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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Michael D. Giandrea (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics); Kevin E. Cahill (Analysis Group, Inc.); Joseph F. Quinn (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | What role does self-employment play in the retirement process? Older Americans are staying in the labor force longer than prior trends would have predicted and many change jobs later in life. These job transitions are often within the same occupation or across occupations within wage- and-salary employment. The transition can also be out of wage-and-salary work and into self employment. Indeed, national statistics show that self employment becomes more prevalent with age, partly because self employment provides older workers with opportunities not found in traditional wage-and-salary jobs, such as flexibility in hours worked and independence. This paper analyzes transitions into and out of self employment among older workers who have had career jobs. We utilize the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally-representative dataset of older Americans, to investigate the prevalence of self employment among older workers who made a job transition later in life and to explore the factors that determine the choice of wage- and-salary employment or self employment. We find that post-career transitions into and out of self employment are common and that health status, career occupation, and financial variables are important determinants of these transitions. As older Americans and the country as a whole face financial strains in retirement income in the years ahead, self employment may be a vital part of the pro-work solution. |
| Date: | 2008–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:684&r=lab |
| By: | Thomas Dohmen; Hartmut Lehmann; Anzelika Zaiceva |
| Abstract: | Using unique personnel data from one Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 we study the size, development and determinants of the gender earnings gap in an internal labor market during late transition. The gap is sizable but declines strongly over the entire period. Gender earnings differentials are largest for production workers who constitute the largest employee group in the firm. Various decompositions show that these differentials and their dynamics remain largely unexplained by observable characteristics at the mean and across the wage distribution. Our analysis also reveals that the earnings differentials for production workers largely stem from job assignment, as women are predominately assigned to lower paid jobs. Earnings gaps within job levels are small and almost fully explained by observed characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Gender earnings gap, personnel data, internal labor market, Russia |
| JEL: | J16 M52 P23 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwesc:diwesc6&r=lab |
| By: | Wolf Dieter Heinbach; Markus Spindler |
| Abstract: | Collective bargaining agreements still play an important role in the German wage setting system. Both existing theoretical and empirical studies find that collective bargaining leads to higher wages compared to individually agreed ones. However, the impact of collective bargaining on the wage level may be very different along the wage distribution. As unions aim at compressing the wage distribution, one might expect that for covered workers' wages in the lower part of the distribution workers' individual characteristics may be less important than the coverage by a collective contract. In contrast, the relative importance of workers' individual characteristics may rise in the upper part of the wage distribution, whereas the overall wage difference might decline. Using the newly available German Structure of Earnings Survey (GSES) 1995 and 2001, a cross-sectional linked employer-employee-dataset from German official statistics, this study analyses the difference between collectively and individually agreed wages using a Machado/Mata (2005) decomposition type technique. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining; wage structure; wage decomposition; quantile regression |
| JEL: | J31 J51 C13 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaw:iawdip:36&r=lab |
| By: | Anna Lovasz (Labor Project, Central European University) |
| Abstract: | The overall gender wage gap fell from .31 to .15 between 1986 and 2003 following the transition to a free market in Hungary. During the same time period, firms faced increased competition from both new domestic and foreign firms due to the rapid liberalization measures implemented by the government. Becker's (1957) model of employer taste discrimination implies that employers that discriminate against women may be forced out of the market by competition in the long run, leading to a fall in the gender wage gap. I test this implication using data from the Hungarian Wage and Earnings Survey covering 1986-2003. I estimate the effect of variation in various measures of product market competition, including trade variables, on the within-firm endowment-adjusted gender wage gap, making use of the fact that I am able to follow firms over time. The estimates show a significant negative relationship between product market competition and the within-firm gender wage gap. |
| Keywords: | Transitional labor market, wage differentials, gender discrimination |
| JEL: | J31 J71 P20 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:0804&r=lab |
| By: | Shilov, Andrey (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Tourovsky, Boris |
| Abstract: | "This paper examines the impact of minimum wage in a dominant firm model. It is shown that in a labor-intensive market, the introduction of a binding minimum wage creates an entry barrier in the short run and increases unemployment in the long run." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | C23 J31 J38 D43 |
| Date: | 2008–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200823&r=lab |
| By: | Katz, Katarina (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Sand, Lena (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Using unique survey data from the Russian industrial city Taganrog in 1989 and 1998, we analyse changes in the gender division of labour among gainfully employed women and men, pre- and post-transition. In Soviet Taganrog, dual earner families predominated, but nevertheless men were usually primary earners, while women did the bulk of housework. After transition, contrary to early predictions, aggregate female and male employment rates have declined to a similar extent but the time-use data indicate increased gender specialisation among the employed .Thus, the dual earner norm mainly remains but the pre-existing gender difference within it has increased considerably, particularly among couples with pre-school children.<p> |
| Keywords: | Non-market work; gender division of labour; Russia |
| JEL: | D13 J16 J22 P39 |
| Date: | 2008–06–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0307&r=lab |
| By: | Zheren WU (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | Using data from a rural household survey in China, this paper explores the link between employment choice (nonworking, local farm work, local nonfarm work and migratory work) and migrant earnings. We find significant self-selection in migration. Youths, males, better-educated individuals and those in good health are more likely to migrate. In terms of unobserved characteristics, we find positive selection in migration as related to the alternatives of not working and local farm work, and insignificant self-selection as related to local nonfarm work. Controlling for self-selection, the wage returns to gender (male), education and health are lower than those obtained from simple ordinary least squares (OLS), and the returns to experience are higher. More importantly, we find different self-selection between individuals who have moved as pioneers and migrants from households in which other members have already migrated. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Migration, Self-selection, Pioneer migrants |
