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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Christian Dustmann; Nikolaos Theodoropoulos |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates educational attainment and economic behaviour of ethnic minority immigrants and their children in Britain. Despite their strong educational achievements, ethnic minority immigrants and their descendants exhibit lower employment probabilities than their white native born peers. Although unconditional wages of British born ethnic minorities appear to be slightly higher than those of their white native born peers, their wages would be considerably lower if they had the same characteristics and regional allocation. Differences in wage offer distributions hardly account for the employment differences of British born ethnic minorities. Further, British born ethnic minorities have lower employment propensities for the same wages than native born whites. We examine possible explanations for these gaps. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic Minorities/Immigrants, Education, Employment, Wages |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:7-2008&r=lab |
| By: | Bhandari, Amit Kumar (Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management) |
| Abstract: | Trade unionism is a legislative system of organizing workers and raising voices for economic and social goods. As the process of global integration deepens the labour market become more flexible and fragmented, rendering collective organization more and more difficult. In this backdrop, the paper attempted to analyse the impact of union membership on wages in the organised manufacturing industries in India. The study uses a recent survey data on labour market in the organised manufacturing industries. The estimated wage premiums for union membership for permanent and contract workers are 56.7 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively. Decomposing this wage gap indicates that union membership contributes majority of the wage differentials, indicating that unions able to reserve higher premium for their members. In general, it refutes the problem of free riding the benefits in the organized manufacturing industries in India. |
| Keywords: | trade unions, wage differentials, manufacturing |
| JEL: | J51 J31 L60 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3747&r=lab |
| By: | LourdesBadillo Amador; Angel López Nicolás; Luis E. Vila |
| Abstract: | The effects of job-worker mismatches on job satisfaction are examined using the eight waves (1994-2001) of Spanish data taken from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The impacts of both educational and skill mismatches are estimated considering unobserved heterogeneity, state dependence and attrition bias. Dynamic analysis shows that skill mismatches emerge as a much better predictor of job satisfaction than educational mismatches as the effects of the latter are related to unobserved heterogeneity among workers. Moreover, the current level of job satisfaction appears to be influenced by workers' previous job perceptions, suggesting a dynamic structure for job satisfaction. |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2008-32&r=lab |
| By: | Sebastian Calonico Author-X-Name_First: Sebastian Author-X-Name_Last: Calonico; Hugo Ñopo Author-X-Name_First: Hugo Author-X-Name_Last: Ñopo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the evolution of gender segregation in the workplace in Mexico between 1994 and 2004, using a matching comparisons technique to explore the role of individual and family characteristics in determining gender segregation and wage gaps. The results suggest that the complete elimination of hierarchical segregation would reduce the observed gender wage gaps by 5 percentage points, while the elimination of occupational segregation would have increased gender wage gaps by approximately 6 percentage points. The results also indicate that the role of occupational segregation in wage gaps has been increasing in magnitude during the period of analysis, while the role ofhierarchical segregation in the determination of wage gaps has been decreasing. |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4579&r=lab |
| By: | Böckerman, Petri; Ilmakunnas, Pekka; Jokisaari, Markku; Vuori, Jukka |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the antecedents of intentions to quit, job search, and actual job switches during a five-year follow-up period. We use a representative random sample of all Finnish employees (N = 2800). The data both contain information on intentions to quit and on-the-job search from a cross-section survey and records employees’ actual job switches from longitudinal register data that can be linked to the survey. Specifically, we study the contribution of adverse working conditions (harms, hazards, uncertainty, physically and mentally heavy work), work organization (promotion prospects, discrimination, supervisor support) and ease-of-movement factors (mental health, wage level, regional unemployment). According to the estimates, adverse working conditions, poor promotions prospects, discrimination, poor supervisor support and mental health symptoms are positively related to unwillingly staying in a job, since these variables increase the probability of turnover intentions or job search but not actual job switches. |
| Keywords: | Quit intentions; job search; job separation |
| JEL: | J62 J63 J00 |
| Date: | 2008–10–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11066&r=lab |
| By: | César Alonso-Borrego; Antonio Romero-Medina |
| Abstract: | We explore evidence on the perceived economic value of higher education to college students in terms of their reported expected and shadow wages. Our estimates provide predictions for expected wages that are similar across gender and become closer to actual wages as students approach graduation. This is consistent with an improvement in the quality of student information used to forecast wages. Shadow wages relative to expected wages increase during the academic year for men and are constant for women, which is consistent with the higher reluctance of women to drop out of university. Finally, students with lower socioeconomic background and poor performance exhibit a higher propensity to drop out. |
