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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Novella Bottini (Carlo Cattaneo University-LIUC); Christoph Ernst (International Labour Office, Economic and Labour Market Analysis Department); Malte Luebker (International Labour Office, Policy Integration and Statistics Department) |
| Keywords: | outsourcing / employment / wage differential / skilled worker / unskilled worker / developed countries / developing countries |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:empelm:2007-11&r=lab |
| By: | Barbara Petrongolo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates long-term returns from unemployment compensation, exploitingvariation from the UK JSA reform of 1996, which implied a major increase in job searchrequirements for eligibility and in the related administrative hurdle. Search theory predictsthat such changes should raise the proportion of non-claimant nonemployed, withconsequences on search effort and labor market attachment, and lower the reservation wageof the unemployed, with negative effects on post-unemployment wages. I test these ideas onlongitudinal data from Social Security records (LLMDB). Using a difference in differencesapproach, I find that individuals who start an unemployment spell soon after JSAintroduction, as opposed to six months earlier, are 2.5-3% more likely to move fromunemployment into Incapacity Benefits spells, and 4% less likely to have positive earnings inthe following year. This latter employment effect only vanishes four years after the initialunemployment shock. At the same time, earnings for the treated individuals seem to be lowerthan for the non treated, but the confidence intervals around these estimated effects are quitelarge to exclude a wider variety of scenarios. These results suggest that while tighter searchrequirements were successful in moving individuals off unemployment benefits, they werenot successful in moving them onto new or better jobs, with fairly long lasting unintendedconsequences on a number of labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | unemployment compensation, job search, post-unemployment earnings |
| JEL: | J31 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0841&r=lab |
| By: | Heyman, Fredrik; Svaleryd, Helena; Vlachos, Jonas |
| Abstract: | Theories of taste-based discrimination predict that competitive pressures will drive discriminatory behaviour out of the market. Using detailed matched employer-employee data, we analyze how firm takeovers and product market competition are related to the gender composition of the firm’s workforce and the gender wage gap. Using a difference-in-difference framework and dealing with several endogeneity concerns, we find that the share of female employees increases as a result of an ownership change, in particular when product market competition is weak. Further, increased competition reduces the gender wage gap, especially among highly educated employees. While the estimated wage effect is quite small, the results support the main theoretical predictions. |
| Keywords: | Competition; Discrimination; Takeovers; Wages |
| JEL: | J2 J31 J7 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6879&r=lab |
| By: | Nicole Walter; Runli Xie |
| Abstract: | Empirical observations show that education helps to protect against labor market risks. This is twofold: The higher educated face a higher expected wage income and a lower probability of being unemployed. Although this relationship has been analyzed in the literature broadly, several questions remain to be tackled. This paper contributes to the existing literature by looking at the above mentioned phenomena from a purely theoretic perspective and in a European context. We set up a model with search-and-matching frictions, collective bargaining and monopolistic competition in the product market. Workers are heterogeneous in their human capital level. It is shown that higher human capital increases the wage rate and reduces unemployment risks, which is consistent with empirical observations for European countries. |
| Keywords: | human capital, search frictions, collective bargaining, monopolistic competition |
| JEL: | E24 J24 J52 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2008-039&r=lab |
| By: | Paramio, Juan Luis (Departamento de Educación Física, Deportes y Motricidad Humana. Universidad Autónoma); Zofío, José Luis (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | We discuss the effects that the emergence of the new post-industrial form of flexible capitalist organization has on the Spanish labor market and, by extension, on the working life of two representative groups of employees characterized by their casual and stable working conditions. This brings a growing duality in the labor market, where individuals who cannot escape casual employment coexist with those enjoying long term contracts. This concern includes how these changes affect the nature and the ways in which these particular groups understand quality of life and standard of living, which in turn serves to call into question the ‘end of work’ and the expected ‘leisure society’. In addition, we highlight several circumstances that illustrate a decay in job quality and working conditions, particularly the increase in working hours. Parallel to this process we identify a work-and-spend behavior, resulting in overspent families that exhibit financial fragility and give up quality of life, associated with more free time, for higher living standards, which demand an increasing job commitment. Free time from work has become a scarce resource in Spain, and for those individuals belonging to what is known as the ‘new leisure class’, it is associated with high spending leisure activities, which has increased the economic importance of leisure industries. |
