|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
|
Issue of 2022‒11‒07
thirty papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Bellés Obrero, Cristina (University of Mannheim); Jimenez-Martin, Sergi (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Ye, Han (University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds new light on the mortality effect of delaying retirement by investigating the impacts of the 1967 Spanish pension reform. This reform exogenously changed the early retirement age, depending on the date individuals started contributing to the Social Security system. Those contributing before 1 January 1967 maintained the right to voluntarily retire early (at age 60), while individuals who started contributing after that date could not voluntarily claim a pension until the age of 65. Using the Spanish administrative Social Security data, we find that the reform delayed the individuals' labour market exit by around half a year and increased the probability that individuals take up disability pensions, partial pensions, and no pensions. We show evidence that delaying exiting employment increases the hazard of dying between the ages of 60 and 69, for almost all individuals. Heterogeneous analysis indicates that the increase in mortality is stronger for those employed in low-skilled, physically and psychosocially demanding jobs. Moreover, we show that allowing for flexible retirement schemes, such as partial retirement, mitigates the detrimental effect of delaying retirement on mortality. |
| Keywords: | delaying retirement, mortality, heterogeneity, flexible retirement |
| JEL: | I10 I12 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15577&r= |
| By: | Kreyenfeld, Michaela (Hertie School); Konietzka, Dirk (TU Braunschweig); Lambert, Philippe (Université catholique de Louvain, LIDAM/ISBA, Belgium); Ramos, Vincent Jerald (Hertie School) |
| Abstract: | This study uses a gender and class perspective to study rates of progression to the second birth in Germany. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the period 1990-2020, we distinguish individuals by whether they are in (a) higher managerial/professional, (b) lower managerial/ professional, (c) skilled manual/higher routine nonmanual, or (d) the nonskilled manual/lower routine nonmanual classes. Our analysis reveals strongly elevated second birth rates among men and women in the managerial classes. We also show that upward mobility after the first birth is associated with higher second birth rates among men, but not among women. |
| Keywords: | Fertility ; Germany ; Uncertainty ; Social Class ; Employment |
| Date: | 2022–08–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aiz:louvad:2022023&r= |
| By: | Bedaso, Fenet Jima (University of Trier); Jirjahn, Uwe (University of Trier); Goerke, Laszlo (IAAEU, University of Trier) |
| Abstract: | We hypothesize that incomplete integration into the workplace and society implies that immigrants are less likely to be union members than natives. Incomplete integration makes the usual mechanism for overcoming the collective action problem less effective. Using data from the Socio-Economic Panel, our empirical analysis confirms a unionization gap for first-generation immigrants in Germany. Importantly, the analysis shows that the immigrant-native gap in union membership indeed depends on immigrants' integration into the workplace and society. The gap is smaller for immigrants working in firms with a works council and having social contacts with Germans. Our analysis also confirms that the gap is decreasing in the years since arrival in Germany. |
| Keywords: | union membership, migration, works council, social contacts with natives, years since arrival |
| JEL: | J15 J52 J61 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15587&r= |
| By: | De Brouwer, Octave (Free University of Brussels); Tojerow, Ilan (Free University of Brussels) |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades, most OECD countries have reformed their social security in order to make early departures from the labor market increasingly difficult. Despite the fiscal gains that are expected from these reforms, it is likely that these gains from longer careers will be partly offset by increasing expenses on other social security programs. This article sheds light on this issue by ex-ploring the consequences of postponing access to an old-age unemployment program from age 58 to 60. The program provides laid-off workers with a combination of unemployment benefits and a monthly supplement paid by the employer until the full retirement age. Exploiting a rich set of administrative data, we study the effect of this reform on workers' employment and various social security benefits (i.e. unemployment, disability, early retirement and compensated working time reductions), using a triple difference method as identification strategy. Our results show that, for men, the reform had a positive effect on employment, with a small positive effect on a program called Time-Credit, i.e., a social security program that facilitates working time reductions at the end of the career. For women, we find no significant effect on employment but instead a large spillover effect on unemployment. We find that gender differences in job characteristics can help to explain this difference, since women are more likely to work in part-time, low-wage and blue-collar occupations than men, and no significant employment effects are found for these groups of workers. |
| Keywords: | disability, old-age unemployment, early retirement, senior employment |
| JEL: | J26 J65 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15628&r= |