| JEL: | J24 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:0825&r=lab |
| By: | Verho, Jouko (Department of Economics, University of Helsinki) |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the long-term cost of unemployment in Finland by focusing on the deep recession period of the early 1990s. The number of plant closures increased sharply during the recession and the unemployment rate rose by more than 13 percentage points. In the analysis, prime working-age men who face unemployment due to plant closure are matched to those who remained employed during the recession. The average effect of being unemployed during the recession is estimated for a 6 year follow-up period. After 6 years, there is a 25% annual earnings penalty for being unemployed. Months in employment recover steadily after the recession but are still 10% lower after 6 years. The estimated wage loss is 14%. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment; plant closings |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2008–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2008_009&r=lab |
| By: | Gianna Claudia Giannelli; Francesca Francavilla; Leonardo Grilli |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of school attendance of children and their mother’s working status when the mother decides how to allocate her time and that of her children. A multilevel random effects model is applied to study the mother’s participation and the schooling status of her children in a joint framework. Using the second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) for India, we find that, controlling for many covariates among which wealth is the most powerful predictor, children of working mothers have a lower probability of attending school. This, together with the result that only illiterate and poor mothers with unskilled or unemployed partners have a high probability of working, points to the need for decent labour market opportunities for females. An implication of our findings is that any policy aiming both at enhancing women’s empowerment through labour and increasing children’s welfare should also target improvements in women’s conditions in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | children’s schooling, women’s work, household allocation of time, random effects, India |
| JEL: | J13 J22 O15 O18 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp07_08&r=lab |
| By: | Hartmut Lehmann; Norberto Pignatti |
| Abstract: | Research on informal employment in transition countries has been very limited because of alack of appropriate data. A new rich panel data set from Ukraine, the Ukrainian LongitudinalMonitoring Survey (ULMS), enables us to provide some empirical evidence on informalemployment in Ukraine and the validity of the three schools of thought in the literature onthe role of informality in the development process. Apart from providing additional evidencewith richer data than usually available in developing countries, the paper investigates to whatextent the informal sector plays a role in labor market adjustment in a transition economy.The evidence points to some labor market segmentation since the majority of informalsalaried employees are involuntarily employed and workers seem to queue for formalsalaried jobs. We also show that the dependent informal sector is segmented into a voluntary"upper tier" and an involuntary lower part where the majority of informal jobs are located.Our contention that informal self-employment is voluntary is confirmed by the substantialearnings premia associated with movements into this state. |
| Keywords: | Labor market segmentation, transition economies, Ukraine |
| JEL: | J31 J40 P23 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwesc:diwesc3&r=lab |
| By: | Torben M. Andersen; Michael Svarer (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | Workfare policies are often introduced in labour market policies to improve the trade-off between incentives and insurance as an alternative to benefit reductions. Most of the debate on such policies has focussed on the direct effect of those participating in the scheme, and in particular the possible locking-in effect reducing job search. In a general equilibrium search framework, we show that the effects of workfare policies critically depend on the response of those not in the programme when they take into account that workfare is a condition for remaining eligible for unemployment benefits. This implies that unemployed not yet in workfare may search more for regular jobs, and employed may accept lower wages since the outside option becomes less attractive. Introduction of workfare policies into an unemployment insurance scheme is shown to contribute to a reduction in both open and total unemployment. It is also shown that the direct search effects of workfare policies are a poor indicator of the overall effect workfare policies have on labour market policies. |
| Keywords: | Workfare, Labour market performance |
| JEL: | J0 |
| Date: | 2008–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2008-05&r=lab |
| By: | Govert E. Bijwaard (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Justus Veenman (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | Labor markets in Western countries are becoming more and more flexible, thereby meeting the needs of employers. Yet the new flexibility also offers opportunities to workers, while at the same time bears the risk of long-term exclusion. This paper deals with unequal chances on the contemporary Dutch labor market, in particular for workers with unfavorable human capital characteristics. As such we have chosen workers from the four largest immigrant groups: Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese and Antilleans. The data used are from the SPVA, the survey 'Social Position and Use of Public Utilities by Migrants' for the years 1998 and 2002. These are based on stock sampling. Since for some individuals labor market transitions occur at a very low rate, these individuals may stay in the current state till they reach the retirement age of 65. We estimate hazard rate models that account for both the stock-sampling and the possible maximum duration for the transitions from unemployment, household care and disability to employment. Then we decompose the differences in expected duration between the immigrant groups and the Dutch natives into the contribution of differences in observable characteristics, coefficient estimates and baseline hazard parameters. The main results of the analyses are that unequal chances exist, but to a different degree for the various groups and with variations per transition type. Labor market experience seems to protect from long-term exclusion. |
| Keywords: | Flexible labor market; duration; Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition |
| JEL: | C41 J64 J7 |
| Date: | 2008–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080005&r=lab |
| By: | Hans Bloemen (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Private wealth holdings are likely to become an increasingly important determinant in the job exit decision of elderly workers. Net wealth may correlate with worker's characteristics that also determine the exit out of a job. It is therefore important to include a rich set of observed characteristics in an empirical model for retirement in order to measure the (marginal) effect of wealth on the job exit rate. But even with a rich set of regressors the question remains whether there are unobservable worker's characteristics that affect both net wealth and the job exit rate. We specify a simultaneous equations model for job exit transitions with multiple destinations, net wealth, and the initial labour market state. The job exit rates and the net wealth equation contain random effects. We allow for correlation between the random effects of job exit and net wealth, and the initial labour market state. |