| Keywords: | Labour market; cycle of work-and-spend; free time; leisure industries; Spain |
| JEL: | J08 J22 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpaper:200806&r=lab |
| By: | de la Rica, Sara; Dolado, Juan J.; García-Peñalosa, Cecilia |
| Abstract: | This paper considers a simple model of self-fulfilling expectations that leads to a multiple equilibrium of gender gaps in wages and participation rates. Rather than resorting to moral hazard problems related to unobservable effort, like in most of the related literature, our model fully relies on statistical discrimination. If firms believe that women will quit their jobs more often than equally productive men when shocks affecting household chores take place, our model predicts that this belief will increase the wage gap in favour of men which, in turn, will increase the female share of housework and exacerbate lower female participation in the labour market. Hence, both effects lead to a gendered equilibrium with large gaps, even though an ungendered equilibrium with no gaps is feasible. We examine the effects of gender-based and gender-neutral subsidies and find that the latter are more effective in removing the gendered equilibrium. Empirical analysis based on a time use survey for Spain is provided to test most of the implications of the model. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap; multiple equilibria; participation |
| JEL: | J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6883&r=lab |
| By: | Lee, Chanyoung; Orazem, Peter |
| Abstract: | The proportion of U.S. high school students working during the school year ranges from 23% in the freshman year to 75% in the senior year. This study estimates how cumulative work histories during the high school years affect probability of dropout, high school academic performance, and the probability of attending college. Variation in individual date of birth and in state truancy laws along with the strength of local demand for low-skill labor are used as instruments for endogenous work hours during the high school career. Working more hours during the academic year does not affect high school academic performance. However, increased high school work intensity raises the likelihood of completing high school but lowers the probability of going to college. These results are similar for boys and girls, and so working during high school does not explain the widening gap in college entry between men and women. |
| Keywords: | child labor,GPA, college enrollment, dropout,truancy age, |
| JEL: | N3 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12953&r=lab |
| By: | Alan L. Gustman; Thomas Steinmeier |
| Abstract: | According to CPS data, men 65 to 69 were about six percentage points less likely to be retired in 2004 than in 1992. CPS and Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data indicate a corresponding difference of 3 percentage points between 1998 and 2004. Simulations with a structural retirement model suggest changes in Social Security rules between 1992 and 2004 increased full time work of 65 to 67 year old married men by a little under 2 percentage points, about a 9 percent increase, and increased their labor force participation by between 1.4 and 2.2 percentage points, or 2 to 4 percent, depending on age. Social Security changes account for about one sixth of the increase in labor force participation between 1998 and 2004, for married men ages 65 to 67. These rule changes encourage deferring retirement from long term jobs, returning to full time work after retiring, and increasing partial retirement. Although married men in their fifties decrease their participation in the labor force over this period, this is not due to changes in Social Security, but may reflect other factors, including changes in disability. |
| JEL: | D31 D91 E21 H55 I3 J08 J14 J26 J32 J38 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14105&r=lab |
| By: | D. VERHAEST; E. OMEY |
| Abstract: | This paper examines, for a sample of Flemish school leavers, the relation between objective over-education and job satisfaction by applying a shadow price approach. We differentiate between direct effects of overeducation and indirect effects via other job characteristics that are associated with overeducation. Additional fixed-effects estimates are executed to account for individual heterogeneity. The utility consequences of overeducation are found to be large and cannot be compensated by a reasonable wage increase at the start of the first employment. These outcomes suggest that, at labour market entry, overeducation is largely involuntary, and is likely to induce negative productivity costs. The negative consequences of overeducation are also found to dimi-nish with years of work experience. |
| Keywords: | overeducation, mismatch, underemployment, job satisfaction, well-being, shadow price |
| JEL: | J24 J28 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:08/514&r=lab |
| By: | Lee, Chanyoung; Orazem, Peter |
| Abstract: | The two most common state child labor restrictions are work permit requirements for teenagers and school dropout ages that are more stringent than federal requirements. If these laws are effectively targeted and enforced, children living in states legislating more stringent child labor laws should be less likely to work, should work fewer hours if they do work, and they should have better average schooling outcomes. Data show that stricter state laws do not lower significantly the likelihood that 14-15 year old youths work or the likelihood their hours exceed federal guidelines. Child labor laws do have small positive effects on academic outcomes. State work permit requirements modestly increase the likelihood of college entry while more stringent truancy laws increase marginally high school academic performance. |