| By: | Andrea Albanese (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), Luxembourg, Department of Economics, Ghent University, Belgium, IRES/LIDAM, UCLouvain, Belgium, IZA, Bonn, Germany, e GLO, Essen, Germany); Bart Cockx (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), Luxembourg, Department of Economics, Ghent University, Belgium, IRES/LIDAM, UCLouvain, Belgium, CESIfo, Munich, Germany, g ROA, Maastricht University); Muriel Dejemeppe (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | We use (donut) regression discontinuity design and difference-in-differences estimators to estimate the impact of a one-shot hiring subsidy targeted at low-educated unemployed youths during the Great Recession recovery in Belgium. The subsidy increases job-finding in the private sector by 10 percentage points within one year of unemployment. Six years later, high school graduates accumulated 2.8 quarters more private employment. However, because they substitute private for public and self-employment, overall employment does not increase but is still better paid. For high school dropouts, no persistent gains emerge. Moreover, the neighboring attraction pole of Luxembourg induces a complete deadweight near the border. |
| Keywords: | Hiring subsidies, youth unemployment, cross-border employment, regression discontinuity design, difference-in-differences, spillover effects, displacement |
| JEL: | C21 J08 J23 J24 J64 J68 J61 |
| Date: | 2022–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2022019&r= |
| By: | Gabriele Marconi; Loris Vergolini |
| Abstract: | We investigate foreign language skill demand and its determinants with a novel dataset, the Web Intelligence Hub's Online Job Advertisement (OJA) database, with information on about 53 million ads posted in 2021 for jobs in Europe. This unique dataset has been built crawling hundreds of job search engines and websites of public employment services, allowing us to identify foreign language requirements in OJAs at the NUTS-3 regional level. Moreover, we analyse how the demand for foreign languages varies at occupational level in the European countries as well as the possible macro factors (GDP, population density; participation rate in education and training; percentage of people employed in the high-tech sector and in the touristic sector) that could influence the request for foreign languages. |
| Keywords: | Language skills, Labour market, Occupational groups, NUTS, Online job ads, Eurostat, English, German, Chinese, French, Spanish, big data, web scraping |
| JEL: | J20 J24 R10 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbk:wpaper:2022-08&r= |
| By: | Batut, Cyprien (Paris School of Economics); Garnero, Andrea (OECD); Tondini, Alessandro (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we exploit a panel of industry-level data in European countries to study the economic impact of national reductions in usual weekly working hours between 1995 and 2007. Our identification strategy relies on the five national reforms that took place over this period and on initial differences across sectors in the share of workers exposed to the reforms. On average, the number of hours worked in more affected sectors fell, hourly wages rose, while employment did not increase. The effect on value-added per hour worked appears to be positive but non-significant. |
| Keywords: | working time, work sharing, employment, wages, value-added |
| JEL: | J20 J30 J80 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15566&r= |
| By: | Timm, Lisa Marie (University of Amsterdam); Giuliodori, Massimo (University of Amsterdam); Muller, Paul (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines to what extent an income tax exemption affects international mobility and wages of skilled immigrants. We study a preferential tax scheme for foreigners in the Netherlands, which introduced an income threshold for eligibility in 2012 and covers a large share of the migrant income distribution. By using detailed administrative data in a difference-in-differences setup, we find that the number of migrants in the income range closely above the threshold more than doubles, whereas there is little empirical support for a decrease of migration below the threshold. Our results indicate that these effects are driven mainly by additional migration, while wage bargaining responses are fairly limited. We conclude that the preferential tax scheme is highly effective in attracting more skilled migrants. |
| Keywords: | international migration, income tax benefits, wage bargaining, bunching |
| JEL: | F22 J61 H24 H31 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15582&r= |
| By: | Camilla Skovbo Christensen (University of Copenhagen, Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality); Bastian Emil Ellegaard (University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We exploit exogenous variation from a pension reform in Denmark to estimate the e ect of tax subsidies on total private saving. We present new evidence on individuals in the middle of the income distribution and show that a reduction in tax subsidies for retirement saving reduces total private saving. The reform changed the tax incentives for saving in the pension scheme that holds the highest tax advantage for middle-income workers in Denmark. We find that for each unit of reduced saving in this pension scheme, only 63 percent is substituted to other types of saving. |
| Keywords: | Crowd-out, Savings, Retirement, Tax incentives, Household Finance |
| JEL: | H24 H31 D14 G51 |
| Date: | 2022–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2217&r= |
| By: | Giulia Giupponi; Stephen Machin |