| Keywords: | Retirement; Life Cycle Models and Saving |
| JEL: | J26 D91 |
| Date: | 2008–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080025&r=lab |
| By: | Torben M. Andersen; Michael Svarer (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | Unemployment is at a low and stable level in Denmark. This achievement is often attributed to the so-called flexicurity model combining flexible hiring and firing rules for employers with income security for employees. Whatever virtues this model may have, a low and stable unemployment rate is not automatically among them since the basic flexicurity properties were also in place during the 1970s and 1980s where high and persistent unemployment was prevalent. Labour market performance has changed due to a series of reforms during the 1990s, the main thrust of which were a shift from a passive focus of labour market policies to a more active focus on job search and employment. The policy tightened eligibility for unemployment benefits and their duration as well as introduced workfare elements into unemployment insurance and social policies in general. Thereby policy makers attempted to strengthen the incentive structure without taking resort to general benefit reductions. We argue that the workfare policies have played an important role running primarily via motivation/threat and wage effects. However, active labour market policies are resource demanding, and although the workfare reforms have improved cost effectiveness, there is still an issue as to whether the resources going into active labour market policies are used efficiently. |
| Keywords: | Flexicurity, workfare |
| JEL: | J0 |
| Date: | 2007–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2007-09&r=lab |
| By: | Francis Green; Yu Zhu |
| Abstract: | Increasing dispersion in the returns to graduate education is found, using quantile regression. This trend is related to rising overqualification. We distinguish between and validate measures of Real and Formal overqualification, according to whether it is or is not accompanied by underutilisation of skill; and using a unique data series in Britain we report the trend in overqualification types between 1992 and 2006. The distinction between types is relevant because employees in the Real Overqualification group experience greater, and more sharply rising, pay penalties than those in the Formal Overqualification group. Real Overqualification, but not Formal Overqualification, is associated with job dissatisfaction. Formal Overqualification has been increasing over time, and in 2006 characterised nearly one in four graduates. Real Overqualification has been steady or rising only slowly; in 2006 it affected less than one in ten graduates. Conditioning on graduates being matched to graduate jobs, it is found that there is no significant increase in the dispersion of returns to graduate education. The normative implication drawn is that the state should provide regular public information on the distribution of the returns to graduate education. |
| Keywords: | pay; job satisfaction; job dissatisfaction; overeducation; overqualification; skill utilisation; returns to college education; returns to graduate education |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J28 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:0803&r=lab |
| By: | Thomas Dohmen; Hartmut Lehmann; Mark E. Schaffer |
| Abstract: | We use a rich personnel data set from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to analyze how the financial crisis in 1998 and the resulting change in external labor market conditions affect the wages and the welfare of workers inside a firm. We provide evidence that large shocks to external conditions affect the firm's personnel policies, and show that the burden of the shock is not evenly spread across the workforce. The firm takes advantage of a high-inflationary environment and of a fall in workers' outside options after the financial crisis and cuts real wages. Earnings are curbed most for those who earned the highest rents, resulting in a strong compression of real wages. The fact that real wages and real compensation levels never recovered to pre-crisis levels even though the firm's financial situation was better in 2002 than before the crisis and the differential treatment of employee groups within the firm can be taken as evidence that market forces strongly influence the wage policies of our firm. |
| Keywords: | Internal labor markets, wage policies of a firm, personnel data, Russia |
| JEL: | J23 J31 P23 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwesc:diwesc4&r=lab |
| By: | Aslan Zorlu (University of Amsterdam, AIAS, AMIDst, and IZA Bonn); Joop Hartog (University of Amsterdam, AIAS and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Using two Dutch labour force surveys, employment assimilation of immigrants is examined. We observe marked differences between immigrants by source country. Non-western immigrants never reach parity with native Dutch. Even second generation immigrants never fully catch up. Caribbean immigrants, who share a colonial history with the Dutch, assimilate relatively quick compared to other non-western immigrants but they still suffer from high unemployment. The study also documents that the quality of jobs is significantly lower for immigrants, especially for those who are at larger cultural distance to Dutch society. Job quality of immigrants increases with the duration of stay but again, does not reach parity with natives. The western immigrants seem to face no considerable difficulties in the Dutch labour market. The most remarkable conclusion is the irrelevance of education for socio-economic position of immigrants once the country of origin has been controlled for. |
| Keywords: | immigration;assimilation;education |
| JEL: | J15 J21 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080057&r=lab |
| By: | Mathan Satchi; Jonathan Temple |
| Abstract: | In middle-income countries, the informal sector often accountes for a substantial fraction of the urban labour force. We develop a general equilibrium model with matching frictions in the urban labour market, the possibility of self-employment in the informal sector, and scope for rural-urban migration. We investigate the effects of different types of growth on wages and the informal sector, and the extent to which labour market institutions can influence aggregate productivity. We quantify these effects by calibrating the model to data for Mexico. |
| Keywords: | informal sector, urban unemployment, dual economies, matching frictions |
| JEL: | J40 O10 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:0805&r=lab |
| By: | Thimotée Makabu Ma Nkenda (Institut National de la Statistique en RDC); Martin Mba (Institut National de la Statistique du Cameroun); Constance Torelli (DIAL) |