| Keywords: | child labor,legislation,GPA,college enrollment, dropout,truancy,work permit |
| JEL: | J4 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12952&r=lab |
| By: | Grün, Carola (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Hauser, Wolfgang; Rhein, Thomas (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Using German and British panel data, we analyse the impact of transitions from unemployment to full-time employment on life satisfaction, with special focus on the influence of job quality. On average there are pronounced positive effects of a new job in both countries, even after controlling for income changes and other factors. These effects are smaller for people taking up low-paid jobs (in Germany, but not in Britain) or temporary jobs, but even this group is significantly better off compared to people remaining unemployed in both countries. We also use job satisfaction as an alternative indicator of job quality. Re-employed persons with low job satisfaction scores are not likely to experience a significant rise in life satisfaction." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Arbeitslose, berufliche Reintegration - Auswirkungen, Lebenssituation - Zufriedenheit, Arbeitsplatzqualität, Lohnhöhe, befristeter Arbeitsvertrag, Großbritannien, Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
| Date: | 2008–06–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200824&r=lab |
| By: | Michael Lechner |
| Abstract: | This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being indicators for West Germany based on individual data from the German Socio- Economic Panel study (GSOEP) 1984 to 2006. Econometric problems due to individuals choosing their own level of sports activities are tackled by combining informative data and flexible semiparametric estimation methods with a specific way to use the panel dimension of the data. The paper shows that sports activities have sizeable positive long-term labour market effects in terms of earnings and wages, as well as positive effects on health and subjective well-being. |
| Keywords: | Leisure sports, health, labour market, matching estimation, panel data |
| JEL: | I12 I18 J24 L83 C21 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:dp2008:2008-13&r=lab |
| By: | Alessandra Fogli; Laura Veldkamp |
| Abstract: | One of the most dramatic economic transformations of the past century has been the entry of women into the labor force. While many theories explain why this change took place, we investigate the process of transition itself. We argue that local information transmission generates changes in participation that are geographically heterogeneous, locally correlated and smooth in the aggregate, just like those observed in our data. In our model, women learn about the effects of maternal employment on children by observing nearby employed women. When few women participate in the labor force, data is scarce and participation rises slowly. As information accumulates in some regions, the effects of maternal employment become less uncertain, and more women in that region participate. Learning accelerates, labor force participation rises faster, and regional participation rates diverge. Eventually, information diffuses throughout the economy, beliefs converge to the truth, participation flattens out and regions become more similar again. To investigate the empirical relevance of our theory, we use a new county-level data set to compare our calibrated model to the time-series and geographic patterns of participation. |
| JEL: | E2 J16 N32 R1 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14097&r=lab |
| By: | Zsuzsa Blasko (Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This review aims at summarizing research-findings in the field of early maternal employment and children's psychological development. We are concentrating on maternal work during the first 4-5 years of children's life, and look at research investigating linkages between maternal employment and various aspects of children's psychological functioning in these early years or later. Most articles discussed here came from the Journal of Marriage and the Family, although some other journals are also included. When selecting the articles, attempts were made to collect relatively recent papers if possible from various research traditions, including sociological as well as psychological approaches. Our review has shown that according to the existing research evidence early maternal employment per se has a clear adverse effect on children's socioemotional development only if it happens in the first year of children's life. Consequences of later employment (eg. when the child reaches 4 year of age) might even include positive ones. In itself, it also seems to do very little difference whether the mother works full time or part time. It is only extremely long hours that might cause concern. There are however other circumstances that might divert the impact of maternal work into a negative direction. These include incongruence between maternal employment preferences and actual behaviour, high level of occupational stress, low income and low complexity of work. When these circumstances are present, children of working mothers are more likely to show behavioural problems than their counterparts. Possible negative effects of maternal employment can in theory be overcome by a high quality alternative care and also with much attention given to the child in the restricted amount time the mother can spend with her/him. In the reality however, risk factors tend to accumulate and positive factors are not easily available for those most in need. |
| Keywords: | maternal employment, behaviour problems, psychological development, early ages |
| JEL: | I29 J13 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:0805&r=lab |
