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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Pedro S. Martins |
| Abstract: | In the context of the debate on the labour-market consequences of globalisation, we examine worker mobility in order to identify the wage differences between foreign and domestic firms. Using matched employer-employee panel data for Portugal, we consider virtually all spells of interfirm mobility over a period of ten years. We find that foreign firms offer significantly more generous wage policies, although there is also a (smaller) selection effect. The results are robust to the consideration of wage growth differences, the case of displaced workers and different subsets of workers. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investment, Worker Displacement, Wage Growth |
| JEL: | J31 J63 F23 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgs:wpaper:17&r=lab |
| By: | Bergemann, Annette (Free University of Amsterdam); van den Berg, Gerard J. (Free University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Women without work after childbirth are at risk of losing their connection to the labor market. However, they may participate in adult education programs. We analyze the effect of this on the duration to work and on the wage rate, by applying conditional difference-in-differences approaches. We use Swedish matched longitudinal register data sets covering the full population. The Swedish adult education program is unprecedented in its size, and enrollment is universally available at virtually no cost. We focus on low-skilled women who have recently given birth. We take account of program accessibility, selection issues, course heterogeneity, the income received during adult education, parental leave, and child care fees. To understand the enrollment decision from the mothers' point of view, we use the estimates to calibrate a job search model. |
| Keywords: | evaluation of adult education, job search model, female labor supply, wages, participation, unemployment, schooling, conditional difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | H43 J68 J64 J24 C14 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3600&r=lab |
| By: | John T. Addison (QueenÕs University, USA and The Rimini The Rimini Center for Economic Analysis, Italy); Christopher J. Surfield (Saginaw Valley State University, USA) |
| Abstract: | Atypical employment arrangements such as agency temporary work and contracting have long been criticized as offering more precarious and unstable work than regular employment. Using data from two datasets Ð the CAEAS and the NLSY79 Ð we determine whether workers who take such jobs rather than regular employment, or the alternative of continued job search, subsequently experience greater or lesser employment continuity. Observed differences between the various working arrangements are starkest when we do not account for unobserved individual heterogeneity. Controlling for the latter, we report that the advantage of regular work over atypical work and atypical work over continued joblessness dissipates. |
| Keywords: | atypical work, open-ended work, employment continuity, unemployment, inactivity |
| JEL: | J40 J60 J63 M50 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:12-08&r=lab |
| By: | Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano; Giovanni Peri |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the effects of immigration on wages of native workers at the national U.S. level. Following Borjas (2003) we focus on national labor markets for workers of different skills and we enrich his methodology and refine previous estimates. We emphasize that a production function framework is needed to combine workers of different skills in order to evaluate the competition as well as cross-skill complementary effects of immigrants on wages. We also emphasize the importance (and estimate the value) of the elasticity of substitution between workers with at most a high school degree and those without one. Since the two groups turn out to be close substitutes, this strongly dilutes the effects of competition between immigrants and workers with no degree. We then estimate the substitutability between natives and immigrants and we find a small but significant degree of imperfect substitution which further decreases the competitive effect of immigrants. Finally, we account for the short run and long run adjustment of capital in response to immigration. Using our estimates and Census data we find that immigration (1990-2006) had small negative effects in the short run on native workers with no high school degree (-0.7%) and on average wages (-0.4%) while it had small positive effects on native workers with no high school degree (+0.3%) and on average native wages (+0.6%) in the long run. These results are perfectly in line with the estimated aggregate elasticities in the labor literature since Katz and Murphy (1992). We also find a wage effect of new immigrants on previous immigrants in the order of negative 6%. |
| JEL: | F22 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14188&r=lab |
| By: | Alena Bicakova; Jiri Slacalek; Michal Slavik |
| Abstract: | We extend the scarce evidence on labor supply in post-transition countries by estimating the wage elasticity of labor force participation in the Czech Republic. Using the household income survey data of 2002, we find that a one-percent rise in the gross wage increases the probability of working by 0.16 and 0.02 percentage points for women and men, respectively. Taking into account the tax and benefit system, these semi-elasticities fall to 0.06 for women and 0.01 for men. We interpret the dierence between the estimates from the two specifications as a summary measure of the welfare system disincentives. The estimated wage elasticities lie at the lower end of the range of values reported for mature market economies. This finding is consistent with the stylized fact that the labor supply in countries with high labor force participation rates, such as in the Czech Republic, tends to be less sensitive to wages. |
| Keywords: | Labor supply, transition, welfare system |
| JEL: | J22 J31 P30 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp351&r=lab |
| By: | John T. Addison (QueenÕs University and The Rimini The Rimini Center for Economic Analysis, Italy); Paulino Teixeira (Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal); Thomas Zwick (Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the effect of German works councils on wages, using matched employer-employee data from the German LIAB for 2001. In general, we find that works councils are associated with higher earnings, even after accounting for worker and establishment heterogeneity. At this level, the works council premium exceeds the collective bargaining mark-up, and is modestly higher in the presence of collective bargaining once we account for worker selection into the two institutions. More specifically, works councils do seem to benefit women relatively and to build on collective bargaining in this regard. They also seem to favor foreign, east-German, and service-sector workers although the effects of collective bargaining are not always reinforcing. The evidence from quantile regressions suggests that only in conjunction with collective bargaining is the narrowing influence of works councils really clear-cut. The above findings pertain to workers in all plants. Once we consider smaller establishments with 21-100 employees, however, each of these results is further qualified, beginning with the effect on wage levels where premia are now only observed in conjunction with collective bargaining. |
| Keywords: | works councils, collective bargaining coverage, matched employer-employee data, wages, wage distribution. |
| JEL: | J31 J50 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:11-08&r=lab |
| By: | Geishecker, Ingo (University of Göttingen); Görg, Holger (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of services offshoring on wages using individual level data combined with industry information on offshoring. Our results show that services offshoring affects the real wage of low and medium skilled individuals negatively. By contrast, skilled workers benefit from services offshoring in terms of higher real wages. Hence, offshoring has contributed to a widening of the wage gap between skilled and less skilled workers. This result is obtained while controlling for individual and sectoral observed and unobserved heterogeneity. In particular, our empirical model also controls for the impact of technological change and offshoring of materials. |
| Keywords: | services offshoring, individual wages |
| JEL: | F16 J31 C23 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3593&r=lab |
| By: | Tebaldi, Edinaldo; Kim, Jongsung |
| Abstract: | This paper uses microdata from the Current Population Survey combined with data from the U.S. International Trade Commission and Bureau of Economic Analysis to evaluate the impacts of international trade (imports penetration and exports intensiveness) on wages with a special focus on the returns to education. Consistent with the literature, our empirical analysis provides evidence that the wage rates of similarly skilled workers differ across net-exporting, net-importing and nontradable industries. Our results add to the literature by showing that the wage gap usually found across importing and exporting industries vanishes for highly-skilled workers (workers with college degree and beyond) when we control for the cross-effect between international trade and education, but the wage gap due to international trade still persists for low-skilled workers. This finding supports the view that education serves as an equalizer and counterbalances the adverse impact from imports-penetration on wages of highly-skilled workers |
| Keywords: | Trade; Returns to Education; Wage Differential |
| JEL: | F16 J3 |
| Date: | 2008–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9698&r=lab |
| By: | Lixin Cai; Amy Y.C. Liu |
