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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Sami Napari |
| Abstract: | In Finland the gender wage gap increases significantly during the first 10 years after labormarket entry accounting most of the life-time increase in the gender wage gap. This paperfocuses on the early career gender wage differences among university graduates andconsiders several explanations for the gender wage gap based on the human capital theory,job mobility and labor market segregation. Gender differences in the accumulation ofexperience and in the type of education explain about 16 percent of the average gender wagegap that emerges during the first 11 years after labor market entry among universitygraduates. Differences in employer characteristics between male and female graduatesaccount about 10 percent for the average early career gender wage gap. In all genderdifferences in background characteristics explain about 27 percent of the average early careerwage differences between male and female university graduates. The most important singlefactor contributing to the gender wage gap is the family type. Women seem to sufferconsiderable larger wage losses due to marriage and children than men. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, early career |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J7 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0738&r=lab |
| By: | Schlicht, Ekkehart |
| Abstract: | Offering higher wages may enable firms to attract more applicants and screen them more carefully. If firms compete in this way in the labor market, "selection wages" emerge. This note illustrates this wage-setting mechanism. Selection wages may engender unconventional results, such as a pre-tax wage compression induced by the introduction of a progressive wage tax. |
| Keywords: | wage formation; efficiency wage; incentive wage; mobility; job-specific pay; wage-tax |
| JEL: | J31 J41 J62 J63 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:muenec:958&r=lab |
| By: | Albrecht Glitz (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London) |
| Abstract: | After the fall of the Berlin Wall, ethnic Germans living in the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries had the possibility to migrate to Germany. Within 15 years, 2.8 million individuals moved. Upon arrival these immigrants were exogenously allocated to different regions by the administration in order to ensure an even distribution across the country. Their inflows can therefore be seen as a natural experiment of immigration, avoiding the typical endogeneity problem of immigrant inflows with regard to local labour market conditions. We analyse the effect of these exogenous inflows on relative skill-specific employment and wage rates of the resident population in different geographical areas between 1996 and 2001. The variation we exploit in the empirical estimations arises primarily from differences in the initial skill composition across regions. Skill groups are defined either based on occupations or educational attainment. For both skill definitions, our results indicate a displacement effect of around 4 unemployed resident workers for every 10 immigrants that find a job. We do not find evidence for any detrimental effect on average wages. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Labour Market Impact, Skill Groups, Germany |
| JEL: | J21 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1206&r=lab |
| By: | Carlos Medina; José Escobar |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect on hourly wages and hours of work, of an increase in the number of hours of work, defined by law as daytime hours of work. To identify the parameter of interest, we estimate difference in difference models. Although we do not know the working hour schedule; we exploit the necessary conditions for the intervention to affect them, to define treatment and comparison groups. We find that wages of males older than 25 working in industry in metropolitan areas decreased more than 11% due to the reform, while females older than 25 working in industry in metropolitan areas reduced their hours of work per week in 3.6 hours. There is evidence, although weaker, of increases in hourly wages for male workers in the other sectors of the economy. This suggests that employers increased labor demand in those sectors. Overall, the reform would have had positive effects on all workers but those in industry. |
| Keywords: | Classification JEL: K31; J20; J30. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:421&r=lab |
| By: | M Manacorda; Alan Manning; Jonathan Wadsworth |
| Abstract: | Immigration to the UK has risen in the past 10 years and has had a measurable effect on thesupply of different types of labour. But, existing studies of the impact of immigration on thewages of native-born workers in the UK (e.g. Dustmann, Fabbri and Preston, 2005) have failedto find any significant effect. This is something of a puzzle since Card and Lemieux, (2001) haveshown that changes in the relative supply of educated natives do seem to have measurable effectson the wage structure. This paper offers a resolution of this puzzle - natives and immigrants areimperfect substitutes, so that an increase in immigration reduces the wages of immigrantsrelative to natives. We show this using a pooled time series of British cross-sectional micro dataof observations on male wages and employment from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s. This lackof substitution also means that there is little discernable effect of increased immigration on thewages of native-born workers. |
| Keywords: | Wages, wage inequality, immigration |