| Abstract: | The question of how firms set wages for their employees has been of longstanding interest. In this paper, we investigate what models of wage determination are at play in a low-wage labor market. We exploit a sizable and salient age-specific minimum wage change in the United Kingdom - the National Living Wage (NLW) introduction. Starting in April 2016, the NLW raised the minimum wage rate applying to workers aged 25 and over, leaving unchanged the minimum wage rates for younger workers. Using matched employer-employee data on the English residential care home sector, we document positive wage spillovers on workers aged under 25. Younger workers' wages are shown to have risen in tandem with those of older workers, with no differential employment effects by age at both the market level and the firm level. We probe the inter- vs intra-firm nature of wage spillovers and show that they arise within rather than between firms. Based on empirical tests and qualitative evidence from a survey of care homes in the sample, pay-equity concerns offer the most plausible explanation for the emergence of wage spillovers. The wage spillover effects that we document are shown to emerge in other low-paying sectors of the UK labor market. |
| Keywords: | wage determination, minimum wage, fairness |
| Date: | 2022–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1869&r= |
| By: | Xavier Flawinne (Université de Liège); Mathieu Lefebvre (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Sergio Perelman (Université de Liège); Pierre Pestieau (Université de Liège, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jérôme Schoenmaeckers (Université de Liège, CIRIEC-Belgium) |
| Abstract: | The current health crisis has particularly affected the elderly population. Nursing homes have unfortunately experienced a relatively large number of deaths. On the basis of this observation and working with European data (from SHARE), we want to check whether nursing homes were lending themselves to excess mortality even before the pandemic. Controlling for a number of important characteristics of the elderly population in and outside nursing homes, we conjecture that the difference in mortality between those two samples is to be attributed to the way nursing homes are designed and organized. Using matching methods, we observe excess mortality in Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Estonia but not in the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain. This raises the question of the organization and management of these nursing homes, but also of their design and financing. |
| Keywords: | mortality,nursing homes,propensity score matching,SHARE |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-03807685&r= |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics); Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina (Universidad de Murcia) |
| Abstract: | Individual preferences for 'ageing in place' (AIP) in old age are not well understood. One way to test the strength of AIP preference is to investigate the effect of health shocks on residential mobility to smaller size or value dwellings, which we refer to as 'housing downsizing'. This paper exploits more than a decade worth of longitudinal data to study older people's housing decisions across a wide range of European countries. We estimate the effect of health shocks on the probability of different proxies for housing downsizing (residential mobility, differences in home value, home value to wealth ratio), considering the potential endogeneity of the health shock to examine the persistence of AIP preferences. Our findings suggest that consistently with the AIP hypothesis, every decade of life, the likelihood of downsizing decreases by two percentage points (pp). However, the experience of a health shock partially reverts such culturally embedded preference for AIP by a non- negligible magnitude on residential mobility (9pp increase after the onset of a degenerative illness, 9.3pp for other mental disorders and 6.5pp for ADL), home value to wealth ratio and the new dwelling's size (0.6 and 1.2 fewer rooms after the onset of a degenerative illness or a mental disorder). Such estimates are larger in northern and central European countries. |
| Keywords: | ageing in place, housing downsizing, health shocks at old age, Europe, residential mobility, mental degenerative mental illness, mental disorder |
| JEL: | I18 G51 J61 R31 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15636&r= |
| By: | Doris Weichselbaumer; Juliane Ransmayr (Johannes Kepler Universtiy Linz) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the gender wage gap among university graduates in Germany from 1997 to 2013 based on the DZHW (the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies) Absolventenpanel. We focus in particular on the effect of female presence in a subject or occupation on wage inequality. Earlier research has shown not only that female-dominated university subjects or occupations pay less, but also that men face a higher wage penalty than women when they graduated in a female-dominated subject and experience a lower penalty for working in a female-dominated occupation. For the five waves considered, we confirm the very strong negative association between female presence in a subject or occupation and wages. However, no consistent pattern emerges with regard to whether men’s or women’s wages suffer larger penalties. There is also no time trend observable with regard to the wage penalty that is associated with female-dominated fields. We further show that significant gender wage gaps exist within fields of studies, especially in male-dominated fields like engineering and natural science. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, sex segregation, university graduates |
