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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Frimmel, Wolfgang (University of Linz); Horvath, Thomas (WIFO - Austrian Institute of Economic Research); Schnalzenberger, Mario (University of Linz); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (University of Linz) |
| Abstract: | In general, retirement is seen as a pure labor supply phenomenon, but firms can have strong incentives to send expensive older workers into retirement. Based on the seniority wage model developed by Lazear (1979), we discuss steep seniority wage profiles as incentives for firms to dismiss older workers before retirement. Conditional on individual retirement incentives, e.g., social security wealth or health status, the steepness of the wage profile will have different incentives for workers as compared to firms when it comes to the retirement date. Using an instrumental variable approach to account for selection of workers in our firms and for reverse causality, we find that firms with higher labor costs for older workers are associated with lower job exit age. |
| Keywords: | retirement, seniority wages, firm incentives |
| JEL: | J14 J26 J31 H55 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9192&r=dem |
| By: | Bagues, Manuel F. (Aalto University); Sylos-Labini, Mauro (University of Pisa); Zinovyeva, Natalia (Aalto University) |
| Abstract: | An increasing number of countries are introducing gender quotas in scientific committees. We analyze how a larger presence of female evaluators affects committee decision-making using information on 100,000 applications to associate and full professorships in all academic disciplines in two countries, Italy and Spain. These applications were assessed by 8,000 evaluators who were selected through a random draw. A larger number of women in evaluation committees does not increase either the quantity or the quality of female candidates who qualify. If anything, when evaluators' are not familiar with candidates' research area, gender-mixed committees tend to be less favorable towards female candidates than all-male committees, with the exception of evaluations to full professorships in Spain. Data from 300,000 individual voting reports suggests that men become less favorable towards female candidates as soon as a woman joins the committee. |
| Keywords: | scientific committees, gender discrimination, randomized natural experiment |
| JEL: | J71 J16 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9199&r=dem |
| By: | Bharadwaj, Prashant (University of California, San Diego); Lundborg, Petter (Lund University); Rooth, Dan-Olof (Linnaeus University) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that health is an important determinant of labor market vulnerability during large economic crises. Using data on adults during Sweden's unexpected economic crisis in the early 1990s, we show that early and later life health are important determinants of job loss after the crisis, but not before. Adults who were born with worse health (proxied by birth weight) and those who experience hospitalizations (and especially so for mental health related issues) in the pre-crisis period, are much more likely to lose their jobs and go on unemployment insurance after the crisis. These effects are concentrated in the private sector that happened to be more affected by the crisis. The results hold while controlling for individual education and occupational sorting prior to the crisis, and for controlling for family level characteristics by exploiting health differences within twin pairs. We conclude that poor health (both in early life and as adults) is an important indicator of vulnerability during economic shocks. |
| Keywords: | early life, birth weight, economic crises, shocks, unemployment |
| JEL: | I10 I18 J65 E32 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9174&r=dem |
| By: | Black, Sandra E. (University of Texas at Austin); Devereux, Paul J. (University College Dublin); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | While recent research finds strong evidence that birth order affects children's outcomes such as education, IQ scores, and earnings, the evidence for effects on health is more limited. This paper uses a large dataset on the population of Norway and focuses on the effect of birth order on a range of health and health-related behaviors, outcomes not previously available in datasets of this magnitude. Interestingly, we find complicated effects of birth order. First-borns are more likely to be overweight, to be obese, and to have high blood pressure and high triglycerides. So, unlike education or earnings, there is no clear first-born advantage in health. However, later-borns are more likely to smoke and have poorer self-reported physical and mental health. They are also less likely to report that they are happy. We find that these effects are largely unaffected by conditioning on education and earnings, suggesting that these are not the only important pathways to health differentials by birth order. When we explore possible mechanisms, we find that smoking early in pregnancy is more prevalent for first pregnancies than for later ones. However, women are more likely to quit smoking during their first pregnancy than during later ones, and first-borns are more likely to be breast-fed. These findings suggest a role for early maternal investment in determining birth order effects on health. |
| Keywords: | parental investment, obesity, siblings |
| JEL: | I1 J1 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9172&r=dem |
| By: | Massimo Anelli; Giovanni Peri |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use a newly constructed dataset following 30,000 Italian individuals from high school to labor market and we analyze whether the gender composition of peers in high school affected their choice of college major, their academic performance and their labor market income. We leverage the fact that the composition of high school classmates (peers), within school-cohort and teacher-group, was not chosen by the students and it was as good as random. We find that male students graduating from classes with at least 80% of male peers were more likely to choose Òprevalently maleÓ (PM) college majors (Economics, Business and Engineering). However, this higher propensity to enroll in PM majors faded away during college (through transfers and attrition) so that men from classes with at least 80% of male peers in high school did not have higher probability of graduating in PM majors. They had instead worse college performance and did not exhibit any difference in income or labor market outcomes after college. We do not find significant effects on women. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, high school, gender, choice of college major, academic performance, wages |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:078&r=dem |
| By: | Marit Hinnosaar |
| Abstract: | Media is considered to be critical for gender equality. I analyze Wikipedia, one of the prominent examples of new media. I study why women are less likely to contribute to Wikipedia, the implications of the gender gap, and what can be done about it. I find that: (1) gender differences in the frequency of Wikipedia use and in beliefs about one's competence explain a large share of the gender gap in Wikipedia writing; (2) the gender gap among contributors leads to unequal coverage of topics; (3) providing information about gender inequality has a large effect on contributions. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Internet, Media, Public goods |
| JEL: | L86 L82 J16 H41 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:411&r=dem |
| By: | Bennett, Patrick (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School); La Cour, Lisbeth (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School); Larsen, Birthe (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School); Waisman, Gisela (Regeringskansliet, Stockholm) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores potential explanations behind the educational gap between young natives and immigrants using two measures, negative attitudes towards immigrants and networking, which may influence natives and immigrants differently. The paper considers, both theoretically and empirically, the impact of negative attitudes and networking taking into account that these parameters may influence high and uneducated workers as well as immigrants and natives differently, creating different incentives to acquire education for the two ethnic groups. Using rich Danish administrative data, this paper finds evidence that greater negative attitudes increase incentives for males to acquire education and that networking also increases immigrant education. |
| Keywords: | incentives; immigrants; education; attitudes |
| JEL: | I20 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2015–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2015_001&r=dem |