| Keywords: | university education, subjective valuation, wage expectations, shadow wages, ordered response |
| JEL: | I23 J24 J31 C24 C25 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we084823&r=lab |
| By: | Thomsen, Stephan L. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the determinants of employability dierences between short-term and long-term unemployed persons. Knowing these differences could help to address active labor market policy programs more adequately to the needs of the job-seekers in order to increase employment integration. Based on merged survey and register data differences in job finding chances of these groups are decomposed into a part due to differences in attributes and a part due to differences in valuing the attributes. The estimates clarify that current active labor market programs do not address important factors of employment. Particularly, health of the job seekers, limitations in the working ability and obstacles to employment comprising substance abuse, financial debts or care obligations for children or frail elderly play a significant role for successful placement. The conclusion is that policy makers should integrate these aspects in the placement process. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, employability, active labor market policy, decomposition, Germany |
| JEL: | C50 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:7385&r=lab |
| By: | H Gravelle; A Risa Hole |
| Abstract: | In 2004 the income of female GPs was 70%, and their wages (income per hour) were 91%, of those of male GPs. We compare estimates of gender discrimination from Oaxaca decompositions using models of wages (income/hours), OLS and 2SLS models of income, and propensity score matching. We propose a new direct test for within workplace gender discrimination based on a comparison of the differences in income of female and male GPs in practices in which all GPs are of the same gender with the differences in male and female income in mixed gender practices. We find that the coefficients on log hours in the log income models are positive but significantly less than 1, so that log wage models are misspecified. Discrimination, as measured by the unexplained difference in mean log income varied between 21% to 28%. However, our direct tests could not reject the null hypothesis of no within workplace gender discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Gender discrimination. Professions. Family doctors. Propensity score matching. |
| JEL: | J16 J44 J71 I11 |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:08/27&r=lab |
| By: | Pedro S. Martins (Queen Mary, University of London); Luiz A. Esteves (Universidade Federal do Paraná and Università di Siena) |
| Abstract: | How much do developing countries benefit from foreign investment? We contribute to this question by comparing the employment and wage practices of foreign and domestic firms in Brazil, using detailed matched firm-worker panel data. In order to control for unobserved worker differences, we examine both foreign acquisitions and divestments and worker mobility, including the joint estimation of firm and worker fixed effects. We find that changes in ownership do not tend to affect wages significantly, a result that holds both at the worker- and firm-levels. However, divestments are related to large job cuts, unlike acquisitions. On the other hand, movers from foreign to domestic firms take larger wage cuts than movers from domestic to foreign firms. Moreover, on average, the fixed effects of foreign firms are considerably larger than those of domestic firms, while worker selection effects are relatively small. |
| Keywords: | foreign direct investment; ownership changes; worker mobility |
| JEL: | J31 J63 F23 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fup:wpaper:0076&r=lab |
| By: | Matthias Kräkel |
| Abstract: | Several empirical studies have challenged tournament theory by pointing out that (1) there is considerable pay variation within hierarchy levels, (2) promotion premiums only in part explain hierarchical wage differences and (3) external recruitment is observable on nearly any hierarchy level. We explain these empirical puzzles by combining job-promotion tournaments with higher-level bonus payments in a two-tier hierarchy. Moreover, we show that under certain conditions the firm implements first-best effort on tier 2 although workers earn strictly positive rents. The reason is that the firm can use second-tier rents for creating incentives on tier 1. If workers are heterogeneous, the firm strictly improves the selection quality of a job-promotion tournament by employing a hybrid incentive scheme that includes bonus payments. |
| Keywords: | bonuses; external recruitment; job promotion; limited liability; tournaments |
| JEL: | D82 D86 J33 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:bonedp:bgse16_2008&r=lab |
| By: | Hugo Ñopo Author-X-Name_First: Hugo Author-X-Name_Last: Ñopo; Alberto Gonzales Author-X-Name_First: Alberto Author-X-Name_Last: Gonzales |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes gender and ethnic wage gaps in Guatemala for the period 2000-2006, applying a matching comparisons technique, finding pronounced wage gaps along both gender and ethnic dimensions, the latter being greater. Wage gaps in Guatemala are partially explained by differences in human capital characteristics, especially education, between indigenous and non-indigenous and males and females, which calls for equalization of educational opportunities for the population. However, wage gaps are greater than differences in education would predict, which suggests the need for interventions: information campaigns to generate consciousness regarding the need to provide more equal opportunities in labor markets according to each individual’s productivity. |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4587&r=lab |