| JEL: | J16 J3 J7 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2022-12&r= |
| By: | Corekcioglu, Gozde (Kadir Has University); Francesconi, Marco (University of Essex); Kunze, Astrid (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of government-funded universal paid parental leave extensions on the likelihood that mothers reach top-pay jobs and executive positions, using eight Norwegian reforms. Up to a quarter of a century after childbirth, such reforms neither helped nor hurt mothers' chances to be at the top of their companies' pay ranking or in leadership positions. We detect no differential effect across many characteristics, and no impact on other outcomes, such as hours worked and promotions. No reform affected fathers' pay or the gender pay gaps between mothers and their male colleagues and between mothers and their partners. |
| Keywords: | gender inequality, within-firm pay ranking, glass ceiling, leadership, top executives |
| JEL: | H42 J13 J16 J18 M12 M14 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15585&r= |
| By: | Corekcioglu, Gozde (Kadir Has University); Francesconi, Marco (University of Essex); Kunze, Astrid (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of government-funded universal paid parental leave extensions on the likelihood that mothers reach top-pay jobs and executive positions, using eight Norwegian reforms. Up to a quarter of a century after childbirth, such reforms neither helped nor hurt mothers’ chances to be at the top of their companies’ pay ranking or in leadership positions. We detect no differential effect across many characteristics, and no impact on other outcomes, such as hours worked and promotions. No reform affected fathers’ pay or the gender pay gaps between mothers and their male colleagues and between mothers and their partners. |
| Keywords: | Gender inequality; Within-firm pay ranking; Glass ceiling; Leadership; Top executives |
| JEL: | H42 J13 J16 J18 M12 M14 |
| Date: | 2022–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2022_013&r= |
| By: | Umut Unal (Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA)); Bernd Hayo (Marburg University); Isil Erol (Oezyegin University) |
| Abstract: | This study provides evidence of the causal impact of immigration on German house prices, flat prices, and flat rents using an extensive dataset covering 382 administrative districts over the period 2004−2020. Employing a panel-data approach and a manually constructed shift-share instrument, we show that international migration has a significantly positive short-term effect on German flat prices and rents. House prices are not significantly affected. We estimate that an increase in international migration of 1% of the initial district population causes a hike in flat prices of up to 3% as well as a hike in flat rents of about 1%. The increase in flat prices is more than twice as high as this at the lower end of the market, whereas the flat rental market demonstrates a more linear response. We also discover that immigration’s impact on flat prices and rents does not significantly differ across rural and urban areas within the country. |
| Keywords: | Immigration; Housing prices; Rents; Instrumental variable; IV quantile regression; German housing market |
| JEL: | J61 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:202238&r= |
| By: | Seibold, Arthur (University of Mannheim); Seitz, Sebastian (University of Manchester); Siegloch, Sebastian (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | Public disability insurance (DI) programs in many countries face pressure to reduce their generosity in order to remain sustainable. In this paper, we investigate the welfare effects of giving a larger role to private insurance markets in the face of public DI cuts. Exploiting a unique reform that abolished one part of the German public DI system for younger workers, we find that despite significant crowding-in effects, overall private DI take-up remains modest. We do not find any evidence of adverse selection on unpriced risk. On the contrary, private DI tends to be concentrated among high-income, high-education and low-risk individuals. Using a revealed preferences approach, we estimate individual DI valuations, a key input for welfare calculations. We find that observed willingness-to-pay of many individuals is low, such that providing DI partly via a private insurance market with choice improves welfare. However, we show that distributional concerns as well as individual risk misperceptions can provide grounds for justifying a full public DI mandate. |
| Keywords: | disability insurance, social insurance, mandate, privatization, risk-based selection, welfare |
| JEL: | H55 G22 G52 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15579&r= |
| By: | Jessen, Jonas (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt / Oder) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how culture impacts within-couple gender inequality. Exploiting the setting of Germany's division and reunification, I compare child penalties of East Germans who were socialised in a more gender egalitarian culture to West Germans socialised in a gender-traditional culture. Using a household panel, I show that the long-run child penalty on the female income share is 23.9 percentage points for West German couples, compared to 12.9 for East German couples. The arrival of children also leads to a greater increase in the female share of housework and child care for West Germans. I add to the main findings by using time-use diary data from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and reunified Germany, which provides a rare insight into gender inequality in the GDR and allows me to compare the effect of having children in the GDR to the effects in East and West Germany after reunification. Lastly, I show that attitudes towards maternal employment are more egalitarian among East Germans, but that the arrival of children leads to more traditional attitudes for both East and West Germans. The findings confirm that socialisation has a strong impact on child penalties and that family policies may have an impact on gender inequality through social learning in the long run. |