| Abstract: | Previous research on public-private wage differentials in Australia is scarce and has focused on the central parts of the conditional wage distribution. Using the first six waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, this study applies quantile regression models to examine whether the sectoral wage effect varies along the wage distribution. For females, we find public sector wage premiums for almost the entire wage distribution and the premiums are relatively stable except at the extremities of the distribution. For males, the premiums decrease monotonically and are negative for the top half of the conditional wage distribution. The decomposition results show that the observed differences in individuals and job characteristics account for a substantial proportion of the overall sectoral wage gap. |
| Keywords: | wage gap, quantile regression, decomposition |
| JEL: | J31 J45 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:dpaper:581&r=lab |
| By: | Hou, Feng |
| Abstract: | Participation in ethnic economies has been regarded as an alternative avenue of economic adaptation for immigrants and minorities in major immigrant-receiving countries. This study examines one important dimension of ethnic economies: co-ethnic concentration at the workplace. Using a large national representative sample from Statistics Canada's 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, this study addresses four questions: (1) What is the level of co-ethnic concentration at the workplace for Canada's minority groups? (2) How do workers who share the same ethnicity with most of their co-workers differ from other workers in sociodemographic characteristics? (3) Is a higher level of co-ethnic concentration at the workplace associated with lower earnings? (4) Is a higher level of co-ethnic concentration at the workplace associated with higher levels of life satisfaction? The results show that only a small proportion of immigrants and the Canadian born (persons born to immigrant parents) work in ethnically homogeneous settings. In Canada's eight largest metropolitan areas, about 10% of non-British/French immigrants share the same ethnic origin with the majority of their co-workers. The level is as high as 20% among Chinese immigrants and 18% among Portuguese immigrants. Among Canadian-born minority groups, the level of co-ethnic workplace concentration is about half the level for immigrants. Immigrant workers in ethnically concentrated settings have much lower educational levels and a lower proficiency in English/French. Immigrant men who work mostly with co-ethnics earn, on average, about 33% less than workers with few or no co-ethnic co-workers. About two thirds of this gap is attributable to differences in demographic and job characteristics. Meanwhile, immigrant workers in ethnically homogenous settings are less likely to report low levels of life satisfaction than other immigrant workers. Among the Canadian born, co-ethnic concentration is not consistently associated with ea |
| Keywords: | Ethnic diversity and immigration, |
| Date: | 2008–07–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2008310e&r=lab |
| By: | Federica Origo; Laura Pagani |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the effect of a micro-level measure of flexicurity on workers job satisfaction. To this aim, using micro data from the Eurobarometer survey, we split workers in different groups according not only to their employment contract (i.e. permanent or temporary), but also to their perceived job security, and we evaluate differences in job satisfaction between these groups. After controlling for the potential endogeneity of job type, results show that what matters for job satisfaction is not just the type of contract, but mainly the perceived job security, which may be independent of the type of contract. The combination “temporary but secure job” seems preferable with respect to the combination “permanent but insecure job”, pointing out that the length of the contract may be less relevant if the worker perceives that he/she is not at risk of becoming unemployed. Our main conclusions are robust to the use of alternative definitions of workers’ types and they generally hold within different welfare regimes and also for different aspects of job satisfaction, mainly for those more related to job security. |
| Keywords: | Flexicurity, Job Satisfaction, POLS |
| JEL: | J28 J81 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:141&r=lab |
| By: | Caponi, Vincenzo (Ryerson University) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the problem of the dualism of the Italian economy, particularly of its labor market. Although the Italian labor market is considered to be the most highly regulated among OECD countries, the unemployment rate in the North, which represents two thirds of the whole economy, is one of the lowest in Europe. In contrast, the South faces an unemployment rate between two to five times higher than the North. GDP per capita is also twice in the North than in the South, while nominal wages do not differ substantially across regions. Finally internal migration is the lowest among European countries since the middle seventies. This paper argues that the uniform wage is the result of the centralized wage setting carried on by unions, and that the absence of migration is the result of the proactive role of the government, which in the seventies stopped the mass internal migration from the South to the North and since then is acting to prevent the reappearance of such phenomenon. Uniform wage across regions, the active role of the government to prevent internal mass migration and a structural productivity divide between North and South are the institutional features that, within a general equilibrium matching model, explain the high unemployment rate in the South and, perhaps more interestingly, the low unemployment rate accompanied by low wages in the North even when compared to other western European countries. |
| Keywords: | Italy, European unemployment, internal migration, regional unemployment |
| JEL: | E24 J51 J60 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3592&r=lab |
| By: | Ott Toomet |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the pre-participation effect of the Danish active labour market programs on the welfare recipients. The Danish participation rules differ for “young” and “old” individuals. A reform which increased the age boundary between “young” and “old”is used to identify the effect of the “threat” of active labour market program participation before the actual participation starts. We use a register-based dataset and focus on the transition intensity out of welfare. We show that the reform led to a 25% increase in early exit rate for men, which corresponds to effect of halving the benefits. There is no indication that the reform led to exits elsewhere than employment or to lower-quality jobs. The impact on women is smaller, statistically not significant, and partially related to movements to education. There is some evidence that the effect is related to the arrival of specific information (anticipation effect) and it is limited to a number of compliers only. |
| JEL: | J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:62&r=lab |
| By: | Addison, John T. (University of South Carolina); Blackburn, McKinley L. (University of South Carolina); Cotti, Chad D. (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of minimum wages on earnings and employment in selected branches of the retail-trade sector, 1990-2005, using county-level data on employment and a panel regression framework that allows for county-specific trends in sectoral outcomes. We focus on particular subsectors within retail trade that are identified as particularly low-wage. We find little evidence of disemployment effects once we allow for geographic-specific trends. Rather, in many sectors the evidence suggests modest (but robust) positive employment effects. One explanation we consider for these ‘perverse’ effects is that minimum wages may have significant influences on product demand shifts. |
| Keywords: | minimum wages, wages and employment, county-level data, spatial trends, border county analysis, unions, right-to-work states |
| JEL: | J23 J38 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3597&r=lab |
| By: | Guy Lacroix; Natalia Radtchenko |
| Abstract: | During the transition toward a market economy, Russian workers have had to face important structural changes in the labour market as well as dramatic changes in their real earnings. In the process, the wage gap between men and women has varied wildly over that period. In recent years, young women have embraced professional careers, are more mobile on the labour market, and tend to delay the birth of their first child. All these trends are likely to influence intra-household relations and consequently the family decision process. To investigate this matter, we estimate a household collective labour supply model. We generalize the specification so as to allow the sharing rule to change in a discrete manner between the pre and post 1998 financial crisis periods. The parameters of the sharing-rule indicate that the households have shifted to a new equilibrium in the post-1998 period. Indeed, husbands have become more egotistic and wives more altruistic: an increase in their relative wage translates into a smaller/larger transfer to their spouse. |
| Keywords: | Collective model, sharing rule, Russian economic crisis |
| JEL: | D1 J22 C5 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0811&r=lab |
| By: | Rania Antonopoulos |
