|
on Demographic Economics |
|
Issue of 2013‒10‒05
thirty papers chosen by Clarence Nkengne Tsimpo University of Montreal and World Bank Group |
| By: | Josef Montag (Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of state-level differences in labor regulation on labor market outcomes of women in India. I find that labor regulation has a large negative effect on women’s economic activity, mainly employment. A one standard deviation increase in the labor regulation measure decreases the probability of a woman being economically active by 3% to 4%—the implied decrease in female labor force is 15% to 18%. There is no significant effect on the gender wage gap. Finally, labor regulation is associated with women having less say at home and a lower sex ratio. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, labor regulation, India |
| JEL: | J16 J21 K31 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:men:wpaper:40_2013&r=dem |
| By: | Tien Manh Vu (Ph.D Candidate, Osaka School of International Public Policy); Hisakazu Matsushige (Professor, Osaka School of International Public Policy) |
| Abstract: | Using 1,045 pairs of Japanese monozygotic twins, we examine differences in educational attainment by considering both the years of schooling (quantity) and the reputation of the last attended school (quality). We find that a difference in learning performance at 15 years of age is one of the key factors connected with differences in both quantity and quality of educational attainment. We also find that when the eldest child in the family is the female twin in the 1950s and 1960s birth cohorts, she forgoes 0.542 years of schooling over her younger twin sister; but for the same birth cohorts, when the eldest child in the family is the male twin, he gains some advantage in the quality of educational attainment over his younger twin brother. However, we find that as the Japanese economy has developed, any difference between twins disappears in subsequent birth cohorts, regardless of gender and sibling order. |
| Keywords: | identical twins,gender,sibling order,educational attainment,equality |
| JEL: | I24 I25 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:13e007&r=dem |
| By: | Danzer, Natalia (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Lavy, Victor (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the question whether long-term human capital outcomes are affected by the duration of maternity leave, i.e. by the time mothers spend at home with their newborn before returning to work. Employing RD and difference-in-difference approaches, this paper exploits an unanticipated reform in Austria which extended the maximum duration of paid and job protected parental leave from 12 to 24 months for children born on July 1, 1990 or later. We use test scores from the Austrian PISA test of birth cohorts 1990 and 1987 as measure of human capital. The evidence suggest no significant overall impact of the extended parental leave mandate on standardized test scores at age 15, but that the subgroup of boys of highly educated mothers have benefited from this reform while boys of low educated mothers were harmed by it. |
| Keywords: | parental leave reform, maternal employment, human capital, child development, cognitive skills |
| JEL: | J13 J24 J22 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7626&r=dem |
| By: | Grabka, Markus M. (DIW Berlin); Marcus, Jan (DIW Berlin); Sierminska, Eva (CEPS/INSTEAD) |
| Abstract: | While most studies on wealth inequality focus on the inequality between households, this paper examines the distribution of wealth within couples. For this purpose, we make use of unique individual level micro data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). In married and cohabiting couples men's net worth, on average, is 33,000 euros higher than women's. We look at five different sets of factors (demographics, income, labor market, inheritances, financial decision-making in the partnership) that might explain this wealth gap. We find that all factors contribute to the explanation of the wealth gap within partnerships, with inheritances and income being particularly relevant. Furthermore, we find that specific characteristics (e.g., self-employment, no migration background, inheritances, high income) that decrease the wealth gap for women increase it for men. For men the respective coefficients are even stronger in absolute terms. When examining intra-partnership financial decision-making, we find the gap to be significantly smaller when the female partner manages the money and larger if the male partner has the last word in financial decisions. |
| Keywords: | wealth gap, wealth inequality, intra-household allocation, gender, financial decision-making, SOEP |
| JEL: | J2 D13 D31 D69 I31 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7637&r=dem |