| By: | Peter Dürsch (University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics); Jörg Oechssler (University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics); Radovan Vadovic (ITAM, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Sick pay is a common provision in most labor contracts. This paper employs an experimental gift-exchange environment to explore two related questions using both managers and undergraduates as subjects. First, do workers reciprocate sick pay in the same way as they reciprocate wage payments? Second, do firms benefit from offering sick pay? Firms may benefit in two different ways: directly, from workers reciprocating higher sick pay with higher efforts; and indirectly, from self-selection of reciprocal workers into contracts with higher sick pay. Our main finding is that the direct effect is rather weak in terms of effort and negative in terms of profits. However, when there is competition among firms for workers, sick pay can become an important advantage. Consequently, competition leads to a higher provision of sick pay relative to a monopsonistic labor market. |
| Keywords: | sick pay, sick leave, experiment, gift exchange |
| JEL: | C72 C91 C92 D43 L13 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0476&r=lab |
| By: | Prakash, Nishith |
| Abstract: | The world's biggest and arguably most aggressive form of employment based affirmative action policy for minorities exists in India. This paper exploits the institutional features of Indian mandated employment quota policy to examine its effect on minorities' [scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs)] labor market outcomes. My best estimate of the effect of 1- percent increase in employment quota for SCs increases their probability of finding a salaried job by 0.9- percentage points. This effect varies by gender and location. The less educated SCs experienced increase in their consumption expenditure. I do not find similar effects for the STs. |
| Keywords: | Caste; Employment; Wage dierentials; Public Sector; India. |
| JEL: | J21 D00 |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11010&r=lab |
| By: | Stephan Klasen (Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen / Germany); Francesca Lamanna |
| Abstract: | Using cross-country and panel regressions, we investigate to what extent gender gaps in education and employment (proxied using gender gaps in labor force participation) reduce economic growth. Using most recent data and investigating a long time period (1960-2000), we update the results of previous studies on education gaps on growth and extend the analysis to employment gaps using panel data. We find that gender gaps in education and employment significantly reduce economic growth. The combined ‘costs’ of education and employment gaps in Middle East and North Africa and South Asia amount respectively to 0.9-1.7 and 0.1- 1.6 percentage point differences in growth compared to East Asia. Gender gaps in employment appear to have an increasing effect on economic growth differences between regions, with the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia suffering from slower growth in female employment. |
| Keywords: | gender inequality, growth, education, employment, discrimination |
| JEL: | J7 J16 O4 |
| Date: | 2008–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:iaidps:175&r=lab |
| By: | Julie Beugnot |
| Abstract: | We introduce the heterogeneity of labor in a simple imperfectly com- petitive aggregate labor market model "à la Manning (1990)" in order to analyze the effects of an exogenous rise of the legal minimum wage on the unemployment equilibrium, the wage dispersion and the general price level. We assume also the presence of "knowledge spillovers" in the in- dividual production function leading to increasing returns to scale at the aggregate level and involving the possibility of multiple equilibria. Then, thanks to a comparative statics exercise, we show that a rise in the legal minimum wage has no impact on the unemployment equilibria, increases the general price level proportionally to the share of low-skilled employ- ment in the total employment and reduces the wage dispersion. These results are broadly consistent with the Card Krueger's empirical findings (1995). |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lam:wpaper:08-16&r=lab |
| By: | Bodvarsson, Örn B. (St. Cloud State University); Sessions, John G. (University of Bath) |
| Abstract: | The traditional model of taste discrimination in labor markets presumes perfect substitution, making it unsuitable for the measurement of discrimination across job assignments. We extend the model to explain cross-assignment discrimination and test it on data from Major League Baseball. A competitive firm with a Generalized Leontief production function fills each job assignment with whites and nonwhites in an environment of customer prejudice. According to the model, cross-assignment discrimination depends upon racial productivity differences, the productivity x prejudice interaction, technology, relative labor supply and racial integration. We find strong evidence of ceteris paribus racial salary differences between hitters and pitchers. |
| Keywords: | wages, discrimination, imperfect substitutability, integration |
| JEL: | J7 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3748&r=lab |
| By: | David Bravo Author-X-Name_First: David Author-X-Name_Last: Bravo; Claudia Sanhueza Author-X-Name_First: Claudia Author-X-Name_Last: Sanhueza; Sergio Urzua Author-X-Name_First: Sergio Author-X-Name_Last: Urzua |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes gender differences in the Chilean labor market, formally addressing the selection of individuals into schooling levels and its impact on gender gaps. The paper utilizes a new and rich data set containing information on labor market outcomes, schooling attainment and schooling performance, as well as variables characterizing individuals’ family background. Although the results show statistically significant gender differences in several dimensions of the Chilean labor market, these gaps depend largely on individuals’ level of schooling. Nonetheless, these findings should not be taken as decisive evidence of discrimination in the Chilean labor market, as future research based on better information might explain some of the unexplained labor market gaps. |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3258&r=lab |
| By: | Luiz A. Esteves (Universidade Federal do Paraná and Università di Siena) |