| Abstract: | In order to provide a coherent perspective of gender differences in the world of work, the many intersections of paid and unpaid work must be brought to light. It is well documented that gender-based wage differentials and occupational segregation continue to characterize the division of labor among men and women in paid work; yet unpaid work in social reproduction, subsistence production, family businesses, and the community is often ignored. When it is taken into account, it is usually done in a very limited manner, equating unpaid work with the traditional roles women play in raising children and performing maintenance chores. Beyond the obvious gender inequalities characterizing the latter, unpaid work constitutes an integral part of any functioning economy, and as such is linked to economic growth, government policy, migration, and many development issues. This paper concludes that the "world of work" cannot be treated in complete disregard to unpaid forms of labor, and gender equality must be understood through the lens of the paid–unpaid work continuum. |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_541&r=lab |
| By: | Schwerdt Guido (ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. (ifo Institute for Economic Research)); Andrea Ichino (University of Bolognia); Oliver Ruf (University of Zurich, Switzerland); Rudolf Winter-Ebmer (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria); Josef Zweimüller (University of Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether the costs of job displacement differ between blue collar and white collar workers. In the short run earnings and employment losses are substantial for both groups but stronger for white collar workes. In the long run, there are only weak effects for blue collar workers but strong and persistent effects for white collars. This is consistent with the idea that firm-specific human capital and internal labor markets are more important in white-collar than in blue collar jobs. |
| Keywords: | Firm Specific Human Capital, Plant Closures, Matching |
| JEL: | J14 J65 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2008_09&r=lab |
| By: | Jhon James Mora (Departamento de Economía. Universidad ICESI.); Juan Muro (Departamento de Estadística, Estructura y O.E.I. Universidad de Alcalá.) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the existence of diploma earnings differences by gender in Colombia with a model of sheepskin effects based on pseudo panel data for the period 1996-2000. Our results show a significant and distinctive effect of high school and university degrees among men and women. Thus, additional earnings associated with a high school degree are higher for women than for men, while additional earnings associated with a university degree are higher for men compared to women in Colombia in the period under consideration. |
| Keywords: | Sheepskin effects, pseudo panel data, gender, selection bias, Colombia. |
| JEL: | J7 J31 C31 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:alc:alcamo:0802&r=lab |
| By: | Marisa Ratto (Université Paris-Dauphine (SDFi)); Wendelin Schnedler (University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | How can a manager influence workers' activity while knowing little about it? This paper examines a situation where production requires several tasks, and the manager wants to direct production to achieve a preferred allocation of effort across tasks. However, the effort that is required for each task cannot be observed, and the production result is the only indicator of worker activity. This paper illustrates that in this situation, the manager cannot implement the preferred allocation with a single worker. On the other hand, the manager is able to implement the preferred allocation by inducing a game among several workers. Gains to workers from collusion may be eliminated by an ability-dependent, but potentially inefficient, task assignment. These findings provide a new explanation for the division of labor, and bureaucratic features such as "over"-specialization and "wrong" task allocation. |
| Keywords: | specialization, job design, moral hazard, multitasking |
| JEL: | D02 D86 M54 D23 L23 J23 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0468&r=lab |
| By: | Nils Braakmann (Institute of Economics, Leuphana University of Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether high regional crime levels lead to a compensating wage differential paid by firms in the respective region. Using data from German social security records and official police statistics for 2003 to 2006, we consider both violent and non-violent crimes and use three-way error-components estimators to control for individual and regional heterogeneity. Our findings suggest a positive and rather large compensating differential for the risk of falling victim to a violent crime while no such effect exists for other criminal activities. However, our results also suggest that the wage effects for most individuals are rather small due to small variation in the crime rates. |
| Keywords: | Compensating wage differentials, crime, three-way error-components model |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2008–07–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:91&r=lab |
| By: | Aloysius Siow |
| Abstract: | The paper surveys the Choo Siow (CS) marriage matching model and its extensions. CS derives a behavioral marriage matching function. The collective model of intra-household allocations can be integrated into this framework. Spousal labor supplies respond to changing marriage market conditions. Marriage market tightness, the ratio of unmarried type i men to unmarried type j women is a sufficient statistic for marriage market conditions for those types of individuals. The hypothesis that spousal labor supplies vary to equilibrate the marriage market has overidentifying restrictions. The framework extends to a dynamic marriage matching environment. Empirically, this paper shows how the famine caused by the great leap forward in Sichuan affected the marital behavior of famine born cohorts. Marriage market tightness is shown to be a useful statistic for summarizing marriage market conditions in the United States. Marriage market conditions in the contemporary United States primarily affect spousal labor force participation rather than hours of work. |
| Keywords: | marriage, matching, collective model |
| JEL: | J |
| Date: | 2008–07–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-322&r=lab |
| By: | Raouf Boucekkine; Patricia Criffo; Claudio Mattalia |
| Abstract: | Innovative workplace practices based on multi-tasking and ICT that have been diffusing in most OECD countries since the 1990s have strong consequences on working conditions. Available data show together with the emergence of new organizational forms like multi-tasking, the increase in the proportion of workers employed in managerial occupation and the increase in skill requirements. This paper proposes a theoretical model to analyze the optimal number of tasks per worker when switching to multi-tasking raises coordination costs between workers and between tasks. Firms can reduce coordination costs by assigning more workers to human resources management. Human capital is endogenously accumulated by workers. The model reproduces pretty well the regularities observed in the data. In particular, exogenous technological accelerations tend to increase both the number of tasks performed and the skill requirements, and to raise the fraction of workers devoted to management. |
| Keywords: | Information Technology, Organizational Change, Human Capital, Multi-Tasking |
| JEL: | J22 J24 L23 O33 C62 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gla:glaewp:2008_20&r=lab |
| By: | Massimiliano Bratti (Univesrity of Milan); Daniele Checchi (Univesrity of Milan); Guido de Blasio (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the role of the expansion of higher education supply in increasing the equality of post-secondary education opportunities. It examines ItalyÂ’s experience during the 1990s, when policy changes prompted universities to offer a wider range of degree courses and to open new campuses. Our analysis focuses on full-time students (not older than 31); the results suggest that the expansion had only limited effects in terms of reducing individual inequality in higher education achievement. That is, the greater availability of courses had a significant positive impact only on the probability of enrolment, not on that of obtaining a university degree, while the opening of new campuses had no effect. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, family background, Italy |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_679_08&r=lab |
| By: | Joppe de Ree; Rob Alessie |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates a model of female time allocation and non-durable consumption in an intertemporal utility maximization framework. We are using rather extensive but relatively unexploited series of repeated cross sections from the Dutch B.O. consumer expenditure survey from Statistics Netherlands (1978-2000). As male labor supply is known to respond rather inelastically to wage changes - perhaps due to restrictions on the labor market - we condition on male labor supply in the analysis. We specify assumptions on domestic production technology that allows us to estimate labor supply elasticities that are consistent with non-separable preferences over consumption, leisure and a non-marketable domestically produced good, without the explicit use of time-use data. We find that when intertemporal re-allocation of resources is taken into account female labor supply elasticities increase about 50% in size relative to what we find in a static framework (1.1 to about 1.7). Furthermore, we identify parameters of intertemporal allocation on a log linearized Euler equation using a synthetic panel with a large T dimension. The intertemporal allocation parameter is of reasonable size, but is imprecisely estimated. Moreover, we find that current income is a significant predictor for consumption growth (conditional on demographics). This could be interpreted as evidence against the validity of our version of the life cycle model. We do however offer a number of different explanations for this finding. |
| Keywords: | Life Cycle models, female labor supply, synthetic panel data, Euler equation |