| Abstract: | (english) Democratic Republic of Congo has known dramatic events for the last three decades. Statistical social economic data did not exist really or not available in the period. The Labour force survey, the first phase of the 1-2-3 survey, carried out in 2004-2005 and conducted by the National Statistic Institute provides for the first time a detailed picture of the main characteristics of employment and unemployment in the country. This study, which presents the principal results of the survey, helps highlight the major structural characteristics of the urban and rural labour markets. By identifying their main shortcomings (early labour force participation for children, distortion between young people's expectations and real recruitment prospects, discrimination against women, inefficiency of placement services for the unemployed, generalisation of under-employment, the place of the informal sector, etc.), the study opens up new possibilities for defining policies designed to improve the way labour markets work in DRC. _________________________________ (français) La République Démocratique du Congo a connu une histoire très mouvementée au cours des trois dernières décennies. Les données statistiques socio-économiques de base ont été quasi inexistantes durant la période. L’enquête emploi, première phase du dispositif d’enquête 1-2-3 menée en 2004- 2005 par l’Institut National de la Statistique fournit pour la première fois une image détaillée des principales caractéristiques de l’activité et du chômage dans le pays. Cette étude, qui présente les principaux résultats de l’enquête, permet de mettre en évidence les grandes caractéristiques structurelles du marché du travail en milieu urbain et en milieu rural. En identifiant leurs principales défaillances (mise au travail précoce des enfants, désajustements entre les attentes des jeunes et les perspectives réelles d’embauche, discrimination à l’encontre des femmes, inefficacité des services de placement des chômeurs, généralisation du sous-emploi, place du secteur informel, etc.), l’analyse ouvre des pistes pour la définition de politiques visant à améliorer le fonctionnement du marché du travail en RDC. |
| Keywords: | Travail, chômage, secteur informel, Afrique de l’Ouest,Labour, Unemployment, Informal Sector, West Africa. |
| JEL: | J20 J21 J22 J23 J24 J30 J31 J71 J81 J82 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt200714&r=lab |
| By: | Michael Svarer (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of sanctions of unemployment insurance benefits on the exit rate from unemployment for a sample of Danish unemployed. According to the findings are that even moderate sanctions have rather large effects. For both males and females the exit rate increases by more than 50% following imposition of a sanction. The paper exploits a rather large sample to elaborate on the basic findings. It is shown that harder sanctions have a larger effect, that the effect of sanctions wear out after around 3 months and that particular groups of unemployed are more responsive to sanctions than others. Finally, the analysis suggests that men react ex ante to the risk of being sanctioned in the sense that men who face higher sanction risk leave unemployment faster. |
| Keywords: | Sanctions, Unemployment hazard |
| JEL: | J6 C41 |
| Date: | 2007–08–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2007-10&r=lab |
| By: | Laixun Zhao (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University); Makoto Okamura (Department of Economics, Hiroshima University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes foreign-direct-investment (FDI) competition in a three-country framework: two Northern countries and one Southern country. We have in mind the competition of Airbus and Boeing (or GM and Volkswagen) in a developing country. The host-country government endogeneizes tariffs, while Airbus and Boeing choose domestic output and FDI. Wages and employment in the home countries are bargained over between labor and management. We find that in the unique equilibrium, both Airbus and Boeing compete to undertake FDI in the developing country. This arises because the host country can play off the multinational corporations, which in turn stems from three factors: (a) Oligopolistic rivalry; (b) Quid prod quo FDI, which reduces tariffs; (c) Strategic outsourcing—FDI drives down the union wages at home if the host-country wage is sufficiently low. However, if the host-country wage is sufficiently high, then the union wage increases under FDI. In such cases, FDI competition benefits the multinationals, the labor unions as well as the host country. If Boeing undertakes FDI while Airbus does not, then: (i) Boeing's market share and profits are higher than Airbus's; (ii) the tariff facing Boeing is lower than that facing Airbus. |
| Keywords: | FDI Competition, Quid Pro Quo FDI, Labor Union, Political Economy, Emerging Markets |
| JEL: | F21 F23 F16 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:217&r=lab |
| By: | Elke Holst; Andrea Schäfer; Mechthild Schrooten |
| Abstract: | Gender-specific determinants of remittances are the subject of this study based on German SOEP data (2001-2006). In 2007, about 7.3 million foreigners were living in Germany. While the total number of foreigners has decreased over the last decade, female migration to Germany has increased. Today, women constitute 48.6% of migratory flows to Germany, although the proportion varies significantly by country of origin. A feminization of migration is observable all over the world, and is changing gender roles in the households of origin as well. To date, research has failed to address the gender-specific determinants of remittances from Germany. Here we attempt to fill this gap, focusing on gender roles and network effects. We distinguish between three different groups of migrants: foreigners, Germans with migration background, and all individuals with personal migration experience. Our main findings show, above all, that gender matters. However, the gender differences identified disappear after controlling for transnational (family) networks. Taking interaction terms into account reveals gender-specific network effects. In addition, different groups of migrants show remarkable differences in international networking. We find that female foreigners, but not female migrants with German citizenship, remit less than males if their children live abroad. Female migrants with German citizenship send more money home if their siblings remain in the home country. The reverse is true in the case of female migrants with foreign citizenship. Our findings show that female migrants tend to support their children first and foremost, while male migrants tend to support a wider network of more distant family members and friends. This finding is in sharp contrast to previous studies on remittances. It makes clear that there is little evidence supporting the assumption that remittances simply follow income-difference based altruism or that women are more altruistic than men. Furthermore, there seems to be evidence that the gender-specific differences detected in remittance behaviour might be due to gender-specific migration patterns and the relative role of the migrant within the transnational network. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, economics of gender, immigrant workers |
| JEL: | F24 J16 D13 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp800&r=lab |
| By: | Alessandro Cigno |
| Abstract: | We derive the behavioural implications of legislation on the subject of marriage, divorce, de-facto unions, domestic violence, and labour market discrimination, within a game-theoretical frame- work. The predictions are consistent with two empirical obser- vations. One is that, while the prevalent pattern in development countries is for the father to specialize completely in market work, the tendency in developed countries is towards mother and father sharing market work and care of the children more or less equally between them. The other is that the sign of the cross-country correlation between fertility and female labour market participa- tion, negative worldwide until the mid-1970s, remains negative across developing countries, but has turned positive where devel- oped countries are concerned. We show that domestic division of labour is e¢ cient, while equal sharing is not. But we also argue that e¢ ciency is bought, in developing countries, at the expense of women, and discuss ways in which e¢ ciency could be restored in developed countries without setting the clock back. |