| Abstract: | The economic theory proposes two hypotheses for the relationship between wages and risk of job loss due to rm (or plant) closure. The rst hypothesis posits that workers at greater risk should be compensated by higher wages. This is known as the theory of compensating wage diferentials. The second hypothesis states that workers at rms with a greater risk of closure would be willing to exchange higher wages for longer-term stability in the job. This is known as the theory of bargaining concessions. There is a paucity of empirical studies on this issue, and the results have been inconsistent. The aim of this paper is to provide evidence for the Brazilian manufacturing industry. To accomplish that, diferent risk measures, diferent databases, and dierent econometric methods are used. All the tests performed in this study conrm the theory of compensating wage diferentials. |
| Keywords: | exit; bankruptcy; severance payments; insolvency; wage determination |
| JEL: | C31 C33 J30 G10 G33 L25 L60 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fup:wpaper:0074&r=lab |
| By: | Spyros Arvanitis (KOF, Swiss Economic Institute) |
| Abstract: | In this study we investigated the determinants (a) of the propensity of Swiss firms to train apprentices and (b) of the intensity of apprentice training as measured by the employment share of apprentices. Innovation, firm age and competition conditions on the product market are possible determining factors that are especially emphasized in this investigation. In a further step, we analyzed the impact of apprentice training on labour productivity when apprentice training is considered as an additional production factor in the framework of a production function. We found that the skill composition of the employment, innovation activities, firm age, labour costs, capital intensity, and competitive pressures all play a positive or negative role, even if not at the same extent, in determining the propensity and/or intensity of apprentice training. A further finding was that training propensity and/or training intensity correlate negatively with labour productivity. |
| Keywords: | start-ups, training, innovation, firm age |
| JEL: | J24 O30 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0036&r=lab |
| By: | Wang-Sheng Lee (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Sandy Suardi (Department of Economics and Finance, La Trobe University) |
| Abstract: | The time-series approach used in the minimum wage literature essentially aims to estimate a treatment effect of increasing the minimum wage. In this paper, we employ a novel approach based on aggregate time-series data that allows us to determine if minimum wage changes have significant effects on employment. This involves the use of tests for structural breaks as a device for identifying discontinuities in the data which potentially represent treatment effects. In an application based on Australian data, the tentative conclusion is that the introduction of minimum wage legislation in Australia in 1997 and subsequent minimum wage increases appear not to have had any significant negative employment effects for teenagers. |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2008n20&r=lab |
| By: | Morawski, Leszek (Warsaw University); Myck, Michal (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | In 2007 and 2008 Polish governments introduced a series of reforms which led to a substantial reduction in the tax "wedge" (in Polish: "klin") on labour. We show that when considered together the package of introduced reforms brought much greater reductions in the tax burden compared to a widely discussed 15% "flat tax". In the analysis we show the effects of the reforms both for the employed and for the non-employed populations. The latter analysis is done in such a way as to account for the entire (simulated) distribution of wages of the non-employed and shows interesting differences between the effects of reforms on employed and non-employed individuals. We argue that to fully appreciate the effect of reductions in labour taxation it is important to bear in mind that one of the reasons for introducing them is to make employment more likely for those who currently do not work. Given the extent of the reductions in the "klin" it is somewhat surprising that so far so little attention has been given to the recent Polish reforms. |
| Keywords: | work incentives, tax wedge, labour costs, employment |
| JEL: | H24 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3746&r=lab |
| By: | Hellerstein, Judith K. (University of Maryland); McInerney, Melissa (College of William and Mary); Neumark, David (University of California, Irvine) |
| 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. |
| Keywords: | networks, race, ethnicity, immigrants |
| JEL: | J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3750&r=lab |
| By: | Eugene Choo; Shannon Seitz; Aloysius Siow |
| Abstract: | We develop and estimate an empirical collective model with endogenous marriage formation, participation, and family labor supply. Intra-household transfers arise endogenously as the transfers that clear the marriage market. The intra-household allocation can be recovered from observations on marriage decisions. Introducing the marriage market in the collective model allows us to independently estimate transfers from labor supplies and from marriage decisions. We estimate a semi-parametric version of our model using 2000 US Census data. Estimates of the model using marriage data are much more consistent with the theoretical predictions than estimates derived from labor supply. |
| Keywords: | collective model, marriage matching, intrahousehold allocations |
| JEL: | J1 J2 |
| Date: | 2008–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-340&r=lab |
| By: | de Mel, Suresh (University of Peradeniya); McKenzie, David (World Bank); Woodruff, Christopher (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: | In a recent randomized experiment we found mean returns to capital of between 5 and 6 percent per month in Sri Lankan microenterprises, much higher than market interest rates. But returns were found to be much higher among men than among women, and indeed were not different from zero for women. In this paper, we explore different explanations for the lower returns among female owners. We find no evidence that the gender gap is explained by differences in ability, risk aversion, or entrepreneurial attitudes. Nor do we find that differential access to unpaid family labor or social constraints limiting sales to local areas are important. We do find evidence that women invested the grants differently from men. A smaller share of the smaller grants remained in the female-owned enterprises, and men were more likely to spend the grant on working capital and women on equipment. We also find that the gender gap is largest when we compare male-dominated sectors to female-dominated sectors, although female returns are lower than male returns even for females working in the same industries as men. We then examine the heterogeneity of returns to determine whether any group of businesses owned by women benefit from easing capital constraints. The results suggest there is a large group of high-return male owners and smaller group of poor, high-ability, female owners who might benefit from more access to capital. |