| JEL: | D91 J22 C23 C24 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:0817&r=lab |
| By: | Robone, S; Jones, A. M; Rice, N |
| Abstract: | We consider the effects of contractual and working conditions on self-assessed health and psychological well-being using twelve waves (1991/92 – 2002/2003) of the British Household Panel Survey. While one branch of the literature suggests that “atypical” contractual conditions have a significant impact on health and well-being, another suggests that health is damaged by adverse working conditions. As far as we are aware, previous studies have not explicitly considered the two factors jointly. Our aim is to combine the two branches of the literature to assess the distinct effects of contractual and working conditions on health and psychological well-being and how these effects vary across individuals. For self-assessed health the dependent variable is categorical, and we estimate non-linear dynamic panel ordered probit models, while for psychological well-being we estimate a dynamic linear specification. Our estimates show that being unsatisfied with the number of hours worked has a negative influence on the health of individuals who have a part-time job. Having a high level of employability appears to influence positively the health and psychological well-being of individuals with temporary job arrangements. Family structure appears to influence the health and well-being of workers with atypical contractual conditions. |
| Keywords: | working conditions, contractual conditions, self assessed health, psychological well-being, dynamic panel data models |
| JEL: | C23 I10 J41 J81 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:08/19&r=lab |
| By: | Sebastian Kube; Michel André Maréchal; Clemens Puppe |
| Abstract: | What determines reciprocity in employment relations? We conducted a controlled field experiment and tested the extent to which cash and non-monetary gifts affect workers' productivity. Our main finding is that the nature of the gift, not its monetary value, determines the prevalence of reciprocal reactions. A gift in-kind results in a significant and substantial increase in workers' productivity. An equivalent cash gift, on the other hand, is largely ineffective - even though an additional experiment showed that workers would strongly favor the gift's cash equivalent. |
| Keywords: | Field experiment, reciprocity, gift exchange, fringe benefits, perks, compensation. |
| JEL: | C93 J30 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:377&r=lab |
| By: | BOURDIEU Jérôme; KESZTENBAUM Lionel |
| Abstract: | Starting with controversies on workers pensions at the beginning of the 19th century, many debates occurred on individuals' willingness to save for their old days. However it remains difficult to assess old people capacity to live their old age. We investigate the situation of old people before the introduction of pension schemes. Using probate records, we compute the rate of individuals who where able to live on their wealth, by themselves. We conclude that life-cycle savings were largely insufficient for French people to live on it. Above all, the situation of old people, after a continuous improve during the 19th century, get worse in the 1900's: large parts of the elderly population have no or only little means of survival. Moreover, access to retirement is also very limited, depending on gender or occupation. |
| Keywords: | Epargne, accumulation du patrimoine, retraite, vieillesse, France 19-20e siècles. |
| JEL: | N33 N34 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lea:leawpi:0801&r=lab |
| By: | Dustmann, Christian (University College London); Schönberg, Uta (University of Rochester) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of three major expansions in leave coverage in Germany on the long-run education and labor market outcomes of children. Evaluation of three policy reforms as opposed to a single reform enables us to analyze whether the impact of paid leave differs from that of unpaid leave, and whether an expansion of a relatively short leave period is more beneficial to child development than an expansion of an already long leave period. Our empirical analysis combines two large administrative data sources on wages, unemployment, and school outcomes. We identify the causal impact of the reforms by comparing outcomes of children born shortly before and shortly after a change in maternity leave legislation, and therefore require substantially weaker assumptions for identification than existing studies. We find little support for the hypothesis that an expansion in maternity leave legislation improves children’s outcomes. Given the precision of our estimates, we can statistically rule out the hypothesis that the expansion in paid leave from 2 to 6 (unpaid leave from 18 to 36) months raised wages (attendance at high track schools) by more than 0.3 % (0.1 %). |
| Keywords: | child development, maternity leave |
| JEL: | J13 H52 J2 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3605&r=lab |
| By: | C. Katharina Spieß; Katharina Wrohlich |
| Abstract: | We analyze the role of distance from a university in the decision to attend higher education in Germany. Students who live near a university can avoid moving and the increased living expenses by commuting. Thus, transaction cost arguments would suggest that the greater the distance to the nearest university, the lower the participation in higher education. We analyse this hypothesis by combining data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) with a database from the German Rectors¿ Conference on university postal codes. Based on a discrete time hazard rate model we show that distance to the next university at the time of completing high school significantly affects the decision to enrol in tertiary education. Controlling for many other socio-economic and regional variables, we find that 1 kilometre distance decreases the probability to enrol in higher education by 0.2 ¿ 0.3 percentage points |
| Keywords: | Higher education, distance to university, competing risk model |
| JEL: | I2 R1 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp118&r=lab |
| By: | Eva M. Sierminska; Joachim R. Frick; Markus M. Grabka |
| Abstract: | Welfare-oriented analyses of economic outcome measures such as income and wealth generally rest on the assumption of pooled and equally shared resources among all household members. Yet the lack of individual-level data hampers the distribution of income and wealth within the household context. Based on unique individual-level wealth data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this paper challenges the implicit assumption of internal redistribution by considering an alternative definition of the aggregation unit and by controlling its effect on distribution and inequality analysis. We find empirical evidence for a significant gender wealth gap of about 30,000 euros in Germany, which amounts to almost 50,000 euros for married partners. Decomposition analyses reveal that this gap is mostly driven by differences in characteristics between men and women, the most important factor being the individual's own income and labor market experience, and particularly so at the bottom and top of the wealth distribution. However, this finding can only be shown with non-parametric decomposition techniques. Differences for those in the middle of the distribution appear to be mostly driven by the wealth function, i.e., the way in which women transform their characteristics into wealth. |
| Keywords: | Wealth gap, Wealth inequality, Gender, SOEP |
| JEL: | D13 D31 D69 I31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp806&r=lab |
| By: | Judith K. Hellerstein; Melissa McInerney; David Neumark |
| Abstract: | We specify and implement a test for the importance of network effects in determining the establishments at which people work, using recently-constructed matched employer-employee data at the establishment level. We explicitly measure the importance of network effects for groups broken out by race, ethnicity, and various measures of skill, for networks generated by residential proximity. The evidence indicates that labor market networks play an important role in hiring, more so for minorities and the less-skilled, especially among Hispanics, and that labor market networks appear to be race-based. |
| JEL: | J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14201&r=lab |
| By: | Gianna Barbieri (Ministry of Education); Piero Cipollone (Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department); Paolo Sestito (Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department) |
| Abstract: | The paper considers the teachers’ labour market in Italy. The quality and motivation of teachers are certainly among the determinants of pupils’ achievement, but they are difficult to measure, so we examine the composition of the pool of teachers and their behaviour to infer information about them. We look also at the institutional features that motivate the implicit contract that drives Italian teachers' behaviour, which essentially involves low salary and correspondingly low commitment and effort. In particular we examine the mechanism that allocates teachers to schools. For each school we construct three indicators; one indicating the level of turnover, which we interpret as a source of turmoil; one that refers to the mismatch between tenured teachers and their school; and a “revealed preferences indicator” that measures the schools’ quality as evaluated by the population of tenured teachers. We measure the association at the school level of our indicators with achievement as gauged by PISA 2003. Students scores are correlated negatively to the turnover and the mismatch indicators, positively to revealed preferences. |
| Keywords: | Teachers labour market, Italian educational system |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_672_08&r=lab |
| By: | Juan Carlos Calcagno; Bridget Terry Long |