| By: | Simone D\'Alessandro (University of Pisa); Tamara Fioroni (Department of Economics (University of Verona)) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the evolution of child labour, fertility and human capital in an economy characterized by two types of workers, low- and high-skilled. This heterogeneity allows an endogenous analysis of inequality generated by child labour. More specifically, according to empirical evidence, we offer an explanation for the emergence of a vicious cycle between child labour and inequality. The basic intuition behind this result arises from the interdependence between child labour and fertility decisions. Furthermore, we investigate how child labour regulation policies can influence the welfare of the two groups in the short run, and the income distribution in the long run. We find that conflicts of interest may arise between the two groups |
| Keywords: | Child Labour, Fertility, Human capital, Inequality |
| JEL: | J13 J24 J82 K31 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:17/2013&r=dem |
| By: | Kalpana Kochhar |
| Abstract: | The proposed SDN discusses the specific macro-critical aspects of women’s participation in the labor market and the constraints that prevent women from developing their full economic potential. Building on earlier Fund analysis, work undertaken by other organizations and academic research, the SDN presents possible policies to overcome these obstacles in different types of countries. |
| Keywords: | Women;Labor markets;Gender equality;Employment;Fiscal policy;Developed countries;Emerging markets |
| Date: | 2013–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfsdn:13/10&r=dem |
| By: | Fonseca, Raquel (University of Québec at Montréal); Michaud, Pierre-Carl (University of Québec at Montréal); Kapteyn, Arie (University of Southern California); Galama, Titus (University of Southern California) |
| Abstract: | We estimate a stochastic life-cycle model of endogenous health spending, asset accumulation and retirement to investigate the causes behind the increase in health spending and longevity in the U.S. over the period 1965-2005. We estimate that technological change and the increase in the generosity of health insurance on their own may explain 36% of the rise in health spending (technology 30% and insurance 6%), while income explains only 4% and other health trends 0.5%. By simultaneously occurring over this period, these changes may have led to complementarity effects which we find to explain an additional 57% increase in health spending. The estimates suggest that the elasticity of health spending with respect to changes in both income and insurance is larger with co-occurring improvements in technology. Technological change, taking the form of increased health care productivity at an annual rate of 1.3%, explains almost all of the rise in life expectancy at age 25 over this period, while changes in insurance and income together explain less than 10%. Welfare gains are substantial and most of the gain appears to be due to technological change. |
| Keywords: | health spending, longevity, life-cycle models, technological change |
| JEL: | I10 I38 J26 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7622&r=dem |
| By: | Marchetti, Sabrina (European University Institute); Piazzalunga, Daniela (University of Turin); Venturini, Alessandra (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Migrants from the Eastern Partnership Countries: Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan has increased in the last ten years. Two different patterns are detected among the most important groups: Ukrainian and Moldovan. The first is mainly composed by women with a temporary migration plan while the second was initially composed by women but rapidly the family reunification was obtained and the migration plan became more permanent. By using the Italian Labour Force survey we analyse the employment situation, the over education of the migrants and their assimilation. |
| Keywords: | migration, labour market |
| JEL: | J15 J26 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7635&r=dem |
| By: | Christina Carlsson Wetterberg (Department of Humanities, Education and Social Science, Örebro University, Sweden); Shunji Ishihara (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | In the beginning of the 20th century marriage legislation was reformed in all the Nordic countries. Male privileges were abolished and equality was declared. Marriage was constructed as a union between two independent individuals that could be dissolved if both wanted to. It was not until the 1960s that a similar legislation was beginning to take shape in the rest of Europe. The article starts by looking into this common Nordic marriage law reform but focus later on the Swedish reform processes and debates. The analysis is guided by three main questions: why did the reform come about, which meaning/meanings were given to the concept of equality in the debates and which role did women's organisation play in the process. The paper starts with putting the question of marriage in a wider context, discussing the reform in relation to the specific Nordic path towards a modern society. The following analysis of the Swedish debates shows that the question of marriage was closely interwoven with other contemporary political debates around social conditions, population policy, and eugenics. Establishing equality between husband and wife was one important aim behind the reform, but this aim was combined with, or even seen as a prerequisite for another, namely to strengthen the family as an institution. One of the most complex questions was how to give married women who had no property or income of