| JEL: | J6 |
| Date: | 2006–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0754&r=lab |
| By: | Heather Antecol (Department of Economics, Claremont McKenna College); Peter Kuhn (Department of Economics, University of California); Stephen J. Trejo (Department of Economics, University of Texas) |
| Abstract: | Using 1980/81 and 1990/91 census data from Australia, Canada, and the United States, we estimate the effects of time in the destination country on male immigrants’ wages, employment, and earnings. We find that total earnings assimilation is greatest in the United States and least in Australia. Employment assimilation explains all of the earnings progress experienced by Australian immigrants, whereas wage assimilation plays the dominant role in the United States, and Canada falls in-between. We argue that relatively inflexible wages and generous unemployment insurance in countries like Australia may cause assimilation to occur along the “quantity” rather than the price dimension. |
| Date: | 2006–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0306&r=lab |
| By: | Anna Piil Damm (CAM and Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business); Michael Rosholm (Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business) |
| Abstract: | We argue that spatial dispersal policies on refugees and asylum seekers influence labour market assimilation of refugees through two mechanisms: first, the local job offer arrival rate and, second, place utility. Our partial search model with simultaneous job and residential location search predicts that the reservation wage for local jobs decreases with place utility. We argue that spatial dispersal decreases average place utility of refugees which decreases the transition rate into first job due to large local reservation wages. We investigate both mechanisms empirically and test the predictions of the theoretical model by evaluating the employment effects of the Danish spatial dispersal policy carried out 1986-1998. |
| Keywords: | Migration, |
| Date: | 2006–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0506&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Department of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London); Francesca Fabbri (Department of Economics, University of Munich); Ian Preston (Department of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical investigation of the way immigration affects labour market outcomes of native born workers in the UK, set beside a theoretical discussion of the underlying economic mechanisms. We discuss the problems that may arise in empirical estimations, and suggest ways to address these problems. Our empirical analysis is based on data from the British Labour Force Survey. We show that the overall skill distribution of Britain’s immigrant workforce is remarkably similar to that of the native born workforce. We investigate the impact of immigration on employment, participation, unemployment and wages of the resident population. We find no evidence that immigration has overall effects on any of these outcomes at the aggregate level. There is some evidence that effects are different for different educational groups. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Survey, Attitudes |
| Date: | 2005–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0105&r=lab |
| By: | Robert K. Trieste (Center for Retirement Research); Steven A. Sass (Center for Retirement Research); Margarita Sapozhnikov (Center for Retirement Research) |
| Abstract: | he United States, along with virtually all other developed countries, is on the cusp of a radical transformation of its labor markets. One consequence of demographic change is that there have been substantial shifts in the age distribution of the working age population. The usual historical pattern of a high ratio of younger workers relative to older workers is being replaced by a pattern of roughly equal percentages of workers of different ages. One might expect that the increasing relative supply of older workers would decrease the wage premium paid for older, and more experienced, workers.This paper provides strong empirical support for this hypothesis. Econometric estimates imply that the size of one’s birth cohort affects wages throughout one’s working life, with members of relatively large cohorts earning a significantly lower wage than members of smaller cohorts at all stages of their careers. Our results suggest that cohort size effects are quantitatively important, and should be incorporated into public policy analyses. |
| Keywords: | replacement rates, retirement, pension plans, social security |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2005-5&r=lab |
| By: | Mariano Bosch |
| Abstract: | Recessions and policy interventions in labour markets in developing countries arecharacterized not only by changes in the unemployment rate, but also by changes in theproportion of formal or protected jobs. This reallocation between formal and informal jobs islarge and occurs mainly because the job finding rate of formal jobs reacts substantially morethan the job finding rate of informal jobs. This paper presents a search and matching model tocapture this fact. I assume that firms operate the within firm margin of formality, choosing tolegalize only those matches that are good enough to compensate the costs of formality. In thisframework, recessions or stricter regulations in the labour market trigger two effects. Asexpected, they lower the incentives to post vacancies (meeting effect), but also affect thefirms' hiring standards, favouring informal contracts (offer effect). This new channel shedslight on how the actions of policy makers alter the outcomes in an economy with informaljobs. For instance, attempts to protect employment by increasing .ring costs will reallocateworkers to informal jobs, where job separation is high. They are also likely to increaseunemployment. |