| Abstract: | Remedial or developmental courses are the most common instruments used to assist postsecondary students who are not ready for college-level coursework. However, despite its important role in higher education and substantial costs, there is little rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of college remediation on the outcomes of students. This study uses a detailed dataset to identify the causal effect of remediation on the outcomes of nearly 100,000 college students in Florida. Using a Regression Discontinuity design, we provide causal estimates while also investigating possible endogenous sorting around the policy cutoff. The results suggest math and reading remedial courses have mixed benefits. Being assigned to remediation appears to increase persistence to the second year and the total number of credits completed for students on the margin of passing out of the requirement, but it does not increase the completion of college-level credits or eventual degree completion. Taken together, the results suggest that remediation might promote early persistence in college, but it does not necessarily help students on the margin of passing the placement cutoff make long-term progress toward earning a degree. |
| JEL: | C1 I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14194&r=lab |
| By: | Salazar, Eduardo |
| Abstract: | This work tries to explain, by means of Phillips's curve (in a simple model), the relation that exists between inflation and rate of unemployment in the period from 1993 to 2006, in addition estimates the natural rate of unemployment for the above mentioned period, here evidence appears in favour of the fulfillment of Phillips's curve, one finds a negative relation between rate of unemployment and variation of the rate of inflation, that is to say that to major rates of unemployment there is a decrease in the rate of inflation. Also one thinks that the rate of national unemployment is below the natural rate of unemployment, this result shows some evidence in favour of which there could be inflationary pressures. |
| Keywords: | Inflación; Tasa de desempleo; Curva de Phillips; Tasa natural de desempleo |
| JEL: | E24 E31 C22 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9527&r=lab |
| By: | Bratti, Massimiliano (University of Milan); Checchi, Daniele (University of Milan); Filippin, Antonio (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | Building upon some education studies finding that cooperative behaviour in class yields better achievements among students, this paper presents a simple model showing that free riding incentives lead to an insufficient degree of cooperation between schoolmates, which in turn decreases the overall achievement. A cooperative learning approach may instead emerge when competitive behaviour is negatively evaluated by schoolmates, especially when the class is more homogeneous in terms of students’ characteristics (e.g., ability). Empirical evidence supporting our model is found using the 2003 wave of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey on students’ literacy levels. A competitive learning approach has a positive individual return (higher in comprehensive educational systems), while student performance increases with the average cooperative behaviour, particularly in tracked educational systems. |
| Keywords: | cooperation, competition, PISA, student attitudes |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3599&r=lab |
| By: | Michal Franta; Martin Guzi |
| Abstract: | The Czech Republic exhibits high geographical variation of both human capital and universities. We examine a potential source of human capital spatial disparities: the unequal access to tertiary education caused by the absence/presence of a local university. We model both a secondary school graduate’s decision whether to apply to a university and a university’s decision about admission. Two possible sources of unequal access to university study are distinguished: cost savings and informational advantages for those residing close to a university. Estimation results suggest that the local neighborhood having a highly educated population, rather than the presence of a university per se, has a positive effect on a secondary school graduate’s decision to apply. Moreover, we find that heterogenous information plays a significant role in admission to university. |
| Keywords: | Human capital, spatial distribution, access to tertiary education. |
| JEL: | I20 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp350&r=lab |
| By: | Sophie Mitra (Fordham University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that there has been a significant decline in the employment and labor force participation of persons with disabilities in South Africa over the 1998 through 2006 period. Disability is defined based on activity limitations. Data are from the October and the General Household Surveys. The paper also deals with the possible causes of the decline. While several causes can be invoked, preliminary evidence suggests that the rise of the Disability Grant program might be responsible for a part of the decline. Recommendations are made for future research and data collection on disability and employment. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frd:wpaper:dp2008-12&r=lab |
| By: | Zahra Karimi |
| Abstract: | The process of economic globalization has winners and losers. Iran’s carpet industry provides a good illustration of the adverse side of this process. As the production costs of its rivals have fallen, surging international trade has reduced the market share of Iran's labor-intensive products, especially Persian carpets. This paper reports the findings of an informal survey of carpet weavers conducted in and around the Iranian city of Kashan, showing how harsh international competition has reduced the weavers’ real wages and restructured the labor force of the industry in Iran. Middle-income families have left the industry, and poor Afghan immigrant householders and their children are increasingly taking the place of Iranian weavers. Furthermore, weaving is consistent with the subordinate position of women carpet weavers within the household; as a form of employment, it has hardly affected the social status quo. |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_540&r=lab |
| By: | Patrawart, Kraiyos |
| Abstract: | Recently, expectations have been raised on the civic participation role that requires supports from free press, decent average years in education attainment and independent juridical system in controlling corruption. Even so, questions have been put forward on how far this promising approach can go. This paper asks if these determinants are sufficient for fighting corruption through civic engagement. We propose that education in particular its distribution is the crucial tool for the majority of citizens to correctly acquire the key information and skills to succeed in their anti-corruption initiatives. This paper presents the simple reduced-form theoretical model which allows education inequality among agents before it employs the cross-national panel data estimations between 1990-2005 to evaluate the anti-corruption effect of education equality across the globe. Education equality significantly shows independent and complimentary anti-corruption effects through press freedom and the length of democracy. However, the anti-corruption effect of average years in education lost its robustness when education equality measures are included in fixed effects estimation. |
| Keywords: | Political Economy;Corruption; Distribution of Education; Factor Analysis |
| JEL: | O15 I21 D72 |
| Date: | 2008–06–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9665&r=lab |
| By: | Simkins, Scott P.; Maier, Mark H. |
| Abstract: | We believe that economists have much to learn from educational research practices and related pedagogical innovations in other disciplines, in particular physics education. In this paper we identify three key features of physics education research that distinguish it from economics education research - (1) the intentional grounding of physics education research in learning science principles, (2) a shared conceptual research framework focused on how students learn physics concepts, and (3) a cumulative process of knowledge-building in the discipline - and describe their influence on new teaching pedagogies, instructional activities, and curricular design in physics education. In addition, we highlight four specific examples of successful pedagogical innovations drawn from physics education - context-rich problems, concept tests, just-in-time teaching, and interactive lecture demonstrations - and illustrate how these practices can be adapted for economic education. |
| Keywords: | economic education; physics education research (PER); research-based teaching; preconceptions; metacognition; transfer; context-rich problems; peer instruction; just-in-time teaching; interactive lecture demonstration |
| JEL: | A2 |
| Date: | 2008–06–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9314&r=lab |
| By: | Caliendo, Frank N.; Gahramanov, Emin |
| Abstract: | We study the optimal size of a pay-as-you-go social security program for an economy composed of both permanent-income and hand-to-mouth consumers. While previous work on this topic is framed within a two-period partial equilibrium setup, we study this issue in a life-cycle general equilibrium model. Because this type of welfare analysis depends critically on unobservable preference parameters, we methodically consider all parameterizations of the unobservables that are both feasible and reasonable- all parameterizations that can mimic key features of macro data (feasible) while still being consistent with micro evidence and convention (reasonable). The baseline model predicts that the optimal tax rate is between 6 percent and 15 percent of wage income. |
| JEL: | E62 D50 E21 |
| Date: | 2008–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9553&r=lab |
| By: | Maksim Yemelyanau |
