466&r= |