| Keywords: | gender, fertility, domestic division of labour, civil partnership, marriage, divorce, alimony, community property, dowry, bride-price, domestic violence, labour market discrimination, skill premium. |
| JEL: | D13 J12 J13 J16 J24 K30 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp09_08&r=lab |
| By: | Kitov, Ivan; Kitov, Oleg |
| Abstract: | Labor productivity in developed countries is analyzed and modeled. Modeling is based on our previous finding that the rate of labor force participation is a unique function of GDP per capita. Therefore, labor productivity is fully determined by the rate of economic growth, and thus, is a secondary economic variable. Initially, we assess a model for the U.S. and then test it using data for Japan, France, the UK, Italy, and Canada. Results obtained for these countries validate those for the U.S. The evolution of labor force productivity is predictable at least at an 11-year horizon. |
| Keywords: | productivity; labor force; real GDP; prediction; modeling |
| JEL: | O4 J2 |
| Date: | 2008–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9069&r=lab |
| By: | Elke Holst; Andrea Schäfer; Mechthild Schrooten |
| Abstract: | Gender-specific determinants of remittances are the subject of this study based on German SOEP data (2001-2006). In 2007, about 7.3 million foreigners were living in Germany. While the total number of foreigners has decreased over the last decade, female migration to Germany has increased. A feminization of migration is observable all over the world, and is changing gender roles in the households of origin as well. Today, women constitute 48.6% of migratory flows to Germany, although the proportion varies significantly by country of origin. A feminization of migration is observable all over the world, and is changing gender roles in the households of origin as well. To date, research has failed to address the gender-specific determinants of remittances from Germany. Here we attempt to fill this gap, focusing on gender roles and network effects. We distinguish between three different groups of migrants: foreigners, Germans with migration background, and all individuals with personal migration experience. Our main findings show, above all, that gender matters. However, the gender differences identified disappear after controlling for transnational (family) networks. Taking interaction terms into account reveals gender-specific network effects. In addition, different groups of migrants show remarkable differences in international networking. We find that female foreigners, but not female migrants with German citizenship, remit less than males if their children live abroad as well. Female migrants with German citizenship send more money home if their siblings remain in the home country. We find the reverse in the case of female migrants with foreign citizenship. Our findings show that female migrants tend to support their children first and foremost, while male migrants tend to support a wider network of more distant family members and friends. This finding is in sharp contrast to previous studies on remittances. It makes clear that there is little evidence supporting the assumption that remittances simply follow income-difference based altruism or that women are more altruistic than men. Furthermore, there seems to be evidence that the gender-specific differences detected in remittance behavior might be due to gender-specific migration patterns and the relative role of the migrant within the transnational network. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, Economics of Gender, Immigrant Workers |
| JEL: | F24 J16 D13 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp111&r=lab |
| By: | Philipp Koellinger (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Maria Minniti (Southern Methodist University); Christian Schade (Humboldt University Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Across countries, women own significantly fewer businesses than do men. We show that this is due, in large part, to the fact that the propensity to start businesses of women is significantly lower than that of men. The lower propensity of women, in turn, appears to be highly correlated to women’s lower average levels of optimism and self-confidence, and higher fear of failure. Ceteris paribus, women and men have different perceptions of the business environment and, as a result, make different decisions. We provide some evidence that this may be universally true and independent from culture, although country specific factors seem to influence perceptual differences between genders. We also show that women who are more self-confident and undeterred by failure have a greater probability to start a business than men with similar characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Nascent entrepreneurship; gender; perceptions; judgment and decision making |
| JEL: | J0 J2 |
| Date: | 2008–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080035&r=lab |
| By: | Petter Lundborg (Free University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the health returns to education, using data on identical twins. I adopt a twin-differences strategy in order to obtain estimates that are not biased by unobserved family background and genetic traits that may affect both education and health. I further investigate to what extent within-twin-pair differences in schooling correlates with within-twin-pair differences in early life health and parent-child relations. The results suggest a causal effect of education on health. Higher educational levels are found to be positively related to self-reported health but negatively related to the number of chronic conditions. Lifestyle factors, such as smoking and overweight, are found to contribute little to the education/health gradient. I am also able to rule out occupational hazards and health insurance coverage as explanations for the gradient. In addition, I find no evidence of heterogenous effects of education by parental education. Finally! , the results suggest that factors that may vary within twin pairs, such as birth weight, early life health, parental treatment and relation with parents, do not predict within-twin pair differences in schooling, lending additional credibility to my estimates and to the general vailidy of using a twin-differences design to study the returns to education. |
| Keywords: | health production; education; schooling; twins; siblings; returns to education; ability bias |
| JEL: | I12 I11 J14 J12 C41 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080027&r=lab |
| By: | France Portrait; Rob Alessie; Dorly Deeg |
| Abstract: | The paper presents an approach which thoroughly assesses the role of early life and contemporaneous macro-conditions in explaining health at older ages. In particular, we investigate the role of exposure to infectious diseases and economic conditions during infancy and childhood, as well as the effect of current health care facilities. Specific attention is paid to the impact of unobserved heterogeneity, selective attrition and omitted relevant macro-variables. We apply our approach to self-reports on functional limitations of Dutch older individuals. Our analysis is performed using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. The prevalence of functional limitations is found to increase in the nineteen-nineties, in part due to restricted access to hospital care. |
| Keywords: | Panel Data, Wage Distribution, Inequality, Mobility |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J31 J60 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:0811&r=lab |
| By: | Cyril Pasche (Department of Economics and “Leading House on the Economics of Education”, University of Geneva) |