| Abstract: | Income and consumption inequality increased in all transition economies, albeit to very different levels. Existing findings suggest that countries that were slow to undertake promarket reforms experienced the largest increase in inequality, with the notable exception of Belarus, one of the least reformed ex-Soviet republics, that nevertheless has inequality comparable to the most advanced and least unequal transition countries of Central Europe. This article studies the evolution of inequality in Belarus in 1995-2005, decomposes inequality by region and source of income, and provides cross-country comparisons. Specifically, a comparison of Belarus and Ukraine, based on DiNardo-Fortin-Lemieux Counterfactual Kernel Densities, suggests that the large difference in inequality levels is due to different income policies of the two countries: Belarus is unusual not only in its lack of privatization, but also in that it kept many of the old-style Soviet social security features. |
| Keywords: | Belarus, Ukraine, transition, income inequality, expenditure inequality, social security. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 H55 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp356&r=lab |
| By: | John P. Papay; Richard J. Murnane; John B. Willett |
| Abstract: | The growing prominence of high-stakes exit examinations has made questions about their effects on student outcomes increasingly important. We take advantage of a natural experiment to evaluate the causal effects of failing a high-stakes test on high school completion for the cohort scheduled to graduate from Massachusetts high schools in 2006. With these exit examinations, states divide a continuous performance measure into dichotomous categories, so students with essentially identical performance may have different outcomes. We find that, for low-income urban students on the margin of passing, failing the 10th grade mathematics examination reduces the probability of on-time graduation by eight percentage points. The large majority (89%) of students who fail the 10th grade mathematics examination retake it. However, although we find that low-income urban students are just as likely to retake the test as apparently equally skilled suburban students, they are much less likely to pass this retest. Furthermore, failing the 8th grade mathematics examination reduces by three percentage points the probability that low-income urban students stay in school through 10th grade. We find no effects for suburban students or wealthier urban students. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14186&r=lab |
| By: | Kuhn, Peter J. (University of California, Santa Barbara); McAusland, Carol (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: | We consider the welfare effects of skilled worker emigration in a context where skilled labor plays a role in product design. We show such emigration can benefit the residents left behind, even when consumers’ tastes exhibit a form of home bias. This is because emigration improves the design of goods designed by skilled emigrants but consumed in the sending country. In contrast to existing models of beneficial brain drain, our results do not require agglomeration economies, education-related externalities, remittances, return migration, or an emigration “lottery”. Instead, they are driven purely by differences in market size that induce skilled emigrants to design better products abroad than at home. |
| Keywords: | brain drain, international labor migration, product quality |
| JEL: | F22 J6 O34 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3602&r=lab |
| By: | Kaptein, M. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University) |
| Abstract: | The Corporate Ethical Virtues Model, which is a model for measuring the ethical culture of organizations, has not been tested on its predictive validity. This study tests the relationship between this model and observed unethical behavior in work groups. The sample consists of 301 triads comprising a manager and two direct reports. The results show that six of the eight virtues are negatively related to observed unethical behavior. An important implication of this finding is that multiple corporate virtues are required to reduce unethical behavior in work groups. |
| Keywords: | ethical culture;unethical behavior;virtue theory;ethical climate;ethics program;work groups |
| Date: | 2008–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765012783&r=lab |
| By: | Jara-Bertin, Mauricio; López-Iturriaga, Félix J. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the influence of large shareholders on earnings management in family-owned firms using a sample of firms from 11 European countries. We consider how the contest to the control of the largest shareholder and the existence of a controlling coalition in family-owned firms affect earnings management in these firms. We find that increased contestability of the control of the largest shareholder reduces earnings management in family-owned firms. Our results also show that in firms in which the largest shareholder is a family, a second or third family shareholder increases discretionary accruals. |
| Keywords: | corporate control; discretionary accruals; earnings management; family firms |
| JEL: | M41 G32 |
| Date: | 2008–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9660&r=lab |
| By: | John P. Martin; Edward Whitehouse |
| Abstract: | 1. Reforming pensions looms large over the policy agenda of OECD countries. This is hardly surprising since public spending on pensions accounted on average for 7 per cent of OECD GDP in 2005; and this pension spending effort is set to increase significantly over the coming decades in response to population ageing. Pension policy is indeed challenging and controversial because it involves long-term decisions in the face of numerous short-term political pressures. 2. However, the status quo does not always win out so far as pension reform in concerned: public finance crises and the looming threat of ageing populations have proved effective spurs for reform. As a result, much has been done since the early 1990s to make pension systems fit for the future. Nearly all the 30 OECD countries have made at least some changes to their pension systems in that period. In 16 of them, there have been major reforms that will significantly affect future benefits. 3. The purpose of this paper is to summarise these reforms and highlight the main lessons. Section 1 looks at which countries reformed their pensions systems and which did not. It also examines the fiscal challenges posed by public pensions. Section 2 describes the measures in the reforms themselves. These include, among other things, increases in pension age, changes in the way benefits are calculated and smaller pension increases in retirement than in the past. Section 3 explores the impact of these reforms on future pension entitlements of today’s retirees, showing a clear trend to a lower pension promise for today’s workers than for past generations. This means that people will need to save more for their own retirement via private pension schemes, an issue examined in Section 4. This is followed in Section 5 by a review of the main outstanding challenges facing pension systems in OECD countries. The final section presents some concluding remarks. <BR>4. La réforme des retraites occupe une place d’importance dans tous les programmes politiques des pays de l’OCDE. Ceci n’est guère surprenant dans la mesure où les dépenses publiques pour les retraites ont constitué en moyenne 7% du PIB des pays de l’OCDE en 2005 ; et cet effort de dépenses publiques risque d’augmenter de manière significative pendant les prochaines décennies en réponse au vieillissement démographique. Les politiques en matière de retraite font donc face à des défis de taille et sont controversées parce qu’elles impliquent des décisions à prendre à long terme face à de nombreuses pressions politiques de court terme. 5. Pour l’instant, nous n’assistons pas pour autant à un status quo en matière de réforme des retraites. En effet, les crises financières publiques et la crainte grandissante causée par l’apparition d’une population vieillissante ne font qu’encourager les réformes. C’est ainsi que beaucoup a été fait depuis les années 90 pour faire en sorte que les régimes de pensions se réactualisent en tenant compte de l’avenir. C’est presque tous les 30 pays de l’OCDE qui ont ainsi fait quelques changements pendant cette période. Seize d’entre eux ont d’ailleurs opté pour des réformes significatives devant affecter considérablement les prestations futures. 6. Ce document vise à résumer ces réformes et à mettre en exergue les principales leçons à tirer. La Section 1 se penche sur les pays qui ont réformé leurs régimes de pensions et ceux qui n’ont pris aucune mesure. Elle s’intéresse aussi au défi fiscal posé par les pensions publiques. La Section 2, quant à elle, décrit ces réformes, entre autres, l’augmentation de l’âge de la retraite, le changement du mode de calcul des prestations et des augmentations moindres des retraites par rapport aux années précédentes. La section 3 s’arrête sur l’impact de ces réformes sur les prestations futures des actuels retraités. Elle montre une claire tendance à promettre des retraites plus basses aux travailleurs d’aujourd’hui par rapport aux générations antérieures, le constat étant que les travailleurs devront dorénavant économiser davantage en vue de leur propre retraite via des régimes de pensions privés, sujet examiné dans la Section 4. La Section 5 examine les principaux défis auxquels doivent faire face les régimes de pensions des pays de l’OCDE. Le document se termine par des remarques de conclusion. |
| JEL: | H55 I38 |
| Date: | 2008–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:66-en&r=lab |