| By: | Ekkehard Ernst; Timo Teuber |
| Abstract: | An overlapping-generations model with search unemployment is calibrated for the Netherlands to assess the impact of tax-benefit reforms on labour supply. Several reforms are analysed, in particular the introduction of a flat tax and pension reforms. The model demonstrates the potential of these reforms to raise labour supply. In particular, pension reforms, such as lowering replacement rates for pensioners, help to boost participation rates of older workers. On the other hand, a flat tax would promote longer working hours across the board, thereby rising labour supply. However, the introduction of a flat tax is a costly measure and would increase the primary general government deficit by close to 2% of GDP. Simultaneous measures to lower the structural unemployment rate would not only help to avoid adverse effects of such a tax reform on the fiscal balance but would strengthen further the positive effects of a flat tax on working hours. <P>Le système des impôts et des transferts sociaux néerlandais et l’emploi pendant le cycle de vie : Résultats et options de réformes <BR>Un modèle à générations imbriquées avec chômage d’équilibre est calibré pour les Pays-Bas afin d’évaluer l’impact des réformes du système d’imposition et de transferts sociaux sur l’offre du travail. Plusieurs réformes sont analysées, en particulier l’introduction d’un impôt à taux unique et des réformes du système des retraites. Le modèle montre le potentiel de ces réformes pour augmenter l’offre du travail. En particulier, les réformes du système des retraites visant à diminuer le taux de remplacement des retraites permettent d’augmenter l’offre du travail des seniors. De l’autre côté, un impôt à taux unique permettrait d’augmenter le nombre d’heures travaillées par personne, ce qui augmenterait l’offre du travail. Néanmoins, introduire un tel impôt est une mesure couteuse et augmenterait le déficit primaire de près de 2% du PIB. Des mesures simultanées de réduire le taux de chômage structurel permettraient de contrebalancer des effets adverses d’une telle réforme des impôts sur le solde budgétaire et augmenterait en même temps son effet positif sur le nombre d’heures travaillées. |
| Keywords: | tax reform, Netherlands, Pays-Bas, pension reform, réforme du système de retraite, overlapping generation model, modèle à générations imbriquées, dynamic tax-benefit policies, equilibrium unemployment, labour market search frictions, politiques fiscales dynamiques, chômage d’équilibre, frictions d’appariement du marché du travail, réformes du système des impôts |
| JEL: | D91 E24 J26 J64 |
| Date: | 2008–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:617-en&r=lab |
| By: | L. Guarcello; F. Rosati; P. Scaramozzino |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a model of investment in education and school-to-work transition under uncertainty. The main predictions of the model are tested for Brazilian households using PNAD data. Increased uncertainty on labour market outcomes is shown to be associated with higher levels of schooling by young people, consistent with a real options approach to education as an investment. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucw:worpap:40&r=lab |
| By: | Boeters, Stefan; Feil, Michael (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Labour market reforms that are designed to stimulate labour supply at the lower end of the wage distribution can never be precisely restricted to affect only the target group. Spillovers to and feedback from other segments of the labour market are unavoidable and may counteract the direct effects of the reform. An adequate representation of heterogeneous labour markets becomes therefore an important issue for the assessment of reforms. We analyse the possible interactions between labour market segments in a combined, consistent microsimulation-AGE model with a flexible representation of substitution possibilities and di¤erent wage-forming regimes. We look at a stylised reform and find labour-demand cross-price elasticities between the low and medium skilled to be the main drivers of the results. Interaction with the high-skilled segment is less pronounced." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | D58 J22 J51 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200825&r=lab |
| By: | Chung Tran (Indiana University Bloomington) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I analyze the crowding-out effects of public transfers on labor supply of the elderly in the context of developing countries. I argue that the interactions between private transfers received and labor supplied by the elderly affect the opportunity cost of retirement and, therefore, magnify the crowding-out effects of public transfers on the labor supply of the elderly. Using household survey data from Vietnam, I find the evidence supporting this hypothesis. That is, the crowding-out effect is about two times larger when accounting for the endogeneity of private transfers, which is caused by the interactions of private transfers and the labor supply. |
| Keywords: | Altruism, Crowding-out, Social Security, Retirement, Transfers |
| JEL: | H31 H55 I38 J14 J22 J28 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2008-018&r=lab |
| By: | Mary Amiti; Donald R. Davis |
| Abstract: | How does trade liberalization affect wages? This is the first paper to consider in theory and data how the impact of final and intermediate input tariff cuts on workers' wages varies with the global engagement of their firm. Our model predicts that a fall in output tariffs lowers wages at import-competing firms, but boosts wages at exporting firms. Similarly, a fall in input tariffs raises wages at import-using firms relative to those at firms that only source locally. Using highly detailed Indonesian manufacturing census data for the period 1991 to 2000, we find considerable support for the model's predictions. |