their own a more free and independent position. How to reach equality in a society characterized by gender difference? This was a central and difficult question for the women's organisations. Their principal approach to women's emancipation differed, but when it came to marriage reform they cooperated to influence the new legislation. In the final analysis women's organisations understandings of equality is discussed in relation to how the concept was approached in the general political debate. One of the central conclusions is that it is necessary to put concepts like equality and feminism in its historical context and another that this Swedish and Nordic marriage legislation was as much about women's rights as about the well of the nation. |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:jseres:2013cj251&r=dem |
| By: | Sau-Him Lau (University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | Hazan (2009) performs empirical analysis based on the conjecture that a necessary condition for higher life expectancy to cause longer schooling years is that it also increases lifetime labor supply, and reaches controversial conclusions. We aim to examine the theoretical validity of Hazan's (2009) conjecture, and more generally, to understand the relation between these two conditions in a standard life-cycle model. We find that the relation between the effects on optimal schooling years and expected lifetime labor supply differs systematically with respect to mortality reductions at different stages of the life cycle. Based on these systematic differences, we find that longer lifetime labor supply is not sufficient for increased schooling years for mortality reductions during the schooling years, and not necessary for increased schooling years for some mortality reductions during the working years. We provide explanations regarding why Ben-Porath’s (1967) longer-horizon mechanism in the analysis of the timing of human capital investment is not always applicable to the question regarding the impact of mortality decline on human capital investment. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed013:292&r=dem |
| By: | Sumon K. Bhaumik; Ralitza Dimova; Ira N. Gang |
| Abstract: | Our analysis of a rich representative household survey for Malawi, where patrilineal and matrilineal institutions coexist, suggests that (a) in matrilineal societies the likelihood of cash crop cultivation by a household increases with the extent of land owned (or de facto controlled) by males, and (b) and cultivation of cash crops increases household welfare. The policy implication is that facilitating female ownership of assets through informal and formal institutions does not, on its own, increase welfare, if women do not have access to complementary resources that are needed to generate income from those assets. |
| Keywords: | female ownership of assets, informal institutions, cash crops, household welfare |
| JEL: | Q12 O2 O13 J16 |
| Date: | 2013–08–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2013-1055&r=dem |
| By: | Martin Fischer; Martin Karlsson; Therese Nilsson |
| Abstract: | Theoretically, there are several reasons to expect education to have a positive effect on health, and empirical research suggests that education can be an important health determinant. However, it has not yet been established whether education and health are indeed causally-related, and the effects found in previous studies may be partially attributable to methodological weaknesses. Moreover, existing evidence on the education-health relationship using information of schooling reforms for identication generally uses information from fairly recent reforms implying that health outcomes are observed only over a limited time period. This paper examines the effect of education on mortality using information on a national roll-out of a reform leading to one extra year of compulsory schooling in Sweden. In 1936, the national government made a seventh school year compulsory; however, the implementation was decided at the school district level, and the reform was implemented over a period of 12 years. Taking advantage of the variation in the timing of the implementation across school districts by using county-level proportions of reformed districts, census data and administrative mortality data, we find that the extra compulsory school year reduced mortality. In fact, the mortality reduction is discernible already before the age of 30 and then grows in magnitude until the age of 55–60. |
| Keywords: | Returns to schooling; education reform; mortality |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I18 I21 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0441&r=dem |
| By: | Do Won Kwak (School of Economics, The University of Queensland); Hyejin Ku |
| Abstract: | To separately identify the effects of single-sex “schooling†versus single- sex “schoolsâ€, we exploit two unusual experiments in South Korea: students are randomly assigned to academic high schools within districts regardless of school types, and some schools changed their types from single-sex to coeducational over time. While the overall effects of attending a single-sex school are positive for both boys and girls, these are driven by the differences in resources between school types, rather than classroom gender composition per se. We find that coed (versus single-sex) classroom teaching itself has positive effects for boys, and neutral or negative effects for girls. |