| By: | Andras Simonovits (Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the interconnections of underreported earnings, savings and oldage pension with the help of a most simple, elementary model. The workers can be divided into three groups: 1) well-paid who report their full earnings, 2) well-paid who report only the minimum earnings (evaders) and 3) the poorly paid. We assume that the evaders save a significant part of their hidden earnings for their old age. We compare three pension systems of equal size: (i) the proportional, (ii) the proportional plus basic pension and (iii) the proportional with means testing. Our major result is as follows: if the evaders can be recognized and excluded, then the means-tested system is superior to the basic system. |
| Keywords: | reporting earnings, proportional pensions, basic pensions, meansassisted pensions |
| JEL: | H55 D91 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:0805&r=lab |
| By: | Epstein, Gil S. (Bar-Ilan University); Gang, Ira N. (Rutgers University) |
| Abstract: | We often observe minority ethnic groups at a disadvantage relative to the majority. Why is this and what can be done about it? Efforts made to assimilate, and time, are two elements working to bring the minority into line with the majority. A third element, the degree to which the majority welcomes the minority, also plays a role. We develop a simple theoretical model useful for examining the consequences for assimilation and harassment of growth in the minority population, time, and the role of political institutions. Over time, conflicts develop within the minority group as members exhibit different interests in assimilating and in maintaining their cultural identity. We discuss how this affects the minority’s position over time and the influence of public policy. |
| Keywords: | market structure, ethnicity, assimilation, contracts, networks, harassment |
| JEL: | D74 F23 I20 J61 L14 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3591&r=lab |
| By: | Jean Bourdon (IREDU - Institut de recherche sur l'éducation : Sociologie et Economie de l'Education - CNRS : UMR5225 - Université de Bourgogne) |
| Abstract: | L’échelle relative des salaires s’explique au niveau agrégé, sans référence aux caractéristiques individuelles, par le contexte de l’emploi comme la pénibilité et la qualification, mais aussi en référence au poids de l’histoire. Ceci fait que telle profession reste, en un lieu, rémunérée différemment par rapport à d’autres. Le métier d’enseignant au primaire présente plusieurs<br />caractéristiques d’intérêt. Il s’agit d’un métier répandu, près d’un pour cent de l’emploi et dont les conditions d’exercice et de qualification sont relativement homogènes. Ce texte a pour objet de mesurer la rémunération relative de ces enseignants. Si à l’évidence la position d’une économie sur l’échelle de développement explique le pouvoir d’achat, la position relative du salaire enseignant présente aussi quelques liens en rapport au développement économique, puisque le salaire enseignant serait relativement moins rémunéré pour les pays les plus pauvres. A l’inverse la dynamique récente montre qu’il existe une pression relative sur la progression des salaires enseignants. |
| Keywords: | Salaire ; Enseignant enseignement primaire ; Echelle de développement économique |
| Date: | 2008–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00294922_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (University of Illinois at Chicago); Miller, Paul W. (University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | This study develops and estimates a model of the naturalization process in the US. The model is based on both the characteristics of immigrants and features of their countries of origin. The empirical analysis is based on the 2000 US Census. Both the characteristics of immigrants and the origin-country variables are shown to be important determinants of citizenship status. The individual characteristics that have the most influence are educational attainment, age at migration, years since migration, veteran of the US armed forces, living with family, and spouses’ educational attainment. The country of origin variables of most importance are their degree of civil liberties and political rights, GDP per capita, whether the origin country recognizes dual citizenship, and the geographic distance of the origin country from the US. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, citizenship, country of origin, human capital |
| JEL: | I38 J15 J38 F22 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3596&r=lab |
| By: | Steiner, Viktor (DIW Berlin); Wrohlich, Katharina (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the elasticity of enrollment into higher education with respect to the amount of means tested student aid (BAfoeG) provided by the federal government using the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP). Potential student aid is derived on the basis of a detailed tax-benefit microsimulation model. Since potential student aid is a highly non-linear and discontinuous function of parental income, the effect of BAfoeG on students’ enrollment decisions can be identified separately from parental income and other family background variables. We find a small but significant positive elasticity similar in size to those reported in previous studies for the United States and other countries. |
| Keywords: | higher education, financial incentives, competing risk model |
| JEL: | H52 H24 I28 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3601&r=lab |
| By: | Akinobu Shuto (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether consolidated earnings are managed to a greater extent than parent-only earnings or vice versa in an attempt to exceed the threshold in Japanese firms. The analysis reveals that earnings management to avoid earnings decreases is more pronounced in parent-only earnings for the period 1980–1999. Further, it reveals that the management of parent-only earnings has been less pervasive following the introduction of the new consolidated reporting system in March 2000. In addition, this paper provides evidence suggesting that earnings management in consolidated earnings increased after March 2000. These results indicate the possibility that the new consolidated reporting system and principles reduce the incentive to manage parent-only earnings and increase that to manage consolidated earnings. |
| Keywords: | Earnings management; Earnings distribution; Accounting regulation; Consolidated earnings; Parent-only earnings |
| Date: | 2005–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:224&r=lab |
| By: | Florence Jusot (IRDES institut for research and information in health economics); Jérôme Silva (IRDES institut for research and information in health economics); Paul Dourgnon (IRDES institut for research and information in health economics); Catherine Sermet (IRDES institut for research and information in health economics) |
| Abstract: | Cet article étudie les liens existant entre nationalité, migration et état de santé à partir des données de l'Enquête décennale Santé menée en 2002-2003 en France. Les résultats montrent l'existence d'inégalités face à la santé des personnes d'origine étrangère, liées à l'existence d'un effet de sélection à la migration compensé à long terme par un effet délétère de la migration, expliqué en partie seulement par la situation sociale difficile des immigrés. Cette analyse suggère également un effet non négligeable à long terme des caractéristiques économiques et sanitaires du pays de naissance, propre à expliquer les disparités d'état de santé observées au sein de la population immigrée. |
| Keywords: | santé, nationalité, immigrés, situation économique |
| JEL: | I12 J15 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irh:wpaper:dt14&r=lab |
| By: | Steven N. Kaplan; Mark M. Klebanov; Morten Sorensen |
| Abstract: | We study the characteristics and abilities of CEO candidates for companies involved in buyout (LBO) and venture capital (VC) transactions and relate them to hiring decisions, investment decisions, and company performance. Candidates are assessed on more than thirty individual abilities. The abilities are highly correlated; a factor analysis suggests there are two primary factors with intuitive characterizations – one for general ability and one that contrasts team-related, interpersonal skills with execution skills. Both LBO and VC firms are more likely to hire and invest in CEOs with greater general abilities, both execution- and team-related. Success, however, is more strongly related to execution skills than to team-related skills. Success is, at best, only marginally related to incumbency, holding observable talent and ability constant. |
| JEL: | D21 D23 G24 G3 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14195&r=lab |
| By: | Arie Kapteyn; James P. Smith; Arthur van Soest |
| Abstract: | Recent economic research on international comparisons of subjective well-being suffers from several important biases due to the potential incomparability of response scales within and across countries. In this paper the authors concentrate on self-reported satisfaction with income in two countries--The Netherlands and the U.S. The comparability problem is addressed by using anchoring vignettes. They find that in the raw data, Americans appear decidedly less satisfied with their income than the Dutch. It turns out however that after response scale adjustment based on vignettes the distribution of satisfaction in the two countries is essentially identical. In addition, they find that the within-country cross-sectional effect of income on satisfaction- a key parameter in the recent debate in the economic literature- is significantly under-estimated especially in the US when differences in response scales are not taken into account. |
| Keywords: | happiness, life satisfaction, vignettes, reporting bias |
| JEL: | I30 J30 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:591&r=lab |
| By: | Andreas Ortmann; Sergey Slobodyan |