| Keywords: | cultural norms, gender inequality, child penalty |
| JEL: | J16 J22 D1 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15571&r= |
| By: | Thi Truong An Hoang; Andreas Knabe |
| Abstract: | We use the UK Time-Use Survey 2014/15 to analyze how differences in the frequency and intensity of social contacts contribute to the gap in experienced well-being between employed and unemployed persons. We observe that people generally enjoy being with others more than being alone. The unemployed generally feel worse than the employed when engaging in the same kind of activities, partly because they are more often alone. The unemployed can replace lost work contacts only partially with private contacts. In terms of experienced well-being, however, the small increase in time spent with family and friends (which people enjoy a lot) offsets the loss of work contacts (which people generally enjoy only little). Hence, we do not find that the differences in the social-contact composition between the employed and the unemployed contribute to the difference in their experienced well-being. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, happiness, experienced well-being, time use, social contact, decomposition |
| JEL: | I31 D91 J60 J22 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9953&r= |
| By: | Kenza Elass (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | A vast literature on gender wage gaps has examined the importance of selection into employment. However, most analyses have focused only on female labour force participation and gaps at the median. The Great Recession questions this approach both because of the major shift in male employment that it implied but also because women's decisions to participate seem to have been different along the distribution, particularly due to an "added worker effect". This paper uses the methodology proposed by Arellano and Bonhomme (2017) to estimate a quantile selection model over the period 2007-2018. Using a tax and benefit microsimulation model, I compute an instrument capturing the male selection induced by the crisis as well as female decisions: the potential out-of-work income. Since my instrument is crucially determined by the welfare state, I consider three countries with notably different benefit systems-the UK, France and Finland. My results imply different selection patterns across countries and a sizeable male selection in France and the UK. Correction for selection bias lowers the gender wage gap and, in most recent years, reveals an increasing shape of gender gap distribution with a substantial glass ceiling for the three countries. |
| Keywords: | Gender wage gap,sample selection,quantile selection model,wage inequality,quantiles,selection,glass ceilings,sticky floors |
| Date: | 2022–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03788508&r= |
| By: | Fawaz, Yarine (CEMFI, Madrid); Mira, Pedro |
| Abstract: | We provide a comprehensive picture of the health effects of social isolation using longitudinal data over 21 European countries (SHARE). First, using Cox regressions, we find a significant, strong and robust association between our social isolation index and mortality, which is much stronger in Eastern countries. While all of our pooled countries estimates ranged between a 20 to 30% increase in the mortality hazard for the socially isolated, that number jumps to 45% for the Eastern countries. We then estimate linear regressions to study the dynamic "value added" effects of SI on health and other mediator outcomes, and find that social isolation at baseline leads to worsening health in the next waves along all the dimensions we observe. Up to 13 percent of the effect of baseline social isolation on mortality can be imputed to the combined one-wave-ahead impact of social isolation on increased frailty, reduced cognitive function and increased smoking. |
| Keywords: | social isolation, loneliness, health, mortality, SHARE |
| JEL: | I10 C41 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15629&r= |
| By: | Moscelli, Giuseppe (University of Surrey); Sayli, Melisa (University of Surrey); Mello, Marco (University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | Retention of skilled workers is essential for labour-intensive organisations like hospitals, where an excessive turnover of doctors and nurses can reduce the quality and quantity of services to patients. In the public sector, where salaries are often not negotiable at individual level, workers increasingly care about the non-pecuniary aspects of their jobs. We empirically investigate the role played by two such aspects, staff engagement and the retention of complementary coworkers, in affecting employee retention within the public hospital sector. We exploit a unique and rich panel dataset based on employee-level payroll and staff survey records from the universe of English NHS hospitals, and estimate dynamic panel data models to deal with the bias due to reverse causality. We find that nurses' retention is positively associated with their engagement, whereas doctors' retention is positively associated with nurses' retention. This heterogeneous response of employee retention can be explained by the hierarchy of workers' professional roles within the organisation. |