| Abstract: | Research on determining what it is about schooling that the labor market rewards is scarce. This paper shows that when speci…cally controlling for schooling cognitive skills (i.e. the capacity to process information and apply knowledge) and not cognitive skills as a whole, a considerable share of the return to schooling is constituted of cognitive skills. This contrasts with previous research that strongly favored noncognitive skills (i.e. behavioral and personality traits) as the key component of the return to schooling. Results show schools are a place where one acquires, or is sorted, on a knowledge and a behavioral criteria in similar shares. Findings also suggest that cognitive skills acquired in school are considerably more likely to be rewarded than their non-schooling counterpart. This e¤ect may be attributed to the signaling value of schooling. Such conclusions give weight to current policies that employ cognitive skill tests to asses schooling quality. |
| Keywords: | Schooling, Cognitive and noncognitive skills, Wages, Rate of return, Omitted variable bias, Signaling |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0029&r=lab |
| By: | Mika Maliranta; Petri Rouvinen; Aarno Airaksinen |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT : This paper reviews the characteristics and magnitude of information technology (IT) outsourcing as well as studies its labor productivity effects with a representative sample of Finnish businesses. Depending on the IT task in question, on average from one-third to two-thirds of IT has been outsourced; of the ten categories considered, the development of non-Internet business-to-business applications (e.g., EDI) is the leading activity in this respect. The various dimensions of IT outsourcing are all highly positively correlated. After controlling for industry and regional effects as well as characteristics of firms and their employees, it is found that an externally-supported computer user is about 20% more productive than an otherwise similar worker without a computer, which corresponds to about 5% output elasticity of outsourced IT; the effect of internally-supported computer use is not statistically significantly different for zero, and it is also several times smaller in magnitude. While the issues of causality, timing, self-selection, and unobserved firm heterogeneity are not fully addressed, the findings nevertheless suggest that IT outsourcing may have significant economic consequences. |
| Keywords: | labor productivity, information technology, computers, outsourcing Finnish business |
| JEL: | D23 D24 L14 L24 |
| Date: | 2008–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:1140&r=lab |
| By: | Saccone Donatella (University of Turin) |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:200808&r=lab |
| By: | Michele Belloni (CeRP, Collegio Carlo Alberto); Rob Alessie (Utrecht University, and Netspar) |
| Abstract: | This study exploits a new dataset in order to quantify the effect of financial incentives on retirement choices. This dataset contains for the first time in Italy information on seniority. In accordance with the general finding in Gruber and Wise (2004), we find that financial incentives have an effect on retirement. The effect goes in the expected direction; when employees become eligible for pension benefits the change in financial incentives they experience is so high that their retirement probability increases in a sizable way. We also find that the procedure to impute seniority used in previous studies leads to a sizable measurement error. Due to this measurement error, the key parameters of the model are inconsistently estimated. Our sensitivity analysis suggests that the lack of appropriate information on seniority is an important reason for the unclear evidence so far obtained in retirement studies for Italy. |
| Keywords: | retirement; social security wealth; seniority; unobserved heterogeneity |
| JEL: | J2 |
| Date: | 2008–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080052&r=lab |
| By: | Michele Belloni; Rob Alessie |
| Abstract: | This study exploits a new dataset in order to quantify the effect of financial incentives on retirement choices. This dataset contains - for the first time in Italy - information on seniority. In accordance with the general finding in Gruber and Wise (2004), we find that financial incentives have an effect on retirement. The effect goes in the expected direction; when employees become eligible for pension benefits the change in financial incentives they experience is so high that their retirement probability increases in a sizable way.We also find that the procedure to impute seniority used in previous studies leads to a sizable measurement error. Due to this measurement error, the key parameters of the model are inconsistently estimated. Our sensitivity analysis suggests that the lack of appropriate information on seniority is an important reason for the unclear evidence so far obtained in retirement studies for Italy. |
| Keywords: | retirement, social security wealth, seniority, unobserved heterogeneity |
| JEL: | J2 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:0810&r=lab |
| By: | Pedro de Araujo (Indiana University Bloomington) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of HIV/AIDS on steady state output in an overlapping generations economy calibrated to resemble sub-Sahara Africa. I use skill heterogeneity as a proxy for socioeconomic status and test scenarios where the AIDS epidemic affects skills differently. The results indicate that the effects of the epidemic are sensitive to the distribution of the disease across skills. In general, the effect is much greater as the epidemic mainly affects skilled workers. Output is found to be below a no-AIDS output in a range between 3% (10%), when only unskilled workers are affected, and 10% (28%), when only skilled workers affected, whenever the overall infection rate is 7% (20%). When investigating the hypothesis that AIDS affects skilled workers more severely than unskilled at the beginning of the epidemic, with the effect switching as the epidemic becomes more mature, the findings are that the economy can be 8% smaller along the transition path. In all scenarios where the epidemic is temporary, it would take 4 to 5 generations or about 90 years for sub-Saharan Africa to recover. |
| Keywords: | HIV/AIDS, capital-skill complementarity, heterogeneity, and sub-Sahara Africa |
| JEL: | E20 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2008-014&r=lab |
| By: | Marianne Simonsen; Lars Skipper (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | We exploit a rich high quality register-based employer-employee panel data set to investigate the incidence and intensity of government co-sponsored training for the Danish adult population. We focus specifically on training over the working life cycle and find that the levels of participation vary across genders. We consider both the incidence (take-up in a given year) and intensity (hours conditional on enrolment) of training. We find evidence of considerable lifelong learning with regards to enrolment in basic and vocational training regardless of gender, whereas post-secondary training enrolment usually takes place early in life with a smooth decline over the working life cycle. Once the enrolment decision is made, however, and once a comprehensive conditioning set is included there are no striking differences in hours in training with regards to gender. Neither hours in vocational nor hours in post-secondary training are strongly age dependent. Hours in basic training do decrease significantly with age but the effects are very small. |
| Keywords: | lifelong learning, training, participation process |
| JEL: | I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–06–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2008-07&r=lab |