| Keywords: | Informal economy, search models, labour markets, regulations. |
| JEL: | J64 H26 O17 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0761&r=lab |
| By: | Alex Bryson; Michael White |
| Abstract: | A national survey makes it possible to examine employees' awareness of net overallreductions in the size of the workforce along with their awareness of employer policies thatpromise 'no compulsory redundancies'. Differences are investigated between union and nonunionworkplaces, and between unionised workplaces with high membership density andthose with low-to-medium density. A union presence increases both job reductions and jobsecurity guarantees to employees, and high membership density has some additional effectsin the market sector, but not the public sector. |
| Keywords: | job cuts, trade unions, job guarantees |
| JEL: | J23 J45 J51 J63 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0745&r=lab |
| By: | Amil Petrin; Jagadeesh Sivadasan |
| Abstract: | The extensive empirical macro- and micro-level evidence on the impact of job security provisions is largely inconclusive. We argue that the weak evidence is a consequence of the weak power of statistics used, which is suggested by a dynamic theory of plant-level labor demand that we develop. This model speaks clearly on one issue: firing costs drive a wedge between the marginal revenue product of labor and its marginal cost. We examine changes in this gap as our test statistic. It is easy to compute and has a welfare interpretation. We use census data of Chilean manufacturing firms for the years 1979-1996 to look for real effects induced by two significant increases in the costs of dismissing employees. Similar to previous findings in other data, the traditional labor demand statistics provide little evidence of a negative impact from increases in firing costs. While we find no evidence that gaps increase for inputs that are not directly affected by firing costs, we find large and statistically significant increases in the mean and variance of the within-firm gap between the marginal revenue product of labor and the wage for both blue and white collar workers. |
| JEL: | D21 J23 J63 J65 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12757&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London); Albrecht Glitz (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London); Thorsten Vogel (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration.) |
| Abstract: | Differences in the cyclical pattern of employment and wages of immigrants relative to natives have largely gone unnoticed in the migration literature. In this paper we show that immigrants and natives react differently to the economic cycle. Based on over two decades of micro data, our investigation is for two of the largest immigrant receiving countries in Europe which at the same time are characterised by different immigrant populations as well as different economic cycles, Germany and the UK. Understanding the magnitude, nature and possible causes of differences in responses is relevant for assessing the economic performance of immigrant communities over time. We show that there are substantial differences in cyclical responses between immigrants and natives. Our analysis illustrates the magnitude of these differences, while distinguishing between different groups of immigrants. Differences in responses may be due to differences in the skill distribution between immigrant groups and natives, or differences in demand for immigrants and natives of the same skills due to differential allocation of immigrants and natives across industries and regions. We demonstrate that substantial differences in cyclical patterns remain, even within narrowly defined groups. Finally, we estimate a more structural factor type model that, using regional variation in economic conditions, separates responses to economic shocks from a secular trend and allows us to obtain a summary measure for these differences within education groups. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Wage Structure, Business Cycle |
| JEL: | E32 F22 J31 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0906&r=lab |
| By: | Steven J. Davis; Magnus Henrekson |
| Abstract: | Following a severe contraction in the early 1990s, the Swedish economy accumulated a strong record of output growth coupled with a disappointing performance in the labor market. As of 2005, hours worked per person 20-64 years of age are 10.5 percent below the 1990 peak and a mere one percent above the 1993 trough. Employment rates tell a similar story. Our explanation for Sweden's weak performance with respect to market work activity highlights the role of high tax rates on labor income and consumption expenditures, wage-setting arrangements that compress relative wages, business tax policies that disfavor labor-intensive industries and technologies, and a variety of policies and institutional arrangements that disadvantage younger and smaller businesses. This last category includes tax policies that penalize wealth accumulation in the form of owner-operated businesses, a pension system that steers equity capital and loanable funds to large incumbent corporations, and legally mandated job-security provisions that weigh more heavily on smaller and younger businesses. We describe these features of the Swedish institutional setup and provide evidence of their consequences based largely on international comparisons. |