| Keywords: | microenterprises, gender, microfinance, randomized experiment |
| JEL: | O12 O16 C93 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3743&r=lab |
| By: | Spyros Arvanitis (KOF, Swiss Economic Institute); Tobias Stucki (KOF, Swiss Economic Institute) |
| Abstract: | This study is based on data of a cohort of Swiss firms that were founded in 1996/97. In the year 2000 data were collected by means of a postal survey among those firms, which still existed by that time. In 2003 and 2006 two further surveys were conducted among the participants of the respective last study. In this study we analyzed, firstly, the determinants of the propensity to train apprentices of new firms and how they change with increasing firm age. Secondly, we investigated how a firm’s training propensity correlated with its labour productivity. To this end, we specified an equation for training propensity and an equation for labour productivity, which included as an additional production factor the endogenized propensity to train apprentices. |
| Keywords: | start-ups, training, innovation, firm age |
| JEL: | J24 O30 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0035&r=lab |
| By: | Sivakumar, Marimuthu |
| Abstract: | Gender is a common term where as gender discrimination is meant only for women, because females are the only victims of gender discrimination. Females are nearly 50 percent of the total population but their representation in public life is very low. Recognizing women's right and believing their ability are essential for women's empowerment and development. This paper deals with gender discrimination in India, its various forms and causes. Importance of women in devleopment, legislation for women and solution for gender discrimination are also discussed in this paper. |
| Keywords: | gender discrimination; women's development; legislation for women; education; employment; economic independece; empowerment; decision making and self confidence |
| JEL: | A13 A14 |
| Date: | 2008–09–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10901&r=lab |
| By: | Ghazala Azmat; Libertad González Luna |
| Abstract: | Low female labor force participation and low fertility rates in OECD countries, especially in Southern European countries, have raised a great deal of concern in recent years. As a means to reconcile work and family, Spain (one of the countries with the lowest female participation and lowest fertility) tried to target both issues through an income tax reform in 2003. One component of the tax reform consisted of a tax credit for working mothers of young children and the other consisted of sizeable increases in households’ tax deductions per child. We find that the reforms increased both fertility and participation, and that these effects were very heterogeneous across different groups of women. Fertility is estimated to have increased by between 5 and 6 births per 1,000 women (where the average fertility is 37 per 1,000), while the participation rate of mothers with children under the age of 3 years increased by about 1.6 percentage points (where the average participation is 52 percent). Both effects were stronger among lower-educated women. Moreover, we find that the simultaneous nature of the policy reform dampened down the participation effect, such that some “trade-off” in the policy objectives existed. |
| Keywords: | Female labor force participation, fertility, family policies |
| JEL: | J22 J13 H31 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1113&r=lab |
| By: | Pozzolo, Alberto Franco; Nucci, Francesco |
| Abstract: | Using a representative panel of manufacturing firms, we estimate the response of job and hours worked to currency swings, showing that it depends primarily on the firm's exposure to foreign sales and its reliance on imported inputs. Further, we show that, for given international orientation, the response to exchange rate fluctuations is magnified when firms exhibit a lower monopoly power and when they face foreign pressure in the domestic market through import penetration. The degree of substitutability between imported and other inputs and the distribution of workers by type introduce additional degrees of specificity in the employment sensitivity to exchange rate swings. Further, wage adjustments are also shown to provide a channel through which firms react to currency shocks. Finally, gross job flows within the firm are found to depend on exchange rate fluctuations, although the effect on job creation is predominant. |
| Keywords: | Employment, Exchange Rate, Firm's Foreign Exposure |
| JEL: | E24 F16 F31 |
| Date: | 2008–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mol:ecsdps:esdp08049&r=lab |
| By: | Tharakan, J.; Tropeano, J.P. |
| Abstract: | We propose a model where imperfect matching between firms and workers on local labor markets leads to incentives for spatial agglomeration. We show that the occurence of spatial agglomeration depends on initial size differences in terms of both number of workers and firms. Allowing for dynamics of workers' and firms' location choices, we show that the spatial outcome depends crucially on different dimensions of agents' mobility. The effect of a higher level of human capital on regional disparities depends on whether it makes workers more mobile or more specialized on the labor market. |
| JEL: | J61 J42 R12 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gbl:wpaper:200802&r=lab |