| By: | Teodora Paligorova |
| Abstract: | According to the rent-extraction hypothesis, weak corporate governance allows entrenched CEOs to capture the pay-setting process and benefit from events outside of their control -- get paid for luck. In this paper, I find that the independence requirement imposed on boards of directors by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), together with the governance regulations subsequently introduced by stock exchanges, affects CEO pay structure. In firms whose corporate boards were originally less independent, and thus more affected by these provisions, CEO pay for performance strengthened while pay for luck decreased after adopting SOX. In contrast, those firms that exhibited strong board independence prior to SOX showed little evidence of pay for luck and little change in pay for performance following the adoption of SOX. The results are consistent with the rent-extraction hypothesis, and they are robust to alternative explanations such as asymmetric benchmarks, oligopoly, and managerial talent. |
| Keywords: | Labour markets |
| JEL: | G38 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:08-20&r=lab |
| By: | Mai Dao |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a dynamic economy model, with unionized labor markets, to analyze the effects of labor market reforms, similar to those recently introduced in Germany, on the domestic and trading partner economies. The model is calibrated on Germany and the rest of the Euro area. The results indicate that German labor market reforms have positive spillover effects on the rest of the Euro area, which operate through the channel of trade, relative price adjustment, and financial market integration. Compared to a competitive labor market, setting, unionization dampens the positive response of the domestic economy and magnifies the spillover effects. |
| Keywords: | Working Paper , Labor market reforms , Germany , Europe , Labor policy , Price adjustments , International capital markets , International trade , |
| Date: | 2008–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/113&r=lab |
| By: | Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo |
| Abstract: | The belief that both the behavior and outcomes of students are affected by their peers is important in shaping education policy. I analyze two polar education systems -tracking and mixing- and propose several criteria for their comparison. I find that tracking is the system that maximizes average human capital in societies where the distribution of pre-school achievement is not very dispersed. I also find that when peer effects and individuals’ pre-school achievement are close substitutes, all risk averse individuals prefer mixing. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital; Efficiency; Peer Effects; Tracking, Mixing |
| JEL: | D63 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:08/18&r=lab |
| By: | Aïda Solé-Auró (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Eileen M.Crimmins (Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California.) |
| Abstract: | The health of older immigrants can have important consequences for needed social support and demands placed on health systems. This paper examines health differences between immigrants and the nativeborn populations aged 50 years and older in 11 European countries. We examine differences in functional ability, disability, disease presence and behavioral risk factors, for immigrants and non-immigrants using data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) database. Among the 11 European countries, migrants generally have worse health than the native population. In these countries, there is a little evidence of the “healthy migrant” at ages 50 years and over. In general, it appears that growing numbers of immigrants may portend more health problems in the population in subsequent years. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants, Mortality, Health, Disability,SHARE. |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:200809&r=lab |
| By: | Wolf Dieter Heinbach; Stefanie Schröpfer |
| Abstract: | The prevalence of opening clauses in collective bargaining agreements may indicate a tendency to a higher decentralised wage settlement. Increasing competition on international product markets is assumed to be one reason for wage-setting decentralisation, whereas theoretical explanations focus currently on the change of production structure and the impact of exogenous shocks. Incorporating stylised facts about exporting firms, new trade models suggest a different way of adjustment to increasing competition depending on a firm's nature. While the most productive exporters expand into new markets, small, less productive non-exporters are threatened by import competition. Based on the model from Bernard et al. (2003), we apply the theoretical implications to explain why decentralisation in bargaining may arise. We examine in a second step whether small, less productive, non-exporting firms paying low average wages, possess a higher propensity to use opening clauses than more productive, large exporters with a high wage level. Based on IAB Establishment Data covering the German Manufacturing, our results indicate that firms exporting to EMU countries -- but not exporters in general -- have a lower propensity of using opening clauses than non-exporters. However, inconsistent with theory, slight evidence suggests a rising propensity with increasing firm size and increasing wage level. |
| Keywords: | trade model;opening clauses; collective bargaining; |
| JEL: | J31 J51 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaw:iawdip:35&r=lab |
| By: | Takashi Obinata (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | The value relevance of earnings information depends on the information environments that investors face. In general, under the highly uncertain circumstances, information is not completely nor instantly reflected in stock prices and so the value relevance of earnings is low. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the uncertainty of information environments by data of analysts' earnings forecasts and to investigate the relationship between the uncertainty and the relevance of earnings in JP and US market. In US, though the dispersion of forecasts causes subsequent positive returns, it makes the value relevance of earnings higher. However, it seems that the divergence of opinion does not determine the information environments in JP. In JP, we cannot find the evident relationship between the dispersion and the relevance of earnings. On the other hand, analyst coverage does not affect the relevance of earnings in US while the earnings is more value relevant for firms covered by analysts than firms uncovered in JP. Moreover, the effect of optimistic forecast errors on the value relevance of earnings differs between JP and US. Our results show that earnings is value relevant and earnings information is almost efficiently reflected in stock prices while the subsequent anomalous returns concerning analysts' forecasts exist. Empirical evidence indicates that the information environments in JP are different from that in US and that the relationship between environments and the relevance of earnings also differs. This paper provides the valuable evidence against prior international comparative studies that neglect the differences in information environments. |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:jseres:2008cj195&r=lab |