| JEL: | D13 H30 J20 L52 O52 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12768&r=lab |
| By: | Anna Piil Damm (CAM and Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates empirically how residence in ethnic enclaves affects labour market outcomes of refugees. Self-selection into ethnic enclaves in terms of unobservable characteristics is taken into account by exploitation of a Danish spatial dispersal policy which randomly disperses new refugees across locations conditional on six individual-specific characteristics. The results show that refugees with unfavourable unobserved characteristics are found to self-select into ethnic enclaves. Furthermore, taking account of negative self-selection, a relative standard deviation increase in ethnic group size on average increases the employment probability of refugees by 4 percentage points and earnings by 21 percent. I argue that in case of heterogenous treatment effects, the estimated effects are local average treatment effects. |
| Keywords: | Migration, |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0706&r=lab |
| By: | Benjamin Aleman-Castilla |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of NAFTA on informality and real wages in Mexico. Using a dynamicindustry model with firm heterogeneity, it is predicted that import tariff elimination could reduce theincidence of informality by making more profitable to some firms to enter the formal sector, forcingthe less productive informal firms to exit the industry, and inducing the most productive formal firmsto engage in trade. The model also predicts market share reallocations towards the most productivefirms, and an increase in real wages due to the increased labour demand by these firms. Using data onMexican and U.S. import tariffs together with the Mexican National Survey of Urban Labour(ENEU), I find that reductions in the Mexican import tariffs are significantly related to reductions inthe likelihood of informality in the tradable industries. I also find that informality decreases less inindustries with higher levels of import penetration, while it decreases more in industries that arerelatively more export oriented. Finally, I confirm that the elimination of the Mexican import tariffs isrelated to an increase in real wages, and that the elimination of the U.S. import tariff has contributedto the expansion of the formal-informal wage differentials. |
| Keywords: | trade liberalization, informality, wage differentials |
| JEL: | F00 F02 F14 F15 F16 J00 J21 J23 J31 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0763&r=lab |
| By: | Carlos Thomas |
| Abstract: | I analyze optimal monetary policy in an economy with search and matching frictions in thelabor market and staggered nominal wage and price contracts. In this framework, as opposedto the standard New Keynesian model, preset nominal wages need not have any effect onexisting employment relationships. However, staggered bargaining of nominal wages distortsaggregate job creation and creates inefficient dispersion in hiring rates across firms.Targeting zero inflation (the optimal policy in the standard New Keynesian model) onlymagnifies these distortions. The optimal policy allows for non-zero inflation in response toreal shocks, so as to reduce the rigidity of real wages. Quantitatively, the case against pricestability as the sole goal of monetary policy turns out to be important. |
| Keywords: | search and matching, New Keynesian, staggered nominal wage bargaining |
| JEL: | E52 E32 J40 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0743&r=lab |
| By: | Rachel Ngai; Christopher A. Pissarides |
| Abstract: | We study long-run trends in market hours of work and employment shifts across economicsectors driven by uneven TFP growth in market and home production. We focus on thestructural transformation between agriculture, manufacturing and services and on themarketization of home production. The model can rationalize the observed falling or Ushapedpattern for aggregate hours, the shift from agriculture to services and balancedaggregate growth. We find support for the model's predictions in long-run US data. |
| Keywords: | hours of work, labour supply, structural transformation, home production,marketization, balanced growth |
| JEL: | J21 J22 O14 O41 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0746&r=lab |
| By: | Luiz de Mello; Naércio Menezes Filho; Luiz G. Scorzafave |
| Abstract: | Labour force participation is comparable to the OECD area for prime-age males. It is somewhat lower for females and is trending down for youths as a result of rising school enrolment. The labour market is placing an increasing premium on skills, making it particularly difficult for the less educated to find a job. Labour informality is pervasive and turnover high, especially for the less educated, discouraging investment in labour training and the acquisition of job-related skills, and perpetuating income disparities. The main policy challenge is to improve labour utilisation by reducing informality and fostering human capital accumulation on and off the job. A stable macroeconomy is a pre-condition for reducing unemployment, but a greater focus on activation within the current policy framework would be advisable. To close the remaining gender gap, female labour force participation in full-time jobs could be encouraged by increasing the supply of affordable child care and pre-school education. Labour turnover can be reduced by mitigating the incentives for negotiated separation, which currently arise from the design of severance insurance (FGTS) in the event of unfair dismissal. Skill marketability can be enhanced through the introduction of a national skills certification system, and labour training