| Date: | 2013–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uq2004:487&r=dem |
| By: | Miguel Vargas (Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales); Alejandro Corvarlan (Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we empirically investigate the relationship between ethnic segregation and social conflict. We argue that segregation can increase the collective articulation within groups and the difference between preferences, which can increase conflict intensity. Our focus is on ethnic segregation because we follow the idea that although conflicts can be economically motivated, they need other aspects to find their expression, such as religion, language or ethnicity. Using a panel data model, we find robust evidence on the relationship between segregation and social conflict even after controlling for polarization and fractionalization. |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ptl:wpaper:42&r=dem |
| By: | SELEZNEVA Ekaterina; VAN KERM Philippe |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to re-examine the gender wage gap in Germany on the basis of inequality-adjusted measures of wage differentials which fully account for gender differences in pay distributions. The inequality-adjusted gender pay gap measures are significantly larger than suggested by standard indicators, especially in East Germany. Women appear penalized twice, with both lower mean wages and greater wage inequality. A hypothetical risky investment question collected in 2004 in the SOEP is used to estimate individual risk aversion parameters and benchmark the ranges of inequality-adjusted wage differentials measures. |
| Keywords: | gender gap; wage differentials; wage inequality; expected utility; risk aversion; East and West Germany; SOEP; Singh-Maddala distribution; copula-based selection model |
| JEL: | D63 J31 J70 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2013-18&r=dem |
| By: | Julie A. Nelson |
| Abstract: | Economic discourse—or the lack of it—about fear is gendered on at least three fronts. First, while masculine-associated notions of reason and mind have historically been prioritized in mainstream economics, fear—along with other emotions and embodiment—has tended to be culturally associated with femininity. Research on cognitive "gender schema," then, may at least partly explain the near absence of discussions of fear within economic research. Second, in the rare cases where fear is discussed in the contemporary economics literature, there is a tendency to (overly-)strongly associate it with women. Finally, historians and philosophers of science have suggested that the failure to consider the full range of human emotions and experience may be itself rooted in fear: a fear of the feminine. This aversion to discussing fear—especially fear as experienced by men—may contribute to serious problems, especially in regard to financial market instability and ecological threats. |
| Keywords: | cognitive schema, fear, gender, risk aversion, stereotypes |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mab:wpaper:17&r=dem |
| By: | Sheetal Sekhri; Adam Storeygard |
| Abstract: | We examine the eect of rainfall shocks on crimes against women using data from 583 Indian districts for 2002-2007. We nd that a one standard deviation decline in annual rainfall from the local mean increases reported domestic violence by 4.4 percent and dowry deaths by 7.8 percent. Wet shocks have no apparent eect. These patterns are consistent with consumption smoothing by households relying on agriculture, but inconsistent with hypotheses emphasizing general unrest. Women's political representation in the national parliament has no apparent mitigating eect. |
| Keywords: | Dowry Deaths, Consumption Smoothing, Climate Shocks |
| JEL: | O10 O13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vir:virpap:407&r=dem |
| By: | Catherine Haeck; Pierre Lefebvre; Philip Merrigan |
| Abstract: | More than ten years ago, to increase mothers’ participation in the labour market and to enhance child development, the province of Québec implemented a $5 per day universal childcare policy. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the costs and benefits of the program over that period. A non-experimental evaluation framework based on multiple pre- and post-treatment periods is used to estimate the policy effects. We find that the reform had important and lasting effects on the number of children aged 1 to 4 attending childcare and the numbers of hours they spend in daycare. For children aged 5, we uncovered strong evidence that implementing full-day kindergarten alone was not enough to increase maternal labour force participation and weeks worked, but when combined with the low-fee daycare program it was, and these effects were also long lasting. Our results on cognitive development suggest that the school setting is more successful in raising children’s cognitive ability than the daycare setting. Finally, we show that the fiscal costs were most likely larger than the benefits. |
