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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Wielgoszewska, Bożena (University College London); Bryson, Alex (University College London); Joshi, Heather (University College London); Wilkinson, David (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Working from home (wfh) has seen a rise in prevalence, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it is widely believed that wfh enables employees to better combine paid work with domestic duties, potentially enhancing work-life balance, emerging evidence suggests that it may also hinder career advancement and adversely affect mental health, with notable impacts on women. We employ longitudinal data from three British Cohort Studies, collected one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate the characteristics of those who report working from home and the relationship with gender disparities in hourly wages, mental health, and well-being. Using longitudinal data also allows us to control for cohort members' labour market situation prior to the pandemic, thereby helping to isolate the pandemic's effects. Our findings indicate that individuals who work from home typically receive higher wages compared to those who work from employers' premises, but the gender wage gap is most pronounced among those who work from home. Furthermore, consistent with the flexibility paradox, our analysis reveals that women who work from home - particularly those who work hybrid - experience the most detrimental mental health outcomes. |
| Keywords: | gender, employment, remote working, working from home, hourly earnings, mental health, COVID-19 |
| JEL: | E51 G21 G28 I2 J16 R51 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17405 |
| By: | Thimo De Schouwer; Iris Kesternich |
| Abstract: | We study heterogeneity in the prevalence of and preferences for workplace flexibility and work meaning. We show that, internationally, women and parents value flexibility more but do not work more flexible jobs. The gender dimension of this flexibility puzzle is related to differences in meaningful work, which women value higher and sort into, at a significant price corresponding to 20 to 70% less flexibility. The parental dimension is connected to preferences for meaning and flexibility diverging after childbirth. We show through counterfactuals that making meaningful jobs more flexible reduces the gender gap in total compensation by almost a quarter. |
| Keywords: | work meaning, workplace flexibility, gender, inequality, choice experiment |
| JEL: | D91 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11300 |
| By: | Olsson, Maria (Norwegian Business School (BI)); Nordström Skans, Oskar (Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | We study how local bargaining institutions affect the within-job gender wage gap among Swedish blue collar workers. Collective agreements with varying degrees of local flexibility tend to cover blue-collar workers across different occupations within the same firm. As a consequence, workers performing the same tasks but in different firms are covered by different agreements. We show that the gender pay gap is substantially reduced in jobs covered by collective agreements that guarantee each worker a minimum pay raise every year. Bargaining constraints have a greater impact on gender equality in settings where females are underrepresented. Effects are smaller in more productive firms as these firms can share rents above the contractual minimum with less constraints, even when formal contracts are rigid. Overall, the results suggest that the specifics of local bargaining institutions can play an important role in shaping gender wage disparities among low-paid workers. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, collective bargaining, unions |
| JEL: | J52 J51 J31 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17381 |
| By: | Yong Suk Lee; Toshiaki Iizuka; Karen Eggleston |
| Abstract: | How do employment, tasks, and productivity change with robot adoption? Unlike manufacturing, little is known about these issues in the service sector, where robot adoption is expanding. As a first step towards filling this gap, we study Japanese nursing homes using original facility-level panel data that includes the different robots used and the tasks performed. We find that robot adoption is accompanied by an increase in employment and retention and the relationship is strongest for non-regular care workers and monitoring robots. The share of specific tasks performed by robots increases with the adoption of the respective type of robot, leading to reallocation of care worker effort to “human touch” tasks that support quality care. Robots are associated with improved quality (reduction in restraint use and pressure ulcers) and productivity. |
| JEL: | I11 J14 J23 O30 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33116 |
| By: | Meghana Gaur; John Grigsby; Jonathon Hazell; Abdoulaye Ndiaye |
| Abstract: | We introduce dynamic incentive contracts into a model of inflation and unemployment dynamics. Our main result is that wage cyclicality from incentives neither affects the slope of the Phillips curve for prices nor dampens unemployment’s response to shocks. The impulse response of unemployment in economies with flexible, procyclical incentive pay is first-order equivalent to that of economies with rigid wages. Likewise, the slope of the Phillips curve is the same in both economies. This equivalence is due to effort fluctuations, which make marginal costs rigid even if wages are flexible. Our calibrated model suggests that 46% of the wage cyclicality in the data arises from incentives, with the remainder attributable to bargaining and outside options. A standard model without incentives calibrated to weakly procyclical wages matches the impulse response of unemployment in our incentive pay model calibrated to strongly procyclical wages. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11273 |