can become more cost-effective through increased contestability in existing programmes. <P>Accroître l'utilisation de la main-d'oeuvre au Brésil <BR>Le taux d'activité est comparable à celui de la zone OCDE pour les hommes d'âge moyen, mais il est un peu plus bas pour les femmes et a tendance à baisser pour les jeunes, parallèlement aux progrès de la scolarisation. Le marché du travail est de plus en plus favorable aux travailleurs qualifiés et il est donc devenu particulièrement difficile pour ceux qui ne le sont pas de trouver un emploi. Le travail non déclaré est très répandu et les taux de rotation élevés qui le caractérisent, surtout pour les travailleurs peu qualifiés, découragent l'investissement dans la formation de la main-d'oeuvre et l'acquisition de qualifications liées à l'emploi. Pour les pouvoirs publics, le principal défi à relever est donc d'accroître l'utilisation de la main-d'oeuvre en luttant contre le travail non déclaré et en favorisant l'accumulation de capital humain dans l'emploi et hors emploi. Un environnement macroéconomique stable est un préalable indispensable pour faire reculer le chômage, mais le développement des mesures d?activation dans le cadre actuel de l'action gouvernementale paraît également souhaitable. Pour achever de combler l'écart d'activité entre les sexes, on pourrait encourager les femmes à travailler à temps plein en développant l'offre de services d'accueil et d'éducation préscolaire d'un coût abordable pour les enfants, tandis que pour atténuer la rotation de la main-d'oeuvre, il faudrait agir sur les incitations au départ négocié qui découlent actuellement du régime d'assurance contre la perte d'emploi (FGTS) en cas de licenciement abusif. Enfin, on valoriserait davantage les qualifications sur le marché grâce à la mise en place d'un système national de certification et on rendrait la formation professionnelle plus efficace et plus économique en introduisant davantage de concurrence dans les programmes existants. |
| Keywords: | labour markets, marché du travail, informality, informalité, employability, employabilité, probit, probit |
| JEL: | J20 J30 J8 |
| Date: | 2006–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:533-en&r=lab |
| By: | Nick Bloom; Tobias Kretschmer; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | Do "Anglo-Saxon" management practices generate higher productivity only at the expense of lousywork-life balance (WLB) for workers? Many critics of "neo-libéralisme sauvage" have argued thatincreased competition from globalisation is damaging employees' quality of life. Others have arguedthe opposite that improving work-life balance is actually a competitive tool that companies can useto raise productivity. We try to shed some empirical light on these issues using an innovative surveytool to collect new data on management and work-life balance practices from 732 medium sizedmanufacturing firms in the US, France, Germany and the UK. First, we show that our measure ofwork-life balance is a useful summary of a range of policies in the firm - family-friendly policies,flexible working, shorter hours, more holidays, subsidised childcare, etc. We show that this worklifebalance measure is significantly associated with better management. Firms in environments thatare more competitive and/or who are more productive, however, do not have significantly worsework-life balance for their workers. These findings are inconsistent with the view that competition,globalisation and "Anglo-Saxon" management practices are intrinsically bad for the work-lifebalance of workers. On the other hand, neither are these findings supportive of the optimistic "winwin"view that work-life balance improves productivity in its own right. Rather we find support for a"hybrid" theory that work-life balance is a choice for managers that is compatible with low or highproductivity. |
| Keywords: | Work-Life Balance, Management Practices, Productivity, family-friendly workplaces, competition |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:sp16&r=lab |
| By: | Christopher A. Pissarides |
| Abstract: | I examine the dynamic evolutions of unemployment, hours of work and the service sharesince the war in the United States and Europe. The theoretical model brings together allthree and emphasizes technological growth. Computations show that the very lowunemployment in Europe in the 1960s was due to the high productivity growth associatedwith technological catch-up. Productivity also played a role in the dynamics of hours buta full explanation for the fast rise of service employment and the big fall in aggregatehours needs further research. Taxation has played a role but results are mixed. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, hours of work, service employment, structural change, laborproductivity taxation |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J22 J64 O14 |
| Date: | 2006–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0757&r=lab |
| By: | Mariano Bosch; William Maloney |
