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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2019‒12‒09
24 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Manuela Stranges (Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance “Giovanni Anania”, University of Calabria); Daniele Vignoli (Department of Statistics, Informatics, Applications “G. Parenti”, University of Florence) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we describe the correlates of virginity in Italy. We use a dataset of students enrolled in bachelor programs of Economics and Statistics stemming from the SELFY survey, conducted in Italy in 2001 and 2017. Descriptive results show a reduction of students, both males and females, which are virgin at the time of the interview between 2001 and 2017. Regression analyses suggest that self-esteem and own body image, the relationship with parents (in particular the mother), and religion exert the strongest correlation with virginity. Models augmented with interaction terms between time and religion variables show that the relationship between religion and virginity has weakened over time. Our results also show that the participation in religious groups is more important than the importance attributed to religion in favouring being virgin. In all, our findings extend research on sexuality among Italian young adults and underscore the important variability that exist in the sexual experiences of students as highlighted by the salience of a multitude of individual, familial, interpersonal, and community-level factors associated with their virginity. |
| Keywords: | virginity status, correlates, Italy, religion |
| JEL: | J10 J13 J19 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201908&r=all |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S. |
| Abstract: | Employee representatives in firms are a potentially key but not yet studied source of the impact of unions and works councils. Their actions can shape multiple drivers of firm performance, including collective bargaining, strikes, and training. This paper examines the impact of union rep mandates by exploiting legal membership thresholds present in many countries. In the case of Portugal, which we examine here, while firms employing up to 49 union members are required to have one union rep, this increases to two (three) union reps for firms with 50 to 99 (100-199) union members. Drawing on matched employer- employee data on the unionised sector and regression discontinuity methods, we find that a one percentage point increase in the legal union rep/members ratio leads to an increase in firm performance of at least 7%. This result generally holds across multiple dimensions of firm performance and appears to be driven by increased training. However, we find no effects of union reps on firm-level wages, given the predominance of sectoral collective bargaining. |
| Keywords: | Firm Performance,Union Delegates,Collective Bargaining |
| JEL: | J51 J31 L25 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:428&r=all |
| By: | Böckerman, Petri (Labour Institute for Economic Research); Haapanen, Mika (Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics); Jepsen, Christopher (University College Dublin); Roulet, Alexandra (INSEAD) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of a comprehensive school reform on mental health. The reform postponed the tracking of students into vocational and academic schools from age 11 to age 16. The reform was implemented gradually across Finnish municipalities between 1972 and 1977. We use difference-in-differences variation and administrative data. Our results show that there is no discernible effect on mental health related hospitalizations on average even though the effect is precisely estimated. Heterogeneity analysis shows that, after the reform, females from highly-educated families were more likely to be hospitalized for depression. |
| Keywords: | tracking age, comprehensive school, mental health, depression, hospitalization |
| JEL: | I12 I26 I28 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12733&r=all |
| By: | Barbara Pertold-Gebicka (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Opletalova 26, 110 00, Prague, Czech Republic); Dominika Spolcova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Opletalova 26, 110 00, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | With the goal to shed more light on fertility drivers in Europe, we estimate the causal relationship between the number of children and parental subjective well-being using two alternative measures: life satisfaction and a happiness index. Multiple births are used as the source of exogenous variation to deal with number of children endogeneity. Estimating this relationship on subgroups of mothers and fathers whose children fall into different age categories, we document that fathers’ well-being is negatively hit by the unexpected increase in family size due to twin birth all across Europe. This effect turns positive as children get older in all European regions when happiness index is investigated and in all regions except for the post-communist countries when life satisfaction is investigated. For mothers we identify larger variation across Europe and over child ages. We show that fathers’ reaction to children is mainly driven by their (dis)satisfaction with time allocation and accommodation, while mothers’ reaction to additional children at highest child ages is mainly driven by dissatisfaction with job. Region-specific fertility rates are correlated with fathers’ marginal utility of additional child. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, subjective well-being |
| JEL: | C21 J13 I31 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2019_24&r=all |