| Keywords: | Childcare policy, mother's labour supply, preschool children and school readiness, treatment effects, natural experiment |
| JEL: | H42 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:1334&r=dem |
| By: | Dammert, Ana C. (Carleton University); Ural Marchand, Beyza (University of Alberta, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of privatization on gender discrimination in China across firms with different technology intensities. Using a comprehensive firm-level survey, the paper identifies gender wage-productivity differentials by directly estimating the relative productivity levels of workers from the production function of firms. The panel structure of the survey is taken advantage of by following firms that were fully state-owned in the initial year, and distinguishing them from firms that were later privatized. The main results show that privatization was associated with an increase in relative productivity of female workers in high technology industries, and a reduction in relative productivity of female workers in low technology industries. Time varying coefficient results suggest that the improvements in gender outcomes in high technology industries may not be maintained in the long run as the relative wage and productivity ratios tend to deteriorate, potentially due to low supply of highly educated female workers. At the same time, outcomes in privatized low technology industries tend to improve over time, lowering the wage and productivity gaps between male and female workers. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination; Gender; Privatization; Technology |
| JEL: | J16 J31 P20 |
| Date: | 2013–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2013_012&r=dem |
| By: | Ellen Bouchery |
| Keywords: | Dentistry, Dental Care, Medicaid, Pediatrics |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2013–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7898&r=dem |
| By: | David Madden (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | This paper measures the degree of inequality of opportunity in birthweight and birthlength for a sample of Irish infants. The sample is partitioned into eight types by mothers’ education and mothers’ smoking status. Stochastic dominance tests reveal the presence of inequality of opportunity but its fraction of total inequality is comparatively small at 1-2%, with the remainder of inequality assigned to random, unobserved factors. These results are robust to finer partitioning of the population and to re-definition of types’ opportunity sets which gives greater weight to inequality at the lower end of the distribution. Analysis of the incidence of low birthweight and short birthlength using measures from the poverty and segregation literature also reveal that incidence is not uniform across type and is consistent with the presence of inequality of opportunity. |
| Keywords: | Inequality of opportunity, decomposition, poverty, child health |
| JEL: | I14 I24 J13 |
| Date: | 2013–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201313&r=dem |
| By: | Kahn, Lawrence M. (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | Using longitudinal data on individuals from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for thirteen countries during 1995-2001, I investigate the wage premium for permanent jobs relative to temporary jobs. The countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. I find that among men the wage premium for a permanent vs. temporary job is lower for older workers and native born workers; for women, the permanent job wage premium is lower for older workers and those with longer job tenure. Moreover, there is some evidence that among immigrant men, the permanent job premium is especially high for those who migrated from outside the European Union. These findings all suggest that the gain to promotion into permanent jobs is indeed higher for those with less experience in the domestic labor market. In contrast to the effects for the young and immigrants, the permanent job pay premium is slightly smaller on average for women than for men, even though on average women have less experience in the labor market than men do. It is possible that women even in permanent jobs are in segregated labor markets. But as noted, among women, the permanent job wage premium is higher for the young and those with less current tenure, suggesting that even in the female labor market, employers pay attention to experience differences. |
| Keywords: | wage structure, segmented labor markets, temporary jobs |
| JEL: | J31 J42 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7623&r=dem |
| By: | Courtemanche, Charles (Georgia State University); Soneji, Samir (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College); Tchernis, Rusty (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | We propose a Bayesian factor analysis model to rank the health of localities. Mortality and morbidity variables empirically contribute to the resulting rank, and population and spatial correlation are incorporated into a measure of uncertainty. We use county-level data from Texas and Wisconsin to compare our approach to conventional rankings that assign deterministic factor weights and ignore uncertainty. Greater discrepancies in rankings emerge for Texas than Wisconsin since the differences between the empirically-derived and deterministic weights are more substantial. Uncertainty is evident in both states but becomes especially large in Texas after incorporating noise from imputing its considerable missing data. |