| Keywords: | employee retention, staff engagement, job complementarities, coworkers, hospitals, endogeneity |
| JEL: | C33 C36 I11 J22 J28 J63 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15638&r= |
| By: | Andy Dickerson (Department of Economics and Sheffield Methods Institute, University of Sheffield, 9 Mappin Str, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK); Anita Ratcliffe (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, 9 Mappin Str, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK); Bertha Rohenkohl (Institute for the Future of Work and Sheffield Methods Institute, University of Sheffield); Nicolas Van de Sijpe (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, 9 Mappin Str, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK) |
| Abstract: | Some theories suggest that students who anticipate discrimination in the labour market may invest more in easily observable human capital like education, to signal their productivity to employers and reduce the scope for statistical discrimination. Empirical research on this issue has been hampered, however, by a lack of direct information on anticipated labour market treatment. We use data from a unique longitudinal survey of young people in England to link student expectations of facing discrimination in the labour market to subsequent performance in high-stakes exams. Our findings suggest that the anticipation of labour market discrimination is associated with better exam performance, consistent with the view that students are seeking to counteract potential future penalties. |
| Keywords: | Anticipated discrimination; human capital investment; ethnic minorities; high-stakes exams |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J24 J71 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2022017&r= |
| By: | Marco Manacorda; Guido Tabellini; Andrea Tesei |
| Abstract: | We study the political effects of the diffusion of mobile Internet between 2007 and 2017, using data on electoral outcomes and on mobile Internet signal across the 84,564 municipalities of 22 European countries. We find that access to mobile Internet increased voters' support for right-wing populist parties and for parties running on extreme socially conservative platforms, primarily in areas with greater economic deprivation. Using survey data, we also show that mobile Internet increased communitarian attitudes, such as nationalism and dislike of strangers and minorities. We conclude that mobile Internet benefitted right-wing populist parties because, in line with findings in social psychology, it fostered offline tribalism. |
| Keywords: | populism, communitarianism, Europe, mobile internet |
| Date: | 2022–10–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1877&r= |
| By: | Iris Kesternich (KU Leuven and University of Hamburg); Bettina Siflinger (Tilburg University); James P. Smith (Rose Li and Associates); Franziska Valder (University of Copenhagen, Center of Economic Behavior and Inequality) |
| Abstract: | Behavior in labor and marriage markets follows similar structures when it comes to commitment to long-term relationships. We argue that there is a joint social skill driving stability in both markets. Applying a grouped fixed-effect estimator on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we identify types of individuals at risk of instability in both domains. We provide evidence on how economic preferences and personality are related to instability in both markets. We also show negative consequences of instability in terms of reduced life satisfaction and wealth late in life. |
| Keywords: | Relationship Stability, Marriage dissolution, Job turnover, Social Skills, Non-Cognitive Skills, Grouped Fixed-E ect Estimator, Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe |
| JEL: | J12 J24 J63 I31 C33 |
| Date: | 2022–10–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2220&r= |
| By: | Müller,Tobias; Pannatier,Pia; Viarengo,Martina Giorgia |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the patterns of economic integration of refugees in Switzerland, a countrywith a long tradition of hosting refugees, a top-receiving host in Europe, and a prominent example of a multiculturalsociety. It relies on a unique longitudinal dataset consisting of administrative records and social securitydata for the universe of refugees in Switzerland over 1998–2018. This data is used to reconstruct theindividual-level trajectories of refugees and to follow them since arrival over the life-cycle. The study documents thepatterns of labor-market integration, and highlights the heterogeneity by gender and age at arrival. Refugees’labor-market performance is compared to natives’ and other groups of migrants’ labor-market performance. The empiricalanalysis exploits the government dispersal policy in place since 1998, which consists of the random allocation ofrefugees across cantons, to identify the causal effects of the local initial conditions. The study finds that higherunemployment rates at arrival slow down the integration process, whereas the existence of a co-ethnic network doesnot consistently lead to a faster integration. It is shown that in locations where refugees face relatively morehostile attitudes by natives upon arrival, they integrate at a faster pace, probably due to a greater effort undertakenin environments that are more hostile. Together these results, highlight the importance of an early entry in thelabor market of the host country, and the need to take a longer run perspective when examining the effectiveness ofpolicies, as the effects may vary over time and different complementary interventions may be needed in the short vs. long-run. |