| By: | David Bravo Author-X-Name_First: David Author-X-Name_Last: Bravo; Claudia Sanhueza Author-X-Name_First: Claudia Author-X-Name_Last: Sanhueza; Sergio Urzua Author-X-Name_First: Sergio Author-X-Name_Last: Urzua |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes gender differences in three Chilean professional labor markets, Business, Law and Medicine, utilizing a new and rich data set collected for this purpose. The results show that differences in wages attributed to gender are only present in the legal profession. In Business/Economics, a vector of current family condition eliminates the gender effect and in Medicine, taking into account hours worked, size of firm and region also eliminates gender differences. The paper further shows that individuals’ perceived locus of control (internal or external) is relevant in explaining the distribution of earnings. |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3248&r=lab |
| By: | Svensson, Lars (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | The modernisation of Swedish households during the twentieth century prompted a considerable productivity growth in household production, which reduced the time input for a fixed volume of routine household work by about 35 per cent 1920-1990. Much of that time was gradually transferred to the labour market, but no evidence can be found for an increase in leisure time. What has been termed a "Cowan paradox" appears in the Swedish data: the output of household services increased significantly with productivity-enhancing technical change. This was, however, the case only in households where small children constituted an impediment to labour market entry. Increased returns to market work induced women who did not face this restriction to allocate more time to the labour market from the mid-1940s. A set of new formal and informal institutions associated with the family eventually redefined the concept of "small children" and so shifted the position of homemaker from being a more or less permanent status of some women to a clearly temporary position of most women. |
| Keywords: | Time allocation; labour supply; household technologies; family policy |
| JEL: | J22 N34 O33 |
| Date: | 2008–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2008_020&r=lab |
| By: | Antonio Filippin; Massimiliano Bratti (DEAS, University of Milan); Daniele Checchi (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, |
| Date: | 2008–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:unimip:1074&r=lab |
| By: | Carmen Pagés-Serra Author-X-Name_First: Carmen Author-X-Name_Last: Pagés-Serra; Alejandro Micco Author-X-Name_First: Alejandro Author-X-Name_Last: Micco |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the economic effects of employment protection legislation in a sample of developed and developing countries. Implementing a difference-in-differences test lessens the potentially severe endogeneity and omitted variable problems associated with cross-country regressions. This test is based on the hypothesis that employment protection regulations are more binding in sectors of activity exposed to higher volatility in demand or supply shocks. The analysis indicates that more stringent legislation slows down job turnover by a significant amount, and that this effect is more pronounced in sectors that are intrinsically more volatile. The paper also finds that employment and value added decline in the most affected sectors, and employment and output effects are driven by a decline in the net entry of firms. In contrast, average employment per plant is not significantly affected. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4496&r=lab |
| By: | Camille Logeay (IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation); Katja Rietzler (IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation) |
| Abstract: | In this article an overview of the German macroeconomic performance in the last decade is stressed; extraordinary recovery of the German productivity and successes of the foreign trade face depressed domestic demand and a still worrying situation in the labour market. This article attempts to analyse the causes and consequences of these contradictory developments. Labour markets reforms in particular are focussed on in these lines. A macroeconomic evaluation of their impact on employment and wage developments is done and concludes that structural reforms cannot for themselves create more employment, they only can give a greater latitude for economic policy to boost demand without leaving the sustainable framework. |
| Keywords: | Germany, business cycle, unemployment, employment, Europe |
| JEL: | E12 E50 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:wpaper:02-2008&r=lab |
| By: | Jason Aimone (Interdsciplinary Center for Economic Science, George Mason University) |
| Abstract: | Economists have begun to embrace the notion, already accepted by the market, that GEDs and High School Diplomas signal similar cognitive abilities, but different non-cognitive abilities. To better understand this phenomenon and its implications, this paper presents a study of an education environment, prison, which provides natural controls for non-cognitive abilities. The study reveals similarities in decisions between the two types of agents that are surprising in light of decisions made in standard educational environments. The results support the mixed-signal theory and furthermore suggest that stricter enforcement of discipline and other non-cognitive attributes may help to reduce dropout rates in non-prison educational facilities. |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gms:wpaper:1006&r=lab |
| By: | Mary E. Graham; Julie L. Hotchkiss |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a novel approach that has the potential to hasten the eradication of gender disparities in employment. This approach relies upon the concept of statistical process control (SPC) to more systematically remedy disparate employment outcomes for women. SPC also serves as a new vehicle for conceptualizing the influence of industry on equal employment opportunity (EEO) outcomes. Using data from U.S. Current Population Surveys, we compare industries on EEO performance as assessed by a recently developed Systemic Gender Disparity Scorecard. The theory and practice of SPC suggest that further improvement, and by far the greater opportunity for gender-related EEO progress, necessitates fundamental changes in each industry's practices and norms that serve as barriers to gender parity. We recommend more resources to support collaboration between employers and EEO enforcement agencies. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:2008-24&r=lab |