| By: | Belloc, Marianna (Sapienza University of Rome); Naticchioni, Paolo (University of Rome 3); Vittori, Claudia (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate nominal and real (in temporal and spatial terms) urban wage premia (UWP) in Italy, with its economy characterized by the interplay between collective wage bargaining and spatial heterogeneity in the cost of living. Our dataset for the 2005- 2015 period includes, for workers' characteristics, unique administrative data provided by the Italian Social Security Institute and, for the local CPI computation, housing prices detailed at a fine level of spatial aggregation delivered by the Italian Revenue Agency. For employees covered by collective bargaining, we find a zero UWP in nominal terms and a negative and non-negligible UWP in real terms (-2.6% when all controls are included). To capture the role played by centralized wage settings, we consider various groups of self-employed workers, who are not covered by national labour agreements, while living in the same locations and enjoying the same amenities as employees. We find that, differently from employees, selfemployed workers enjoy a positive UWP in nominal terms, and do not suffer from urban real wage penalties. Results hold under a large array of robustness checks. |
| Keywords: | urban wage premium, cost of living, wage setting |
| JEL: | R12 R31 J31 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12806&r=all |
| By: | Mabel Sánchez Barrioluengo (Manchester Institute of Innovation Research. Alliance Manchester Business School. University of Manchester) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the adoption of digital technologies has changed the employment structure of UK firms. While the scientific literature traditionally has shown inconclusive results about who is winning the race between man and machine, we argue that currently there are reasons to be less pessimistic about the effect of technology on labor. Drawing on an employer-employee panel survey in 2004 and 2011 in the UK, this study shows that the effect of the firms’ routine exposure on employment and wages varies according to the skill content of occupations and by sectors. Our results suggest that firms’ concentration on routine cognitive jobs does not generate outright job-losses and could even have a positive effect on overall employment at firm-level. On the other hand, firms exposed to routine manual task jobs are more at risk of generating a negative impact on firms’ labor, mainly decreasing their workforce. While the concentration of routine occupations has a job-creating effect in the tertiary sector, this does not necessarily imply consistent job-losses within the secondary sector. Finally, we conclude that the investment in routine workforce without the appropriate technological adoption is not enough to generate positive effects on labor at firm-level, specifically in the manufacturing sector. |
| Keywords: | digitalisation, employment, wages, digital technologies, routine jobs, firm, UK. |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2019-24&r=all |
| By: | Matano, Alessia (University of Barcelona); Naticchioni, Paolo (University of Rome 3); Vona, Francesco (Sciences Po, Paris) |
| Abstract: | A growing body of research has contributed to understanding the labor market and political effects of globalization. This paper explores an overlooked aspect of trade-induced adjustments in the labor market: the institutional aspect. We take advantage of the two-tier collective bargaining structure of the Italian labor market, whereby the first tier entails setting minimum wages at the contract level. Using an instrumental variable strategy and exploiting variations in contract-level exposure to trade, we find for the 1995-2003 period that, on average, the surge in imports decreased contractual minimum wages by 1.5%. This impact increases in the share of unskilled workers employed in the contract. This negative institutional effect contrasts with a nonsignificant effect of trade on total wages, with the latter becoming positive and large only for highly skilled workers. |
| Keywords: | bargained minimum wages, import competition, labor market institutions, skills |
| JEL: | J50 F16 J31 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12714&r=all |
| By: | Maynou, Laia; Cairns, John |
| Abstract: | Background: Decisions on the reimbursement of the same cancer drugs are different across European countries, but empirical work on the reasons behind these differences has been scarce. The main objective of this paper is to make a methodological contribution to existing research, specifically by outlining the systematic process of analysis to address such questions and determining the factors that might lead to different drug reimbursement decisions, and to explore its application in the field of oncology. Methods: Reimbursement decisions on cancer drugs in six European countries (Belgium, England, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, and Sweden) between 2006 and 2014 were included in the study. A taxonomy was developed, comprising two groups of variables (system-level and product-specific) and an econometric model was specified (multilevel mixed-effects ordered probit). Results: Only one in six evaluations in the sample reach the same reimbursement recommendation. Most health system variables were not determinants of a higher or lower probability of a positive reimbursement recommendation. However, the probability of reimbursement was higher when a drug was considered cost-effective by NICE/SMC and when there was a financial Managed Entry Agreement. This work also demonstrated a possible econometric approach for analysing differences in reimbursement decisions and contributes a structured approach for collecting and preparing data for such analyses. Conclusions: Drug reimbursement decisions can be analysed in detail along a set of factors that are related to each decision. This information is essential, not only for understanding why a particular drug is accepted in one country and not in another but also when trying to implement a new HTA system or reform an existing one. This analysis provides policy makers and stakeholders with a model that enables a better understanding of the factors that drive HTA decisions and is adaptable to answer similar questions. Moreover, the data collection limitations encountered and described in this work shed light on the need for greater accessibility and transparency in HTA systems and regarding HTA outcomes. |