| JEL: | F1 F12 F13 F14 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14106&r=lab |
| By: | John Gibson (University of Waikato); David McKenzie (World Bank, BREAD and IZA); Halahingano Rohorua (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Temporary migration programs for unskilled workers are increasingly being proposed as a way to both relieve labour shortages in developed countries and aid development in sending countries without entailing many of the costs associated with permanent migration. New Zealand’s new Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program is designed with both these goals in mind, enabling unskilled workers from the Pacific Islands to work in horticulture and viticulture in New Zealand for a period of up to seven months. However, the development impact on a sending country will depend not only on how many workers participate, but also on who participates. This paper uses new survey data from Tonga to examine the process of selecting Tongans to work in the RSE, and to analyze how pro-poor the recruitment process has been to date. We find that the workers recruited come from largely agricultural backgrounds and have lower average incomes and schooling levels than Tongans not participating in the program. We also compare the characteristics of RSE workers to those of Tongans applying to permanently migrate to New Zealand through the Pacific Access Category, and find the RSE workers to be more rural and less educated. The RSE therefore does seem to have succeeded in creating new opportunities for relatively poor and unskilled Tongans to work in New Zealand. |
| Keywords: | development seasonal migration; selectivity |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:08/08&r=lab |
| By: | Bruce Sacerdote; James Feyrer |
| Abstract: | Only a few rich nations are currently at replacement levels of fertility and many are considerably below. We believe that changes in the status of women are driving fertility change. At low levels of female status, women specialize in household production and fertility is high. In an intermediate phase, women have increasing opportunities to earn a living outside the home yet still shoulder the bulk of household production. Fertility is at a minimum in this regime due to the increased opportunity cost in women's foregone wages with no decrease in time allocated to childcare. We see the lowest fertility nations (Japan, Spain, Italy) as being in this regime. At even higher levels of women's status, men begin to share in the burden of child care at home and fertility is higher than in the middle regime. This progression has been observed in the US, Sweden and other countries. Using ISSP and World Values Survey data we show that countries in which men perform relatively more of the childcare and household production (and where female labor force participation was highest 30 years ago) have the highest fertility within the rich country sample. Fertility and women's labor force participation have become positively correlated across high income countries. The trend in men's household work suggests that the low fertility countries may see increases in fertility as women's household status catches up to their workforce opportunities. We also note that as the poor nations of the world undergo the demographic transition they appear to be reducing fertility faster and further than the current rich countries did at similar levels of income. By examining fertility differences between the rich nations we may be able to gain insight into where the world is headed. |
| JEL: | I0 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14114&r=lab |
| By: | M. Manacorda; F. Rosati |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate whether the differential evolution of child work across Brazilian states between 1980 and 2000 can be explained by their different patterns of specialization in industries where children have a comparative advantage. We find that the adoption of different industries mixes by different states accounts for 20% to 30% of the observed variation in child labor in rural areas while we find little or no effect in urban areas. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucw:worpap:42&r=lab |
| By: | Benno Torgler; Markus Schaffner; Sascha L. Schmidt; Bruno S.Frey |
| Abstract: | Do employees care about their relative (economic) position among co-workers in an organization? And if so, does it raise or lower their performance? Behavioral evidence on these important questions is rare. This paper takes a novel approach to answering these questions, working with sports data from two different disciplines, basketball and soccer. These sports tournaments take place in a controlled environment defined by the rules of the game. We find considerable support that positional concerns and envy reduce individual performance. In contrast, there does not seem to be any tolerance for income disparity, based on the hope that such differences signal that better times are under way. Positive behavioral consequences are observed for those who are experiencing better times. |
| Keywords: | Relative income, positional concerns, envy, social comparison, relative derivation, performance |
| JEL: | D00 D60 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:231&r=lab |
| By: | R. Jason Faberman |