| Keywords: | Rural Labor Markets,Labor Markets,Indigenous Peoples Law,Indigenous Communities,Indigenous Peoples,Armed Conflict,Employment and Unemployment,Educational Sciences |
| Date: | 2022–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9914&r= |
| By: | Francesco Manaresi; Alessandro Palma; Luca Salvatici; Vincenzo Scrutinio |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of a subsidy program designed to boost small and medium enterprises' export capabilities through a Temporary Export Manager (TEM), hired for at least 6 months to provide consulting on how to reach foreign markets. Firms applied online for the subsidy and vouchers to hire TEMs were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We use a difference-in-differences design to compare the performances of firms that nearly got the subsidy with those that barely did not. Eligible firms experienced a large increase in revenues, return on equity, profits and value added per employee, accompanied by a significant growth in export in extra-EU markets four years after receiving the subsidy. The gains were larger for the least productive and smaller firms and effects were heterogeneous across TEM providers. TEMs were also effective in stimulating 'good' labor demand: besides intensifying exports, firms increased their workforce by nearly 13%, mainly in full-time and permanent employees. Results of a survey conducted on TEM providers confirm our econometric results and revealed that the benefits of voucher extended beyond the initial subsidized service. |
| Keywords: | SMEs, export subsidy, labor demand, natural experiment, click-day |
| Date: | 2022–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1871&r= |
| By: | Lepinteur, Anthony; Clark, Andrew E.; Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada; Piper, Alan; Schröder, Carsten; D’Ambrosio, Conchita |
| Abstract: | We analyse a measure of loneliness from a representative sample of German individuals interviewed in both 2017 and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Both men and women felt lonelier during the COVID-19 pandemic than they did in 2017. The pandemic more than doubled the gender loneliness gap: women were lonelier than men in 2017, and the 2017-2020 rise in loneliness was far larger for women. This rise is mirrored in life-satisfaction scores. Men’s life satisfaction changed only little between 2017 and 2020; yet that of women fell dramatically, and sufficiently so to produce a female penalty in life satisfaction. We estimate that almost all of this female penalty is explained by the disproportionate rise in loneliness for women during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Loneliness, Life Satisfaction, Gender, COVID-19, SOEP |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:2210&r= |
| By: | Lordan, Grace; Lekfuangfu, Warn N |
| Abstract: | We consider the extent to which temporal shifts have been responsible for an increased tendency for females to sort into traditionally male roles over time, versus childhood factors. Drawing on three cohort studies, which follow individuals born in the UK in 1958, 1970 and 2000, we compare the shift in the tendency of females in these cohorts to sort into traditionally male roles compared to males, to the combined effect of a large set of childhood variables. For all three cohorts, we find strong evidence of sorting along gendered lines, which has decreased over time, yet there is no erosion of the gender gap in the tendency to sort into occupations with the highest share of males. Within the cohort, we find little evidence that childhood variables change the tendency for females of either the average or highest ability to sort substantively differently. Our work is highly suggestive that temporal shifts are what matter in determining the differential gendered sorting patterns we have seen over the last number of decades, and also those that remain today. These temporal changes include attitudinal changes, technology advances, policy changes and economic shifts. |
| Keywords: | occupational choice; gender; temporal change; childhoodinfluences; (Project Reference: AEI/10.13039/501100011033); MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; Comunidad de Madrid (EPUC3M11 (V PRICIT) and H2019/HUM-589).; Springer deal |
| JEL: | J16 J40 |
| Date: | 2022–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:116879&r= |
| By: | Jan Pintera (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | We use the individual-level data on income and education level from the EU-SILC database to investigate the trends in income distribution and wage polarization in the EU New Member States. We do not confirm the existence of job polarization in wages and employment that has been observed in the United States or other developed countries. Rather, we document decreasing inequality, particularly in Czechia, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Also, our estimates of the elasticity of substitution between low and high skill labour are higher than often found in other countries. These results imply a different impact of globalization on the labour markets in the EU New Member States than in other countries. However, it remains unclear whether these differences are temporary or will prevail in the future. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets, Technological Change, Polarization, Skills |
| JEL: | J30 J31 O14 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2022_26&r= |