| By: | Martinez Perez, Jorge Eduardo; Mendez Martinez, Ildefonso |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes what can be learned about the value of a statistical life (VSL) using the hedonic wage model. The time series variation of cross sectional estimates, along with the endogeneity of risk choices and the absence of adequate instruments recommends moving to panel data analysis. These estimates show that the evidence of a positive and significant VSL stems from people changing jobs possibly endogenously. Once again the absence of valid instruments recommends an alternative strategy and we move to identify bounds on the VSL. Controlling for measurement error and individual heterogeneity yields a range for the estimated VSL of 2.8-8.3 million euros. The former number is the lowest-low VSL that the spanish public administration should use in the evaluation of public policies. |
| Keywords: | value of statistical life; hedonic wage model; endogeneity; panel data models |
| JEL: | J31 J28 J17 D61 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11165&r=lab |
| By: | Peter Flaschel (Bielefeld University, Germany); Reiner Franke (Kiel University, Germany); Christian Proano (IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that an analytical determinacy analysis of the baseline New Keynesian model with both staggered wages and prices developed by Erceg, Henderson and Levin (2000) is possible despite the high dimensional nature of this model. It is possible if the formulation of the model is translated from discrete to continuous time. Our findings corroborates in an analytical manner Galí's (2008) numerical findings regarding the determinacy frontier and the Taylor principle for this model type, where a generalized Taylor rule that employs a weighted combination of wage and price inflation is used as a measure for the inflation gap. |
| Keywords: | Period models, continuous time, (in)determinacy. |
| JEL: | E24 E31 E32 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:wpaper:11-2008&r=lab |
| By: | Adelman, Sarah W.; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Lehrer, Kim |
| Abstract: | "The economic motivations for investing in the education and nutritional status of primary-school-aged children are well established. Moreover, investments in both of these forms of human capital are likely to benefit from substantial complementarities. However, in developing countries, poor and creditconstrained households routinely invest less in education and nutrition than is privately or socially optimal. Food for education (FFE) programs, including meals served in school and take-home rations conditional on school attendance, attempt to improve these investments by subsidizing the cost of school participation through providing food that could improve nutrition and learning. This study examines the economic motivation for the use of FFE programs to increase investments in education and nutrition. The study then presents a critical review of the empirical evidence of the impact of FFE programs on education and nutrition outcomes for primary-school-aged children in developing countries. The main contribution of this study is to judge and summarize the strength of the evidence based on the extent to which existing studies have identified a causal effect of an FFE program, as opposed to finding an association between the program and key outcomes that may have been affected by other contextual factors. The economic rationale for FFE programs is to offer free food conditional on school attendance to increase the net benefits of schooling enough to change some households' decisions about their children's school participation. Although schoolaged children are past the critical window of opportunity during early childhood for the greatest gains from good nutrition, increasing food and nutrient consumption among school-aged children with low baseline food energy or micronutrient intake can improve weight, reduce susceptibility to infection, and increase cognitive function in the short run. Because school meals are usually fortified, a child's micronutrient intake can improve even if her total calorie consumption does not. These xi short-run gains may improve a child's educational attainment and academic achievement, which can improve future welfare. For logistical and political reasons, school meal programs are commonly provided to all children in a targeted school. This practice raises the cost of achieving program objectives, such as increased attendance rates, because it provides transfers to many children who would have attended school anyway. Take-home rations programs are less subject to this criticism, because they are more easily targeted to groups, such as poor or female children, who are in greater need or who may be more likely to change their human capital investment decisions as a result of the program. Even when provided at school, food transfers can be diverted to other household members by taking food away from the beneficiary child at other meals. This practice could diminish the size of the transfer received by the beneficiary child, resulting in only a small net gain in the child's daily consumption. However, empirical evidence suggests that a substantial share of the food provided through in-school meal programs is not redistributed away from the beneficiary child. The critical review examines the empirical literature on the impacts of FFE programs on education and nutrition outcomes. The education outcomes considered include school participation measured by enrollment and attendance, age at entry, drop-out status, learning achievement, and cognitive development. The nutrition outcomes reviewed include food energy consumption, anthropometry, and micronutrient status. The review focuses on the empirical literature with the strongest methodology for identifying causal impacts. This literature includes experimental studies, such as randomized controlled trials; experimental field trials; studies using quasi-experimental methods, such as natural or administrative experiments; and nonexperimental studies using careful evaluation designs. Although the literature on the impacts of FFE programs is vast, high-quality