| Abstract: | This paper uses new data on job creation and job destruction to find evidence of a link between the jobless recoveries of the last two recessions and the recent decline in aggregate volatility known as the Great Moderation. The author finds that the last two recessions are characterized by jobless recoveries that came about through contrasting margins of employment adjustment—a relatively slow decline in job destruction in 1991-92 and persistently low job creation in 2002-03. In manufacturing, he finds that these patterns followed a secular decline in the magnitude of job flows and an abrupt decline in their volatility. A structural VAR analysis suggests that these patterns are driven by a decline in the volatilities of the underlying structural shocks in addition to a shift in the response of job flows to these shocks. The shift in structural responses is broadly consistent with the change in job flow patterns observed during the jobless recoveries. |
| Keywords: | Job analysis ; Employment ; Unemployment |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:08-11&r=lab |
| By: | Schoellman, Todd |
| Abstract: | This paper uses labor market evidence to quantify the importance of quality-adjusted schooling differences in accounting for cross-country income differences. I model labor markets that are consistent with cross-country data on schooling attainment, education quality, and the average returns to schooling of a country’s emigrants and its non-migrants. The model suggests that the Mincerian returns to schooling of immigrants to the United States measure the education qualities of their source countries. Measured this way, quality differences across countries are large, and the calibrated model shows that schooling accounts for a factor of 5 of the income difference between the U.S. and the poorest countries. The evidence suggests that immigrants to the U.S. are positively selected members of their source country, and that immigrants from developing countries are more selected than those from developed countries. Then the low education quality measured in the sample actually overestimates the education quality of the average non-migrant, particularly for developing countries. Two methods of controlling for selection among immigrants thus predict a moderately larger role for schooling, between a factor of 6.5 and 7.9. |
| JEL: | O47 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9243&r=lab |
| By: | D. Vuri |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present evidence on the impact of distance to school and school availability on households’ decisions concerning primary age children’s time allocation between work, schooling and household chores activities using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey 1998-99 (GLSS) and the Guatemalan Living Standards Measurement Survey 2000 (ENCOVI). Overall, our results indicate that the increased and eased access to school has a well-defined impact on children’s time use, with both similarities and striking dissimilarities between the chosen countries. In particular, in Ghana the availability and the travel distance to schools (both primary and middle) in the community influence children’s work in both economic activities and household chores and children’s school attendance. The longer the travel time to school the more difficult it is for children to reconcile work and school attendance. In Guatemala, secondary school access constraints have almost no effect on children’s time allocation. In addition, reducing the cost of access to primary education has an effect only on children’s school attendance but it reduces neither child work nor time spent in household chores. Our results are robust to control for the endogeneity of school location and per capita expenditures. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucw:worpap:41&r=lab |
| By: | Scott E. Carrell; James E. West |
| Abstract: | It is difficult to measure teaching quality at the postsecondary level because students typically "self-select" their coursework and their professors. Despite this, student evaluations of professors are widely used in faculty promotion and tenure decisions. We exploit the random assignment of college students to professors in a large body of required coursework to examine how professor quality affects student achievement. Introductory course professors significantly affect student achievement in contemporaneous and follow-on related courses, but the effects are quite heterogeneous across subjects. Students of professors who as a group perform well in the initial mathematics course perform significantly worse in follow-on related math, science, and engineering courses. We find that the academic rank, teaching experience, and terminal degree status of mathematics and science professors are negatively correlated with contemporaneous student achievement, but positively related to follow-on course achievement. Across all subjects, student evaluations of professors are positive predictors of contemporaneous course achievement, but are poor predictors of follow-on course achievement. |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14081&r=lab |
| By: | David McKenzie (World Bank, BREAD and IZA); Pilar Garcia Martinez (World Bank); L. Alan Winters (University of Sussex, CEPR, IZA) |
| Abstract: | New Zealand’s new Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program allows workers from the Pacific Islands to come to New Zealand for up to seven months to work in the horticulture and viticulture industries. One of the explicit objectives of the program is to encourage economic development in the Pacific. In this paper we report on the results of a baseline survey taken in Vanuatu, which allows us to examine who wants to participate in the program, and who is selected amongst those interested. We find the main participants are males in their late 20s to early 40s, most of whom are married and have children. Most workers are subsistence farmers in Vanuatu and have not completed more than 10 years of schooling. Such workers would be unlikely to be accepted under existing migration channels. Nevertheless, we find RSE workers from Vanuatu to come from wealthier households, and have better English literacy and health than individuals not applying for the program. Lack of knowledge about the policy and the costs of applying appear to be the main barriers preventing poorer individuals applying. |