| Keywords: | drug reimbursement; cancer drugs; Health Technology Assessment (HTA); multilevel mixed-effects ordered probit. |
| JEL: | I18 |
| Date: | 2018–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:90877&r=all |
| By: | Dominika Spolcova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Opletalova 26, 110 00, Prague, Czech Republic); Barbara Pertold-Gebicka (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Opletalova 26, 110 00, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the well-known question of what drives people’s well–being using two alternative measures of subjective well-being and comparing two econometric approaches, thus providing results robust to the recent critique by Bond and Lang (2019). The classical OLS and ordered probit analysis of self-reported life satisfaction of employees from 32 European countries show results consistent with the previous literature. Analysis of the happiness index — a measure of hedonic well-being defined as frequency of experiencing specific emotions — provides similar results, with some exceptions. Most importantly, we show that the observed income effect on subjective well–being is much weaker for the happiness index than for life satisfaction, especially when controlling for satisfaction of basic needs. Quantile regression analysis brings additional insights: (1) median estimates are equivalent to mean estimates obtained by OLS (2) the correlates of subjective well–being are not stable over the whole distribution with most of the coefficients being the largest in their absolute value at low quantiles (3) the relationship between income and the happiness index is weak and stable over the whole distribution when basic needs satisfaction variables are included in the model. |
| Keywords: | Subjective well–being, income, social relationships, happiness index, life satisfaction |
| JEL: | E42 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2019_23&r=all |
| By: | Jose Garcia-Louzao (Bank of Lithuania) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares worker-owned firms and mainstream capital-owned enterprises over the business cycle. Specifically, I study whether conventional employees in worker-owned firms enjoy greater employment stability than similar workers in traditional enterprises over the business cycle, and investigate whether this stability is associated with greater volatility of working-time or wages. Unlike the literature that has compared partners of cooperatives to wage-earners of mainstream firms, I compare wage-earners across both type of organizations along the three margins of adjustment. To perform the econometric analysis, I rely on rich Spanish administrative data and panel data methods to account for composition differences between the two types of organizations. The results show that worker-owned firms offer higher job security because they do not adjust employment levels over the business cycle as much as mainstream enterprises. Wages and working-time, instead, are equally responsive across the two types of firms. The findings can be rationalized by the presence of similar labor regulations and differences in the objectives of the two type of organizations. Namely, both types of firms are constrained by regulations, such as the national Labor Code and collective bargaining, on the adjustments they can impose on wages and working-time. However, the social nature of worker-owned firms mitigates employment volatility in these organizations. |
| Keywords: | Worker-owned firms, Employment, Wages, Working-time, Cyclicality |
| JEL: | J21 J31 J54 |
| Date: | 2019–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lie:wpaper:68&r=all |
| By: | Gaughan, James; Kasteridis, Panagiotis; Mason, Anne; Street, Andrew |
| Abstract: | A core performance target for the English National Health Service (NHS) concerns waiting times at Emergency Departments (EDs), with the aim of minimising long waits. We investigate the drivers of long waits. We analyse weekly data for all major EDs in England from April 2011 to March 2016. A Poisson model with ED fixed effects is used to explore the impact on long (> 4 h) waits of variations in demand (population need and patient case-mix) and supply (emergency physicians, introduction of a Minor Injury Unit (MIU), inpatient bed occupancy, delayed discharges and long-term care). We assess overall ED waits and waits on a trolley (gurney) before admission. We also investigate variation in performance among EDs. The rate of long overall waits is higher in EDs serving older patients (4.2%), where a higher proportion of attendees leave without being treated (15.1%), in EDs with a higher death rate (3.3%) and in those located in hospitals with greater bed occupancy (1.5%). These factors are also significantly associated with higher rates of long trolley waits. The introduction of a co-located MIU is significantly and positively associated with long overall waits, but not with trolley waits. There is substantial variation in waits among EDs that cannot be explained by observed demand and supply characteristics. The drivers of long waits are only partially understood but addressing them is likely to require a multi-faceted approach. EDs with high rates of unexplained long waits would repay further investigation to ascertain how they might improve. |
