|
on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Braunschweig, Luisa (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Dauth, Wolfgang (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung); Roth, Duncan H.W. (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | We examine the development of worker-firm matching over the career due to job mobility. Using administrative employer-employee data covering the universe of German employees, we measure the degree of assortative matching as the correlation of worker and firm quality measures obtained from an AKM wage decomposition. We also introduce a novel measure based on the distance between the estimates of worker and firm quality. Both measures indicate that the degree of assortative matching, on average, increases with each job move. For high-quality workers, this can be explained by job ladder models as these workers move to higher-quality firms. Low-quality workers are matched less assortatively at the beginning of their careers, but also manage to climb the job ladder at first. For this group, the increase in assortative matching increases after the third job, when they fall down the job ladder. Changes in worker-firm matching are also relevant for the extent of life cycle inequality. We estimate that the increase in assortative matching accounts for around 25% of the increase in wage inequality over the life cycle. |
| Keywords: | assortative matching, wage decomposition, job mobility, life cycle, wage inequality, firms |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17207 |
| By: | Cnossen, Femke (University of Groningen); Nikolova, Milena (University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | Self-determination theory posits that individuals are motivated at work when their inherent psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness are satisfied. Drawing on this theory, this paper presents a new conceptual model explaining how work meaningfulness influences effort at work. In our model, motivation decreases the disutility of exerting effort and paves the way for experiencing meaningful work, which, in turn, boosts effort. We find empirical support for our model's propositions using new data from the Dutch LISS panel. Specifically, work meaningfulness is positively associated with effort. We also show that self-determination enhances work meaningfulness, especially for individuals experiencing high levels of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Overall, our findings suggest that satisfying workers' psychological needs from working enhances work meaningfulness, motivation, and effort, providing valuable insights for economic models of effort and productivity. |
| Keywords: | meaningful work, motivation, non-monetary benefits of work, labor market outcomes, self-determination theory |
| JEL: | J01 J30 J32 J81 I30 I31 M50 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17182 |
| By: | Matteo Picchio (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche); Jan C. Van Ours (Erasmus School of Economics and Tinbergen Institute, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | High temperatures can have a negative effect on workplace safety for a variety of reasons. Discomfort and reduced concentration caused by heat can lead to workers making mistakes and injuring themselves. Discomfort can also be an incentive for workers to report an injury that they would not have reported in the absence of heat. We investigate how temperature affects injuries of professional tennis players in outdoor singles matches. We find that for men injury rates increase with ambient temperatures. For women, there is no effect of high temperatures on injuries. Among male tennis players, there is some heterogeneity in the temperature effects, which seem to be influenced by incentives. Specifically, when a male player is losing at the beginning of a crucial (second) fourth set in (best-of-three) best-of-five matches, the temperature effect is much larger than when he is winning. In best-of-five matches, which are more exhausting, this effect is age-dependent and stronger for older players. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, temperatures, tennis, injuries, health. |
| JEL: | J24 J81 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:489 |
| By: | Marco Fongoni (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: | This paper develops a theoretical framework to think about employees' effort choices, and applies this framework to assess the ability of existing experimental designs to identify the effect of pay inequality on worker effort. The analysis shows that failure to control for a number of confounds—such as reciprocity towards the employer in multi-lateral gift-exchange games (vertical fairness), or the incentive to increase effort when feeling underpaid under piece rates (income targeting)—may lead to inaccurate interpretation of evidence of treatment effects. In light of these findings, the paper provides a set of recommendations on how to improve identification in the design of controlled experiments in the future. |
| Keywords: | Pay inequality, Effort, Laboratory experiments, Fairness, Reference dependence |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04678955 |
| By: | Sofoklis Goulas (Economic Studies, Brookings Institution); Bhagya N. Gunawardena (School of Economics, Finance, & Marketing, RMIT); Rigissa Megalokonomou (Department of Economics, Monash University); Yves Zenou (Department of Economics, Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Using Greek administrative data, we examine the impact of being randomly assigned to a classroom with a same-gender top-performing student on both short- and long-term educational outcomes. These top performers are tasked with keeping classroom attendance records, which positions them as role models. Both male and female students are influenced by the performance of a same-gender top performer and experience both spillover and conformist effects. However, only female students show significant positive effects from the presence of a same-gender role model. Specifically, female students improved their science test scores by 4 percent of a standard deviation, were 2.5 percentage points more likely to choose a STEM track, and were more likely to apply for and enroll in a STEM university degree 3 years later. These effects were most pronounced in lower-income neighborhoods. Our findings suggest that same-gender peer role models could reduce the underrepresentation of qualified females in STEM fields by approximately 3 percent. We further validate our findings through a lab-in-the-field experiment, in which students rated the perceived influence of randomized hypothetical top-performer profiles. The results suggest that the influence of same-gender top performers is primarily driven by exposure-related factors (increased perception of distinction feasibility and self-confidence) rather than direct interactions. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, lab-in-the-field experiment, natural experiment, random peer group formation, role models |
| JEL: | J24 J16 I24 I26 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2024-15 |
| By: | König, Felix; Manning, Alan; Petrongolo, Barbara |
| Abstract: | Using micro data for the UK and Germany, we provide novel evidence on the cyclical properties of reservation wages and estimate that wages and reservation wages are characterised by moderate and very similar degrees of cyclicality. Several job search models that quantitatively match the cyclicality of wages tend to overpredict the cyclicality in reservation wages. We show that this puzzle can be addressed when reservation wages display backward-looking reference dependence. Model calibrations that allow for reference dependence match the empirically observed cyclicality of wages and reservation wages for plausible value of all other model parameters. |
| Keywords: | job search; reservation wages; wage cyclicality; reference dependence |
| JEL: | E24 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–06–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:125342 |