| By: | Helena Skyt Nielsen; Nina Smith; Aycan Celikaksoy (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of immigrants’ marriage behavior on dropout from education. To identify the causal effect, we exploit a recent Danish policy reform which generated exogenous variation in marriage behavior by a complete abolishment of spouse import for immigrants below 24 years of age. We find that the abrupt change of marriage behavior following the reform is associated with improved educational attainment of young immigrants. The causal impact of marriage on dropout for males is estimated to be around 20 percentage points, whereas the effect for females is small and mostly insignificant. We interpret the results as being consistent with a scenario where family investment motives drive the behavior of males, while the association between marriage and dropout for females is driven by selection effects. The estimated causal effect varies considerably across subgroups. |
| Keywords: | Education, dropout, immigrants, spouse import, marriage migration, family investment model |
| JEL: | I21 J12 |
| Date: | 2007–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2007-07&r=lab |
| By: | Matias Mednik (Columbia University - School of International and Public Affairs.); Cesar M. Rodriguez (Office of Evaluation and Oversight at the Interamerican Development Bank.); Inder J. Ruprah (Office of Evaluation and Oversight at the Interamerican Development Bank.) |
| Abstract: | This paper tests the hysteresis hypothesis in unemployment for 13 Latin American countries covering the period 1980-2005. The tests exploit the time series and the cross sectional variation of the series, and allows for cross section dependence and a different number of endogenously determined structural breakpoints. The findings give support to the hysteric dynamic hypothesis for the majority of the countries analyzed. The implications of the results have ramifications regarding macro-stabilization, structural reform, and the design of social safety protection. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment hysteresis, unit root test, panel unit root test, cross-section dependence. |
| JEL: | C22 C23 E24 J24 J60 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:ovewps:0408&r=lab |
| By: | Fernando Borraz (Universidad de Montevideo); Susan Pozo (Western Michigan University); Máximo Rossi (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República) |
| Abstract: | In this study we use data on subjective well being and migration in Cuenca, one of the Ecuador's largest cities. We examine the impact of migration on the happiness of the family left behind. We use the propensity score matching estimator to take into account the endogeneity of migration. Our results indicate that migration reduces the happiness of those left behind. We also find that the monetary inflows (remittances) that accompany migration do not increase happiness levels among recipients. These results suggest that the family left behind cannot be compensated, for the increase in unhappiness that it sustains on account of the emigration of loved ones, with remittances from abroad. |
| Keywords: | Happiness, migration, remittances |
| JEL: | A12 F22 I31 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ude:wpaper:0308&r=lab |
| By: | Prejmerean, Mihaela Cornelia (Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest); Vasilache, Simona (Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest) |
| Abstract: | The paper is structured in two main chapters, the first presenting a literature review on lifestyle, underlining the main themes approached in recent scientific papers, and conducting factorial analysis as to discriminate the most relevant research directions, and the second dedicated to studying, on the data provided by the European Social Survey, the lifestyle patterns of post-2000 European graduates. The methodological perspective included probit regression and log-linear models, as well as cluster analysis. The main results refer to testing the concept of lifestyle calibration, that we proposed in the paper, on the selected population of young European graduates. A total of four groups, two exhibiting a good lifestyle calibration, and the other two a poor lifesyle calibration, were obtained. Each family of two groups constitutes a lifestyle type, which is characterized in the paper according to values-behaviours coordination, time allocation and its relation to life satisfaction, defined as an estimator of lifestyle calibration. The conclusions include discussions on the inclusion and exclusion of the European graduates population from these groups, which resulted from our analysis. |
| Keywords: | lifestyle; university graduates ; European society ; values ; behaviours |
| JEL: | J2 I2 Z13 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:iriswp:2008-05&r=lab |
| By: | Monique de Haan (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a relatively new approach to investigate the effect of parents' schooling on child's schooling; a nonparametric bounds analysis based on Manski and Pepper (2000), using the most recent version of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. We start with making no assumptions and then add some relatively weak and testable assumptions to tighten the bounds. Although the bounds on the treatment effects include a zero effect, the upper bounds are informative especially for the effect of increasing parents' schooling from a high school degree to a bachelor's degree. Both for the effect of mother's schooling as for the effect of father's schooling the nonparametric upper bounds are significantly lower than the OLS results. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility; nonparametric bounds analysis; education |
| JEL: | I2 J62 C14 |
| Date: | 2008–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080061&r=lab |
| By: | Reggiani, Tommaso |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to provide a review on key methodological issues regarding two major international statistical approaches, which characterize the statistics on Child Labour, especially in poor countries. In the first section, we summarises and analyse some key concepts about the international definition on Child Labour. In the second section we analyze the methodology “Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour” (SIMPOC) by International Labour Organization (ILO). In the third section, we describe an alternative methodology promoted by World Bank (WB) identified through the “Living Standard Measurement Survey” (LSMS). In conclusion, in the fourth section, we briefly describe the Italian experience, reporting the major methodological implications emerged during the experimentation of the statistical research project “Children and Work” carried out in Italy by ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics). |
| Keywords: | Child Labour Statistics; SIMPOC; LSMS. |
| JEL: | I30 J00 C80 |
| Date: | 2008–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9148&r=lab |
| By: | Maria Knoth Humlum; Kristin J. Kleinjans; Helena Skyt Nielsen (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | Standard economic models which focus on pecuniary payo¤s cannot explain why there are highly able individuals who choose careers with low pecuniary re- turns. Therefore, financial incentives are unlikely to be effective in influencing career choices of these individuals. Based on Akerlof and Kranton (2000), we con- sider a model of career choice and identity where individuals derive non-pecuniary identity payoffs. Using factor analysis on a range of attitude questions, we find two factors related to identity (career orientation and social orientation), which are important for educational choices. The implication is that policymakers and institutions of higher education need to focus on identity related issues rather than just improved financial incentives if they aim at attracting the high ability youth to occupations with excess demand for labor. |
| Keywords: | career choice, choice of higher education, identity,self-image |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2007–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2007-14&r=lab |