| Keywords: | Accident and emergency (A&E); Emergency department (ED); Length of stay; National health service (NHS); Waiting time |
| JEL: | I10 |
| Date: | 2019–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:102571&r=all |
| By: | Giuseppe Albanese (Banca d'Italia, sede di Catanzaro); Emma Galli (Università di Roma "La Sapienza"); Ilde Rizzo (Università di Catania); Carla Scaglioni (Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Our paper explores one particular channel through which social capital affects political outcomes, that is transparency. Citizens who share social values are more inclined to get information via transparency and monitor public activity. Thus, we first investigate whether social capital affects the transparency of public action, using a new dimension of the quality of institutions that has not investigated so far; then, we verify if transparency affects the relationship between social capital and the accountability of politicians. We find that civic capital positively affects transparency, suggesting that the quality of the social environment provides an incentive for public agents to become more transparent and therefore more accountable. Our results are robust to different samples and endogeneity concerns. |
| Keywords: | Transparency, civic capital, political accountability, local governments |
| JEL: | K2 K4 H3 Z1 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:84&r=all |
| By: | Sabrina Auci (University of Palermo); Laura Castellucci (University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Manuela Coromaldi (University of Rome “Niccolò Cusano") |
| Abstract: | The relationship between government size and economic growth has been widely debated. Departing from this issue, we provide an empirical analysis of the impact of government size on technical efficiency. The aim of this paper is to estimate by using a True Random Effect model the impact of public sector’s size and of public expenditure components on 15 European countries’ technical efficiency from 1996 to 2011. Using the total public expenditure as a proxy for the government size we estimate simultaneously national optimal production function and technical efficiency model by controlling for income distribution and institutional quality. Our main findings show that the effect of public sector’s size on efficiency is positive while the type of public expenditures may have both positive and negative impact. In more details, results suggest that social protection, cultural, and health expenditures have a positive effect on technical efficiency, while others have a negative impact. More controversial is the impact of education expenditure, even if a positive effect on efficiency prevails when controlling for heteroscedasticity. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic frontier production function, technical efficiency, government spending,European countries |
| JEL: | C33 H10 H50 |
| Date: | 2019–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:476&r=all |
| By: | Stutzer, Alois (University of Basel); Slotwinski, Michaela (University of Basel) |
| Abstract: | The enfranchisement of foreigners is likely one of the most controversial frontiers of institutional change in developed democracies, which are experiencing an increasing number of non-citizen residents. We study the conditions under which citizens are willing to share power. To this end, we exploit the unique setting of the Swiss canton of Grisons, where municipalities are free to decide on the introduction of non-citizen voting rights at the local level (a so called opting-in regime). Consistent with the power dilution hypothesis, we find that enfranchisement is less likely the larger the share of resident foreigners. Moreover, municipalities with a large language/cultural minority are less likely to formally involve foreigners. In contrast, municipality mergers seem to act as an institutional catalyst, promoting democratic reforms. A supplementary panel analysis on electoral support for an opting-in regime in the canton of Zurich also backs the power dilution hypothesis, showing that a larger share of foreigners reduces support for a regime change. |
| Keywords: | non-citizen voting rights; opting-in; power sharing; democratization |
| JEL: | D72 D78 J15 |
| Date: | 2019–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2019/19&r=all |
| By: | Lukas Mergele; Michael Weber |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether the decentralization of public employment services (PES) increases job placements among the unemployed. Decentralizing PES has been a widely applied reform used by governments aiming to enhance their efficacy. However, economic theory is ambiguous about its effects, and empirical evidence has been scarce. Using a difference-in-differences design, we exploit unique within-country variation in decentralization provided by the partial devolution of German job centers in 2012. We find that decentralization reduces job placements by approximately 10%. Decentralized providers expand the use of public job creation schemes which diminish job seekers’ reemployment prospects but shift costs to higher levels of government. |
| Keywords: | decentralization, public employment services, job placements |
| JEL: | H11 H75 I38 J48 J64 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7957&r=all |
