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on Demographic Economics |
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Issue of 2018‒10‒15
four papers chosen by Héctor Pifarré i Arolas Max-Planck-Institut für demografische Forschung |
| By: | Elena Del Rey; Maria Racionero; Jose I. Silva |
| Abstract: | We explore the effect of parental leave entitlements for mothers and fathers on wages and unemployment rates. To do so we extend the labour search and matching model in Del Rey, Racionero and Silva (2017) to include two types of workers, males and females, who compete for the same jobs. We show that an increase in leave duration has an ambiguous effect both on job creation and wages. We identify the mechanisms underlying this ambiguity. Given the variety of possible final effects we calibrate the model for several countries (Denmark, France, Italy and Portugal) and simulate policy changes. In all countries considered an increase in the duration of either leave negatively affects job creation and the wage of the directly affected worker. As a result, both wages fall while unemployment rates increase in equilibrium. Finally, we explore the effect of closing the gender gap in leave duration and show that, since fathers tend to take the leave less often, increasing the duration of the male-specifc leave is less effective in closing the wage and unemployment gaps than decreasing the female-specific one. |
| JEL: | E24 J38 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:cbeeco:2018-663&r=dem |
| By: | Huebener, Mathias (DIW Berlin); Kühnle, Daniel (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Spieß, C. Katharina (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of substantial changes in paid parental leave on child development and socio-economic development gaps. We exploit a German reform from 2007 that both expanded paid leave in the first year and removed paid leave in the second year following childbirth. Higher-income households benefited relatively more from the reform than low-income households. We use administrative data from mandatory school entrance examinations containing detailed child development assessments at age six within a difference-in-differences approach. Our precise and robust estimates reveal no effects of the changes in parental leave benefits on child development across various socio-economic groups, and consequently no effects on socio-economic development gaps. |
| Keywords: | parental leave benefit, child development, school readiness, motor skills, language skills, socio-emotional stability |
| JEL: | J13 J18 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11794&r=dem |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics); Jimenez-Martin, Sergi (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina (Universidad de Murcia) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of demand-side subsidies to old age care recipients on both caregiving and intergenerational transfer decisions. We exploit two quasi-natural experiments referring to the inception of a universal and unconditional caregiving allowance in 2007 and its subsequent reduction in 2012. We find that the introduction of a caregiving allowance of a magnitude up to 530€ in 2011 increased the probability of informal caregiving by 32% and the intensity of care in 13.5 days/year. Consistently, we find that downstream (upstream) intergenerational transfers increased (decreased) in a magnitude of 29% (15%). The effects concentrate among middle and lower income households and were attenuated by the reduction of the subsidy. |
| Keywords: | caregiving, intergenerational transfers, unconditional transfer, difference-in-differences, long-term care, family transfers, exchange motivation, caregiving allowances, demand-side cash subsidies |
| JEL: | I18 D14 G22 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11774&r=dem |
| By: | James J. Heckman; Sidharth Moktan |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between placement of publications in Top Five (T5) journals and receipt of tenure in academic economics departments. Analyzing the job histories of tenure-track economists hired by the top 35 U.S. economics departments, we find that T5 publications have a powerful influence on tenure decisions and rates of transition to tenure. A survey of the perceptions of young economists supports the formal statistical analysis. Pursuit of T5 publications has become the obsession of the next generation of economists. However, the T5 screen is far from reliable. A substantial share of influential publications appear in non-T5 outlets. Reliance on the T5 to screen talent incentivizes careerism over creativity. |
| JEL: | A14 I23 J44 O31 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25093&r=dem |