| Keywords: | development; seasonal migration; selectivity |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:08/09&r=lab |
| By: | Evelyn L. Lehrer (University of Illinois at Chicago - Economics Department) |
| Abstract: | The past few years have witnessed substantial progress in our understanding of how religious factors influence economic and demographic factors including education, female employment, fertility, and union formation and dissolution. In this paper I highlight results from recent studies on the role of religion in these and related economic and demographic behaviors, updating the critical literature review presented in an earlier article (Lehrer 2004a). Based on the theoretical framework suggested there, I also offer a reinterpretation of previous findings in the literature and identify promising avenues for future research. The focus of this review is on the United States, but a few closely related studies that employ data from other countries are also included. |
| Keywords: | religion; fertility; education. |
| JEL: | J24 J15 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–06–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:paoner:08/03&r=lab |
| By: | Braz Camargo (University of Western Ontario); Ralph Stinebrickner (Berea College); Todd Stinebrickner (University of Western Ontario) |
| Abstract: | In two recent cases involving the University of Michigan, the Supreme Court examined whether race should be allowed to play an explicit role in the admission decisions of schools. The primary argument in these court cases and others has been that racial diversity strengthens the quality of education offered to all students. Underlying this argument is the notion that educational benefits arise if interactions between students of different races improve preparation for life after college by, among other things, fostering mutual understanding and correcting misperceptions. Then, a fundamental condition necessary for the primary legal argument to be compelling is that the types of students who choose to enter college actually have incorrect beliefs about individuals from different races at the time of college entrance. In this paper we provide, to the best of our knowledge, the first direct evidence about this condition by taking advantage of unique new data that was collected specifically for this purpose. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwo:hcuwoc:20084&r=lab |
| By: | Noha El-Bassiouny (Faculty of Management Technology, The German University in Cairo); Ahmed Taher (American University in Cairo); Ehab M. Abou Aish (Faculty of Management Technology, The German University in Cairo) |
| Abstract: | Tweens is a term that denotes a market segment mentality that falls between children at the lower end and teens at the upper end. Tweens marketing strategies are considered critical for most global brands. Advocates against excessive consumerism and materialism polluting innocent childhood, specifically tweens, call for values implantation through character education in the school to breed more educated consumers. The effect of implanting character building programs in schools on the consumer behavior of the exposed children in the marketplace, however, has never been tested before. This research endeavor is, in essence, an overlap between consumer behavior and educational psychology, investigating the link between personality and behavior in the market. It falls under both positivist and interpretive consumer research, specifically the consumer socialization of children. The aim of this work is to develop a conceptual model linking character education to purchasing lifestyles and consumption patterns of the exposed children as consumers. Following, prospects for future research are highlighted. |
| Keywords: | Educational psychology, character education, attitudes and lifestyles, opinion-leadership, humanitarianism, ethnocentrism, adolescents and middle schools |
| JEL: | M30 M31 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:guc:wpaper:11&r=lab |
| By: | Daniel F. McCaffrey; Rosalie Liccardo Pacula; Bing Han; Phyllis Ellickson |
| Abstract: | In this study we reconsider the relationship between heavy and persistent marijuana use and high school dropout status using a unique prospective panel study of over 4500 7th grade students from South Dakota who are followed up through high school. Propensity score weighting is used to adjust for baseline differences that are found to exist before marijuana initiation occurs (7th grade). Weighted logistic regression incorporating these propensity score weights is then used to examine the extent to which time-varying factors, including substance use, also influence the likelihood of dropping out of school. We find a positive association between marijuana use and dropping out (OR=5.68), over half of which can be explained by prior differences in observational characteristics and behaviors. The remaining association (OR=2.31) is made statistically insignificant when measures of cigarette smoking are included in the analysis. Because no physiological justification can be provided for why cigarette smoking would reduce the cognitive effects of marijuana on schooling, we interpret this as evidence that the association is due to other factors. We then use the rich data to explore which constructs are driving this result, determining that it is time-varying parental and peer influences. |
| JEL: | I10 I18 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14102&r=lab |