| Abstract: | This paper applies recent advances in the study of labor market dynamics to a representativedeveloping country with a large unregulated of "informal" sector, Mexico. It finds, first, that theformal salaried sector shows the same procyclical job finding rate and mildly countercyclicalseparation behavior identified in the recent US literature by Shimer (2005a) and Hall (2005). Theunregulated informal sector, however, shows reasonable acyclicality in the job finding ratecoupled with sharp countercyclical movements in the job separation rate, consistent withstandard small firm dynamics and Davis and Haltiwanger (1992 and 1999). The differentialbehavior of regulated and unregulated sectors, and the finding of relative wage rigidity in theformer, sheds suggestive light on the roots of countercyclical job finding behavior in the US.Second, the patterns of worker transitions between all sectors, formal and informal correspond tothe job-to-job dynamics observed in the US and not to the traditional idea of informalityconstituting the inferior sector of a segmented market. That said, the counter cyclical job findingin the formal sector combined with the acyclical job finding in informality does lead to the latterabsorbing relatively more labor during downturns, even as its increased separation rates drivemovements in unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Gross worker flows, Labor market dynamics, Informality, Developing Countries |
| JEL: | J41 J42 J6 |
| Date: | 2006–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0753&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London); Nikolaos Theodoropoulos (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration(CReAM), University College London.) |
| Abstract: | According to the 2001 UK Census ethnic minority groups account for 4.6 million or 7.9 percent of the total UK population. The 2001 British Labour Force Survey indicates that the descendants of Britain’s ethnic minority immigrants form an important part of the British population (2.8 percent) and of the labour force (2.1 percent). In this paper, we use data from the British Labour Force Survey over the period 1979-2005 to investigate educational attainment and economic behaviour of ethnic minority immigrants and their children in Britain. We compare different ethnic minority groups born in Britain to their parent’s generation and to equivalent groups of white native born individuals. Intergenerational comparisons suggest that British born ethnic minorities are on average more educated than their parents as well more educated than their white native born peers. Despite their strong educational achievements, we find that ethnic minority immigrants and their British born children exhibit lower employment probabilities than their white native born peers. However, significant differences exist across immigrant/ethnic groups and genders. British born ethnic minorities appear to have slightly higher wages than their white native born peers. But if British born ethnic minorities were to face the white native regional distribution and were attributed white native characteristics, their wages would be considerably lower. The substantial employment gap between British born ethnic minorities and white natives cannot be explained by observable differences. We suggest some possible explanations for these gaps. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic Minorities/Immigrants, Education, Intergenerational comparisons, Employment, Wages |
| JEL: | J15 I20 J62 J21 J30 |
| Date: | 2006–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1006&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Department of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the intergenerational mobility in earnings and education for father-son pairs with native and foreign born fathers. We develop a simple model which illustrates that a higher probability of a permanent migration of the parent increases educational investments into the child. Our empirical evidence is largely consistent with this. We find higher intergenerational mobility for father-son pairs with native born fathers than with foreign born fathers. For the foreign born, we find that son’s permanent wages are strongly and positively associated with the probability of the father’s permanent migration. Investigating investments into education, we find again a strong association between the probability of the father’s permanent migration, and the son’s educational attainments. These effects remain if in addition we condition on father’s education, or on father’s permanent earnings. |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0505&r=lab |
| By: | David Card (Department of Economics, UC Berkeley and NBER); Ethan G.Lewis (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | Mexican immigrants were historically clustered in a few cities, mainly in California and Texas. During the past 15 years, however, arrivals from Mexico established sizeable immigrant communities in many “new” cities. We explore the causes and consequences of the widening geographic diffusion of Mexican immigrants. A combination of demand-pull and supply push factors explains most of the inter-city variation in inflows of Mexican immigrants over the 1990s, and also illuminates the most important trend in the destination choices of new Mexican immigrants – the move away from Los Angeles. Mexican inflows raise the relative supply of low-education labor in a city, leading to the question of how cities adapt to these shifts. One mechanism, suggested by the Hecksher Olin model, is shifting industry composition. We find limited evidence of this mechanism: most of the increases in the relative supply of loweducation labor are absorbed by changes in skill intensity within narrowly defined industries. Such adjustments could be readily explained if Mexican immigrant inflows had large effects on the relative wage structures of different cities. As has been found in previous studies of the local impacts of immigration, however, our analysis suggests that relative wage adjustments are small. |