| Keywords: | county, rank, health, factor analysis, Bayesian |
| JEL: | I14 C11 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7631&r=dem |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | The economic and social impact of chronic brain disorders (CBD) such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases will become the number one public-health problem worldwide, directly affecting 100 million people by 2050. On-going demographic trends, namely ageing populations worldwide, are leading to the unprecedented expansion of consumer demand for healthcare services. Healthcare systems worldwide soon will confront a serious crisis as a result of significant growth of the healthcare market, in a climate of shrinking resources. |
| Date: | 2013–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:6-en&r=dem |
| By: | Renuga Nagarajan (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Aurora A.C. Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Porto, OBEGEF); Sandra T. Silva (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | The phenomenon of population ageing and its influence on the economic growth of countries has long been the focus of major concern for both governments and the scientific community. Considering the scientific contributions that have been published on the matter in recent years, it seems timely to take a comprehensive and objective account of this stream of the literature. Using bibliometric techniques and based on 144 articles centred on ageing and economic growth gathered from Scopus, we found some interesting evidence: 1) ageing has increasingly attracted more researchers within economics-related literature; 2) more recently, studies have revealed the willingness of researchers to evaluate less immediate mechanisms relating ageing and economic growth, most notably consumption and saving patterns, and human capital; 3) there is a growing need in ageing research to test economic phenomena with real–world data against the theory, as reflected by the noticeable increase in the use of empirical methods; 4) Multivariate analyses have become more prominent since 2006, contrasting with a continuous fall in empirical analyses based on ‘Mathematical modelling’; 5) the effect of an ageing population on economic growth does not essentially vary according to the main mechanism through which ageing impacts on growth (being predominantly negative), but it does vary with the empirical methodologies used; 6) there are very few or a complete lack of studies on developing and less developed countries. The absence of empirical studies on ageing and economic growth for less developed countries combined with the fact that the ratio of an older population in such countries is expected to significantly increase over the next thirty years, makes this topic an imperative for future research. |
| Keywords: | Ageing population, Economic growth, Bibliometrics, Less developed countries |
| JEL: | J10 H50 O30 C89 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:505&r=dem |
| By: | Andrea Ichino; Guido Schwerdt; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer; Andrea Ichino |
| Abstract: | We study whether employment prospects of old and young workers differ after a plant closure. Using Austrian administrative data, we show that old and young workers face similar displacement costs in terms of employment in the long-run, but old workers lose considerably more initially and gain later. We interpret these findings using a search model with retirement as an absorbing state, that we calibrate to match the observed patterns. Our finding is that the dynamics of relative employment losses of old versus young workers after a displacement are mainly explained by different opportunities of transition into retirement. In contrast, differences in layoff rates and job offer arrival rates cannot explain these patterns. Our results support the idea that retirement incentives, more than weak labor demand, are responsible for the low employment rates of older workers. |
| Keywords: | Aging, Employability, Plant Closures, Matching |
| JEL: | J14 J65 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:nrnwps:2013_09&r=dem |
| By: | Andrey Launov (Department of Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz, Germany); Klaus Wälde (Department of Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz, Germany) |
| Abstract: | To which extent does an increase in operating effectiveness of public employment agencies on the one hand and a reduction of unemployment benefits on the other reduce unemployment? Using the recent labour market reform in Germany as background we find that the role of unemployment benefit reduction for the re- duction of unemployment is very modest (7% of the observed decline). Enhanced effectiveness of public employment agencies, to the contrary, explains a substan- tial part (34%) of the observed post-reform unemployment decline. If disincentive effects of PEA reforms had been avoided, the effect could have increased to 51%. |