| By: | Bäckström, Peter (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how local labour market conditions influence the quality composition of those who volunteer for military service in Swe- den. I estimate a fixed-effects regression model on a panel data set containing IQ scores for those who applied for military basic training across Swedish municipalities during the period 2010 to 2016. The main finding is that low civilian employment rates at the local level tend to increase the mean IQ score of those who volunteer for military service, whereas the opposite is true if employment rates in the civil- ian labour market move in a more favourable direction. As such, the results suggest that the negative impact of a strong civilian economy on recruitment volumes is reinforced by a deterioration in recruit quality. |
| Keywords: | military labour market; military recruitment; self-selection; enlistment test; Roy model |
| JEL: | H56 J01 J20 J45 |
| Date: | 2019–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0964&r=all |
| By: | Neyt, Brecht (Ghent University); Verhaest, Dieter (KU Leuven); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | The literature on workplace learning in secondary education has mainly focussed on vocational education programmes. In this study, we examine the impact of internship experience in secondary education on a student's schooling and early labour market outcomes, by analysing unique, longitudinal data from Belgium. To control for unobserved heterogeneity, we model sequential outcomes by means of a dynamic discrete choice model. In line with the literature on vocational education programmes, we find that internship experience has a positive effect on labour market outcomes that diminishes over time, although within the time window of our study, we find no evidence for a null or negative effect over time. |
| Keywords: | internship, transitions in youth, education, labour |
| JEL: | I21 I26 J21 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12778&r=all |
| By: | Barge-Gil, Andrés; Vivas-Augier, Carlos |
| Abstract: | This manuscript contributes to the literature on firm cooperation with universities and KIBS by framing the analysis according to the literature on causal effects, comparing the effect of the two different agents and exploring which firms benefit more from cooperation with a specific partner. Results shows that the lower bound for the effect is around 27-30% increase in sales from new products for both types of partners. After covariates and fixed effects are used, it is found that this effect is not likely driven by time-varying unobservable factors. Moreover, we show that firms that benefit the most from cooperation with universities are different from those firms that benefit the most from cooperation with KIBS. |
| Keywords: | firm cooperation; universities; KIBS; treatment effects; heterogeneity; policy matching. |
| JEL: | L24 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:96949&r=all |
| By: | Charles Ayoubi (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne); Michele Pezzoni (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France); Fabiana Visentin (Maastricht University; UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Public funding of science aims to provide the necessary investment for the radical scientific discoveries of tomorrow. This paper brings evidence that the funding process is not always awarding the most novel scientists. Exploiting rich data on all applications to a leading Swiss research funding program, we find that novel scientists have a higher probability of applying for funds than non-novel scientists, but they get on average lower ratings by grant evaluators and have fewer chances of being funded. |
| Keywords: | competitive research grants, public funding evaluation, novelty in science |
| JEL: | I23 O38 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2019-37&r=all |
| By: | Kirin Pepijn Moonen |
| Abstract: | The Netherlands has since the 1970s focused on decriminalizing to address the issue of drugs within society. As a result of implementing this decriminalization policy, commercial establishments called coffee shops quickly appeared afterwards to meet market demand for marijuana within the Netherlands. The growth of this newly established marijuana industry was tolerated by the Dutch government leading to an eventual regulatory framework of the AHOJ-G criterion. However, even with the framework in place, the number of tourists seeking to experience marijuana continued to exponentially increase leading to issues of drug tourism and other associated nuisances. In 2012, the Dutch government selected three provinces in the South of the Netherlands where marijuana would no longer be sold to non-residents in order to stymie drug tourism. Qualitative studies on this issue found that there was a significant reduction in drug tourism as a result of implementing the policy in 2012 but was coincided with a rise in illicit drug activity due to the legal purchase channel being shut-down for non-residents. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the 2012 sales restriction on coffee shop municipalities within these three provinces and the subsequent economic impact on local firms. Propensity score matching was used to create a control group of coffee shop municipalities that were similar to the treated coffee shop municipalities on the basis of observed characteristics with socio-economic data from the public Statline database maintained by the Dutch Statistics Bureau. Several robustness checks were conducted to ensure the validity of the matching procedure. The difference-in-difference model used municipal drug crime data from the Statline database for the years 2009 to 2014 to analyze the impact on committed drug crimes. Findings revealed that the policy did not have a significant impact on drug crimes within treated areas even after controlling for municipal characteristics. Placebo test of the policy presented that the policy had a lagged treatment effect which can be attributed to the sharp increase in illicit drug market activity in 2012 due to policy disrupting the legal purchase channel of marijuana. Therefore, this study shows that even though prior literature cites that drug tourism was significantly reduced, limiting sales to residents did not lead to an increase in either soft- or hard drug crimes indicating that the policy had an overall beneficial impact on reducing illicit drug market activity |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:dssraa:102&r=all |