| Date: | 2005–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0405&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Department of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London); Francesca Fabbri (Munich Graduate School of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM)) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive description of the economic outcomes and performance of Britain’s immigrant communities today and over the last two decades. We distinguish between males and females and, where possible and meaningful, between immigrants of different origin. Our comparison group are white British born individuals. Our data source is the British Labour Force Survey (LFS). We first provide descriptive information on the composition of immigrants in Britain, and how this has changed over time, their socio-economic characteristics, their industry allocation, and their labour market outcomes. We then investigate various labour market performance indicators (labour force participation, employment, wages, and self-employment) for immigrants of different origin, and compare them to British-born whites of same age, origin, and other background characteristics. We find that over the last 20 years, Britain’s immigrant population has changed in origin composition, and has dramatically improved in skill composition - not dissimilar from the trend in the British born population. We find substantial differences in economic outcomes between white and ethnic minority immigrants. Within these groups, immigrants of different origin differ considerably with respect to their education and age structure, their regional distribution, and sector choice. In general, white immigrants are more successful in Britain, although there are differences between groups of different origin. The investigation shows that immigrants from some ethnic minority groups, and in particular females, are particularly disadvantaged, with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis at the lower end of this scale. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Economic Performance |
| JEL: | J15 |
| Date: | 2005–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0705&r=lab |
| By: | Janette Kawachi (Urban Institute); Karen E. Smith (Urban Institute); Eric J. Toder (Urban Institute) |
| Abstract: | The share of workers who participate in employer-sponsored tax-deferred plans has been growing, but is still only a minority of workers. Most workers do not contribute the maximum amount allowed by law to employer-sponsored plans. Maximum contributors are more prevalent among high-income compared with low-income workers, college graduates compared with those with less education, non-Hispanic whites and others compared with non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics, and single and married people, ompared with those who are widowed or divorced. The percentage of participants who contribute the maximum to employersponsored plans almost doubled between 1990 and 2003, but virtually all the growth in maximum participation came from groups with high shares of maximum contributors in 1990. The share of participants who are large contributors – defined as contributing the aximum or 10 percent of their earnings to plans – also nearly doubled. For large contributors, the growth came from all income and demographic groups, although growth also increased the most (in percentage points) for groups with large shares in 1990. Holding all other factors constant, we find an upward trend in the share of large contributors among high-earners, but not among low-earners. Shares of both maximum and large contributors are increasing more over time for higher than for lower earning groups. Recent increases in contribution limits can be expected to reduce shares of maximum contributors, but raise relative shares of maximum contributors among highearning and education groups. Increases in contribution limits do little to increase retirement preparedness among lower-income groups. |
| Keywords: | tax-deferred, retirement, minority workers |
| Date: | 2006–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2005-19&r=lab |
| By: | Richard Belfield; David Marsden |
| Abstract: | The introduction of performance-related pay with Performance Management in the state school sector of England and Wales represents a considerable change in the school management system. After 2000, all teachers were subject to annual goal setting performance reviews. Experienced teachers were offered an extended pay scale based on performance instead of seniority, and to gain access to the new upper pay scale, teachers had to go through a 'threshold assessment' based on their professional skills and performance. This paper reports the results of a panel survey of classroom and head teachers which started in 2000 just before implementation of the new system, and then after one and after four years of operation. We find that both classroom and head teacher views have changed considerably over time, from initial general skepticism and opposition towards a more positive view, especially among head teachers by 2004. We argue that the adoption of an integrative bargaining approach to performance reviews explains why a growing minority of schools have achieved improved goal setting, and improved pupil attainments as they have implemented performancemanagement. Pay for performance has been one of the measures of organizational support that headteachers could bring to induce changes in teachers' classroom priorities. We argue that the teachers' case shows that a wider range of performance incentives than previously thought can be offered to employees in such occupations, provided that goal setting and performance measurement are approached as a form of negotiation instead of top-down. |
| Keywords: | Education, teachers, performance related pay, public sector, compensation, industrial relations |
| JEL: | I2 J33 J45 M52 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0747&r=lab |