| Keywords: | Employment agencies, unemployment benefi?ts, labour market reform, unemployment, structural model |
| JEL: | E24 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2013–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1307&r=dem |
| By: | Jason Chan (New York University, Stern School of Business, IOMS Department); Anindya Ghose (New York University, Stern School of Business, IOMS Department); Robert Seamans (New York University, Stern School of Business, Management Department) |
| Abstract: | The Internet has had profound effects on society, both positive and negative. In this paper we examine the effect of the Internet on a negative spillover: hate crime. In order to better understand the link, we study the extent to which broadband availability affects racial hatecrimes in the US from 1999 – 2008. To address measurement error, we instrument for broadband availability using slope of terrain. We find strong evidence that broadband availability increases racial hate crimes. The results are stronger in areas with greater racial segregation and with more online searches for racist words, suggesting that the direct effect of the Internet on hate crime is primarily due to a heightening of pre-existing propensities to engage in hate activity. We find no evidence that the Internet has affected crime reporting. The results are robust to alternative specifications and falsification tests. These results shed light on one of the many offline spillovers from increased online access, and suggest that governmental and private regulation of online content may help reduce hate crime. |
| Keywords: | Internet, broadband, online-offline interaction, hate crime, race |
| JEL: | C26 J15 K49 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1302&r=dem |
| By: | Jan Hagemejer (National Bank of Poland; Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Krzysztof Makarski (National Bank of Poland; Warsaw School of Economics); Joanna Tyrowicz (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; National Bank of Poland) |
| Abstract: | In many countries the fiscal tension associated with the global financial crisis brings about the discussion about unprivatizing the social security system. This paper employs an OLG model to assess ex ante the effects of such changes to the pension reform in Poland from 1999 as implemented in 2011 and proposed in 2013. We simulate the behavior of the economy without the implemented/proposed changes and compare it to a status quo defined by the reform from 1999. We find that the changes implemented in 2011 and all of the proposed reform scenarios from 2013 are detrimental to welfare. The effects on capital and output are small and depend on the selected fiscal closure. Implied effective replacement rates are lower. These findings are robust to time inconsistency. The shortsightedness of the governments imposes welfare costs. |
| Keywords: | OLG, PAYG, pension system reform, time inconsistency |
| JEL: | C68 E17 E25 J11 J24 H55 D72 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2013-26&r=dem |
| By: | Renuga Nagarajan (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto); Aurora A.C. Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Porto, OBEGEF); Sandra T. Silva (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | Although a myriad of important theoretical and empirical contributions on ageing populations exist, these contributions are diffuse and lack an integrated vision of the distinct mechanisms through which ageing populations impact on economic growth. As such, in this paper we survey the literature that provides insights on the ageing population and its effect on economic growth. In particular, we sought to uncover the main mechanisms through which ageing impacts on economic growth. The literature review shows that the impact of ageing on the performance of countries is intimately related to the mechanism elected. About 70% of the empirical studies that focused on the ‘public social expenditure’ mechanism convey a negative impact of ageing on economic performance, whereas the majority (60%) of empirical studies that focus on ‘human capital’ fail to uncover any significant statistical relation between ageing and the economic growth proxy and the positive impact is more closely related to the ‘consumption and saving patterns’ mechanism. Estimation methodologies also seem to be associated with distinct impacts of ageing on economic growth, with less sophisticated econometric methods (i.e. OLS and panel) being most often associated with negative (cor)relations. The bulk of the empirical evidence concerns developed countries (and the ‘public social expenditure’ mechanism), with most of the analysis indicating a negative and significant relation between ageing and growth. Given that developed, developing and even the least developed countries are/will be affected by the phenomenon of an ageing population, knowing the degree to which the influence of ageing varies among countries (including developing and the least developed), and through which mechanisms, is essential to specifying sound public policies. |
| Keywords: | Ageing; economic growth; consumption and saving patterns; public expenditure; human capital |
| JEL: | J1 O4 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:504&r=dem |