| By: | Brinkmann, Christina (University of Bonn); Jäger, Simon (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Kuhn, Moritz (University of Mannheim); Saidi, Farzad (University of Bonn); Wolter, Stefanie (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | Governments use short-time work (STW) schemes to subsidize job preservation during crises. We study the take-up of STW and its effects on worker outcomes and firm behavior using German administrative data from 2009 to 2021. Establishments utilizing STW tend to have higher wages, be larger, and have falling employment even before STW take-up. More adverse selection occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within firms, STW is targeted towards workers likely to stay even in the absence of STW. To study the effects of STW, we examine two dimensions of policy variation: STW eligibility and extensions of potential benefit duration (PBD). Workers above retirement age, ineligible for STW, have identical employment trajectories compared to their slightly younger, eligible peers when their establishment takes up STW. A 2012 reform doubling PBD from 6 to 12 months did not secure employment at treated firms 12 months after take-up, with minimal heterogeneity across worker characteristics. However, treated and control firms experienced substantial and persistent differences in their wage trajectories, with control firms without extensions lowering wages compared to treated firms. Across cells, larger wage effects corresponded with smaller employment effects, consistent with downward wage flexibility preventing layoffs and substituting for the employment protection effects of STW. Our research designs reveal that STW extensions in Germany did not significantly improve short- or long-term employment outcomes. |
| Keywords: | stabilization policies, short-time work, wage rigidity, labor market institutions, intra-firm insurance |
| JEL: | J01 J08 J30 J41 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17421 |
| By: | Haefner, Samuel; Haeusle, Niklas; Koeniger, Winfried; Braun, Alexander |
| Abstract: | We develop a model in which large risk-neutral firms and individual risk-averse consumers compete to employ heterogeneous workers by posting compensation menus. Production takes time, and we analyze how screening motives interact with the desire to smooth consumption. There is a unique symmetric separating equilibrium that is also efficient. In equilibrium, the extent to which the compensation scheme delays payment until the production quality becomes known depends on whether, and to which extent, the consumers are financially constrained. We discuss how our model relates to the design of compensation schemes in current online peer-to-peer markets. |
| Keywords: | Adverse selection, Self selection, Peer-to-peer markets, Labor markets, Capital market imperfections |
| JEL: | D15 D82 D86 E24 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2024:05 |
| By: | Berloffa, Gabriella (University of Trento); Piazzalunga, Daniela (University of Trento); Pieri, Fabio (University of Trento) |
| Abstract: | The paper introduces a new measure of educational mismatch at the firm level, constructed by merging firm and individual data at the sector-firm size-year level. This measure captures both the intensity of mismatch and its type – whether overeducation, undereducation, or a mix of the two. We assess the role of human resource practices in reducing the intensity of educational mismatch in Italian firms by estimating econometric models that control for a rich set of firm characteristics, as well as year and industry-region fixed effects. Firm-fixed effects and instrumental variable models complement the analysis. Findings indicate that the use of private recruitment agencies, on-the-job training, and structured supervision is associated with a reduction in mismatch intensity. The impact of other practices varies by mismatch type: higher job turnover rates correlate with lower undereducation but increased overeducation, while second-level bargaining increases undereducation and reduces overeducation. |
| Keywords: | educational mismatch, human resource practices, firm-level analysis, overeducation, undereducation |
| JEL: | D22 D23 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17424 |
| By: | Lorenzo Cominelli; Federico Galatolo; Caterina Giannetti; Cristiano Ciaccio; Felice Dell’Orletta; Philipp Chaposkvi; Giulia Venturi |
| Abstract: | Using a real-life escape room scenario, we investigate how different levels of embodiment in artificial agents influence team performance and conversational dynamics in non-routine analytical tasks. Teams composed of either three humans or two humans and an artificial agent (a Box, an Avatar, and a hyper-realistic Humanoid) worked together to escape the room within a time limit. Our findings reveal that while human-only teams tend to complete all tasks more frequently, they also tend to be slower and make more errors. Additionally, we observe a non-linear relationship between the degree of agent embodiment and team performance, with a significant effect on conversational dynamics. Teams with agents exhibiting higher levels of embodiment display conversational patterns more similar to those occurring among humans. These results highlight the complex role that embodied AI plays in human-agent interactions, offering new insights into how artificial agents can be designed to support team collaboration in problem-solving environments. |
| Keywords: | complex tasks, artificial agents, teamwork |
| JEL: | C92 |
| Date: | 2024–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2024/314 |
| By: | Engberg, Erik (Örebro University School of Business); Hellsten, Mark (Aarhus University); Javed, Farrukh (Lund University); Lodefalk, Magnus (Örebro University School of Business); Sabolová, Radka (Örebro University School of Business); Schroeder, Sarah (Aarhus University); Tang, Aili (Örebro University School of Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on hiring and employment, using the universe of job postings published by the Swedish Public Employment Service from 2014-2022 and universal register data for Sweden. We construct a detailed measure of AI exposure according to occupational content and find that establishments exposed to AI are more likely to hire AI workers. Survey data further indicate that AI exposure aligns with greater use of AI services. Importantly, rather than displacing non-AI workers, AI exposure is positively associated with increased hiring for both AI and non-AI roles. In the absence of substantial productivity gains that might account for this increase, we interpret the positive link between AI exposure and non-AI hiring as evidence that establishments are using AI to augment existing roles and expand task capabilities, rather than to replace non-AI workers. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence; Technological Change; Automation; Labour Demand |
| JEL: | D22 J23 J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–11–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2024_010 |