| Abstract: | We propose a computational model to study (the evolution of) post-secondary education. “Consumers” who differ in quality shop around for desirable colleges or universities. “Firms” that differ in quality signal the availability of their services to desirable students. As long as they have capacity, colleges and universities make offers to students, who apply and qualify. Our model generalizes an earlier literature (namely, Vriend 1995) in an important dimension: quality, the model confirms key predictions of an analytical model that we also supply, and the model allows us to systematically explore the emergence of macro regularities and the consequences of various strategies that sellers might try. We supply three such exercises. In our baseline treatment we establish the dynamics and asymptotics of our generalized matching model. In the second treatment we study the consequences of opportunistic behavior of firms and thus demonstrate the usefulness of our computational laboratory for the analysis of this or similar questions (e.g., the problem of early admission). In the third treatment we equip some firms with economies of scale. This variant of our matching model is motivated by the entry of for-profit providers into low-quality segments of post-secondary education in the USA and by empirical evidence that, while traditional nonprofit or state-supported providers of higher education do not have significant economies of scale, the new breed of for-profit providers seems to capture economies in core functions such as curricular design, advertising, informational infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. Our computational results suggest that this new breed of providers is likely to continue to move up the quality ladder, albeit not necessarily all the way up to the top. |
| Keywords: | Post-secondary education, for-profit higher education providers, computational simulations. |
| JEL: | C63 D21 D83 I21 L15 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp355&r=lab |
| By: | Joseph J. Doyle, Jr.; Steven M. Ewer; Todd H. Wagner |
| Abstract: | Patient sorting can confound estimates of the returns to physician human capital. This paper compares nearly 30,000 patients who were randomly assigned to clinical teams from one of two academic institutions. One institution is among the top medical schools in the country, while the other institution is ranked lower in the quality distribution. Patients treated by the two teams have identical observable characteristics and have access to a single set of facilities and ancillary staff. Those treated by physicians from the higher-ranked institution have 10-25% shorter and less expensive stays than patients assigned to the lower-ranked institution. Health outcomes are not related to the physician team assignment, and the estimates are precise. Procedure differences across the teams are consistent with the ability of physicians in the lower-ranked institution to substitute time and diagnostic tests for the faster judgments of physicians from the top-ranked institution. |
| JEL: | I12 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14174&r=lab |
| By: | Zaiceva, Anzelika (IZA); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University) |
| Abstract: | While global migration is increasing, internal EU migration flows have remained low. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the determinants and scale of European migration. It surveys previous historical experiences and empirical findings including the recent Eastern enlargements. The determinants of migration before and after the 2004 enlargement and in the EU15 and EU10 countries are analysed using individual data on migration intentions. In addition, perceptions about the size of migration after the enlargement are studied. The potential emigrant from both old and new EU member states tends to be young, better educated and to live in larger cities. People from the EU10 with children are less likely to move after enlargement in comparison to those without family. There exists a correlation between individual perceptions about the scale of migration and actual flows. Better educated and left-oriented individuals in the EU15 are less likely to perceive these flows as important. |
| Keywords: | migration, EU Eastern enlargement, migration intentions, determinants of labour migration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3595&r=lab |
| By: | Konstantin Korotov (ESMT European School of Management and Technology); Svetlana Khapova (VU University, Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the role of disruptive or upsetting events in people’s professional lives and explore how they influence individuals’ investments in their careers. Based on previous research we have assumed that due to considerable societal and economic changes in Russia and the reported negative consequences felt by many individuals, the context of that country is a fruitful arena for an investigation of the role of upsetting events on individuals’ careers. At the same time, despite the negative events and a disruption of many traditional career-supporting structures, a significant number of Russians managed to reinvent their careers and achieve tremendous objective and subjective success in their careers in a relatively short time period. This paper examines stories about career investments of 140 successful entrepreneurs from Russia. A significant portion of these people explicitly reported influence of upsetting events on their own career investments. Based on the exploration of career stories, the paper introduced a typology of the upsetting events in the Russian context. The events were generally classified into those that represented “macro” and “micro” upsetting events. Macro events refer to changes in socio-economic, and political systems. Micro events refer to the events that only concern the individual him- or herself, or may include events at work or at home. Our analysis of the career investments of the Russian entrepreneurs using the intelligent career concept shows that when faced with the upsetting events individuals tend to (a) reconsider their existing events, (b) divest from their old ways of knowing, and (c) invest in relatively new ways of knowing. Our study calls a particular attention to the role of career divestments, or discontinuing certain ways of investing in order free resources for a different investment expected to be more fruitful in terms or returns. Attention to divestment may be warranted due to the increased unpredictability of working lives of today’s career actors. This study contributes to responding to a call for a better understanding of the role of upsetting events on people’s careers and the society at large. We also bring further our understanding of human adjustment to the sometimes upsetting changes in their surroundings through working life, thus enhancing our understanding of the role of careers in socio-economic systems. Last but not least, the study also contributes to a better understanding of careers in modern Russia. With the increasing role of Russia on the international political and economic arena, understanding people through looking at their working lives is a good start for multiple potential research endeavors in the fields of career research and beyond. |
| Keywords: | Careers, intelligent career investments, career divestment, upsetting events, Russia |
| Date: | 2008–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esm:wpaper:esmt-08-001&r=lab |
| By: | Kaarboe, Oddvar Martin; Siciliani, Luigi |
| Abstract: | We present a model of optimal contracting between a purchaser and a provider of health services when quality has two dimensions. We assume that one dimension of quality is verifiable (dimension 1) and one dimension is not verifiable (dimension 2). We show that the power of the incentive scheme for the verifiable dimension depends critically on the extent to which quality 1 increases or decreases the provider's marginal disutility and the patients' marginal benefit from quality 2 (i.e. substitutability or complementarity). Our main result is that under some circumstances a high-powered incentive scheme can be optimal even when the two quality dimensions are substitutes. |
| Keywords: | altruism; pay for performance; quality |
| JEL: | D82 I11 I18 L51 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6911&r=lab |
| By: | Jean-Pierre Danthine (Swiss Finance Institute, University of Lausanne and CEPR); John B. Donaldson (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | We reexamine the issue of executive compensation within a gen- eral equilibrium production context. Intertemporal optimality places strong restrictions on the form of a representative manager's compen- sation contract, restrictions that appear to be incompatible with the fact that the bulk of many high-proffile managers' compensation is in the form of various options and option-like rewards. We therefore measure the extent to which a convex contract alone can induce the manager to adopt near-optimal investment and hiring decisions. To ask this question is essentially to ask if such contracts can effectively align the stochastic discount factor of the manager with that of the shareholder-workers. We detail exact circumstances under which this alignment is possible and when it is not. |
| Keywords: | corporate governance, optimal contracting, business cycles |
| JEL: | E32 E44 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp0813&r=lab |
| By: | Müller, Kathrin |
| Abstract: | For academic spin-offs I analyze the length of time between the founder's leaving of academia and the establishment of his firm. Technology transfer can take place even years after leaving the mother institution. A duration analysis reveals that a longer time-lag is caused by the necessity of assembling complementary skills, either by acquisition by a single founder or by searching for suitable team members. Furthermore, new ventures are established earlier if the intensity of technology transfer is high, the founders have access to university infrastructure, or received informal support by former colleagues. |
| Keywords: | academic spin-offs, technology transfer, skill complementarities |
| JEL: | C41 J24 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:7306&r=lab |