| By: | Filandri, Marianna; Pasqua, Silvia (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The article analyses the effect of gender in Italian professors’ career advancement using data on the entire population of professors in the Italian university system, data on the National Scientific Qualification (NSQ) accreditation scheme, and data on scientific productivity (SciVal) for bibliometric scientific sectors. As NSQ accreditation is a prerequisite for career advancement in Italian universities, using this data makes it possible to rule out women’s reluctance to apply for promotions and low productivity as mechanisms for explaining the gender gap in academia. In fact, candidate professors must apply for accreditation and reach a minimum level of scientific productivity established by the accreditation committees. Among academics who obtained NSQ accreditation, our findings show that gender differences in productivity do not fully explain women’s lower rate of career advancement. The gender gap also remains after controlling for available resources and for the percentage of female full professors in the academic scientific sector. |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201921&r=all |
| By: | Joshi, Heather (University College London); Bryson, Alex (University College London); Wilkinson, David (University College London); Ward, Kelly (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Using data tracking all those born in a single week in Great Britain in 1958 through to their mid-50s we observe an inverse U-shaped gender wage gap (GWG) over their life- course: an initial gap in early adulthood widened substantially during childrearing years, affecting earnings in full-time and part-time jobs. In our descriptive approach, education related differences are minor. Gender differences in work experience are the biggest contributor to that part of the gender wage gap we can explain in our models. Family formation primarily affects the GWG through its impact on work experience. Family composition is similar for male and female workers but attracts opposite wage premia. Not all of the GWG however is linked to family formation. There was a sizeable GWG on labour market entry and there are some otherwise unexplained gaps between the pay of men and women who do not become parents. |
| Keywords: | family formation, gender wage gap, work experience, life course, NCDS birth cohort |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12725&r=all |
| By: | Morgan Raux (PSE - Paris School of Economics, AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - Ecole Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that firms' demand for high-skilled foreign workers partly results from their hiring difficulties. Relying on a within-firm identification strategy, I compare recruitment decisions made by a given employer for similar jobs differing in recruitment difficulties. I quantify how the time to fill a vacancy affects the employer's probability to look for recruiting a foreign worker. To identify this relationship, I have collected and assembled a new and original dataset at the job level. It matches online job postings to administrative data on H-1B visas applications in the US. I find that a standard deviation increase in job posting duration increases employers' probability to look for a foreign worker by 1.5 percentage points. This effect is mainly driven by firms sending only a few visa applications. It increases to 3 to 4 percentage points for architects, engineers and computer scientists. |
| Keywords: | H-1B Work Permit,Hiring difficulties,Web Scraping |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02364921&r=all |
| By: | Colantone, Italo (Bocconi University); Matano, Alessia (University of Barcelona); Naticchioni, Paolo (University of Rome 3) |
| Abstract: | We study how firms and industries adjust to increasing international trade in intermediate inputs. In particular, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the effects of new imported inputs on wage dynamics, on the skill-composition of the labor force, on worker mobility, and on assortative matching between firms and workers. We employ matched employer-employee data for Italy, over 1995-2007. We complement these data with information on the arrival of new import-ed inputs at the industry level. We find new imported inputs to have a positive effect on average wage growth at the firm level. This effect is driven by two factors: (1) an increase in the white-collar/blue-collar ratio; and (2) an increase in the average wage growth of blue-collar workers, while the wage growth of white collars is not significantly affected. The individual-level analysis reveals that the increase in the average wage of blue collars is driven by the displacement of the lowest paid workers, while continuously employed individuals are not affected. We estimate the unobserved skills of workers following Abowd et al. (1999). We find evidence that new imported inputs lead to a positive selection of higher-skilled workers, and to an increase in the degree of positive assortative matching between firms and workers. |
| Keywords: | matched employer-employee data, wages, new imported inputs |
| JEL: | J01 J31 F14 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12715&r=all |