studies with evaluation designs that provide causal impact estimates are relatively few. The nutrition literature offers many more experimental studies on nutrition outcomes than is yet available in the economics literature on education outcomes, yet many of the nutrition studies are controlled trials in which many components of the intervention typically affected by behavior, such as amount of food available at a meal, are closely managed. The external validity of these studies for programs implemented in the field is often difficult to ascertain. The number of experimental field studies for any outcome is few, but growing. From the existing literature, it is possible to draw conclusions about the likely impact of FFE programs on some outcomes, whereas for other outcomes, the literature is inconclusive. The empirical evidence suggests that in-school feeding has a positive impact on school participation in areas where initial indicators of school participation are low. In-school meal programs have been shown to have small impacts on school xii summary attendance rates for children already enrolled in school. However, there is no causal evidence for an impact on net primary-school attendance rates for all school-aged children in the service area of a school because of limitations in study design. The only study we found with attendance data for a representative sample of primaryschool– aged children, including those enrolled in school at baseline and those not enrolled, found a strong association between participation in a school meal program and school attendance, but estimated impacts cannot be reliably attributed to causal effects of the program. For similar reasons, there is also scant evidence on the effects of school meals on primary-school enrollment rates. Two empirical studies find that school meal programs cause a significant increase in learning achievement, as measured by improvements in test scores. However, in each study, scores were significantly higher for school meal recipients on only one of three tests taken. The impact of in-school meals on learning appears to operate both through improvements in school attendance and through better learning efficiency while in school, though no study has separately identified the relative contribution of these effects. FFE programs may also have an impact on cognitive development, though the size and nature of the effect vary greatly by program, micronutrient content of the food, and the measure of cognitive development used. Empirical evidence on the effects of school meals on cognitive function is mixed and depends on the tests used, the content of the meals, and the initial nutritional status of the children. Most of the studies are conducted in a laboratory setting and look at the short-term impact of feeding on cognitive function. The aspects of cognitive ability tested differ by study, making it difficult to compare results. Nonetheless, there is evidence that school meals rich in animal-source foods improved cognitive function in Kenyan children. Another study demonstrates an effect of school breakfasts on cognitive function. Given the controlled setting that formed the basis for these experiments, it would be useful now to expand the external validity of the evidence through field experiments. On other outcomes, the evidence of the impact of in-school feeding on primaryschool drop-out rates is inconclusive. We also found no study that examines the impact of school meals on age at school entry, probably because of the expense of collecting data on a representative sample of children around this age. Also, there is little conclusive evidence on the impact of take-home rations on education outcomes. For nutrition outcomes, most of the evidence comes from randomized trials in the nutrition literature. For food-energy (calorie) consumption, the evidence shows that in-school feeding programs show greater potential to improve children's total daily energy consumption when children's baseline consumption is well below their age- or weight-recommended consumption level. Differences in empirical strategy summary xiii may account for differences in findings across studies, as randomized experiments found a lower impact than did quasi-experimental studies. The diversity of program components and target populations in anthropometric studies, as well as the complexity of biological growth mechanisms, make it difficult to assess the effectiveness of FFE on anthropometric indicators. Overall, several studies showed gains in body size (for example, height, weight, body mass index) or composition (for example, mean upper-arm circumference) due to participation in FFE programs, with weight or body mass index appearing to respond most often. Improvements were typically small, though the effects of increased consumption may have been mitigated by increased activity levels in some cases. The micronutrient content of foods provided may contribute to gains in height (iron fortification) and mean upper-arm circumference (providing meat-based snacks). Deworming appears to have an interactive effect with FFE on height in one study. Turning to micronutrient status, iron fortification of FFE meals appears to improve iron status in nearly all studies reviewed. Evidence for other micronutrients is more sparse. One study found that meat-based meals improve plasma vitamin B12 concentrations but found no impact on other micronutrients. Two studies reviewed the impact of FFE on vitamin A status: one found a positive effect on plasma vitamin A status, whereas the other found no impact. Finally, one study found that iodine fortification reduced the prevalence of iodine deficiencies. The presence of malaria or other infections may impede detection of these benefits, particularly with respect to iron status. Combining the treatment with deworming can improve the effectiveness of iron supplementation, particularly in children with low baseline iron stores. Summarizing this evidence, FFE programs appear to have considerable impacts on primary-school participation, but the quality of this evidence is weak. Higher quality studies indicate some impacts on learning and cognitive development. There is evidence of effects on food consumption and micronutrient status, provided that initial consumption and nutrient deficiencies are identified and that programs are tailored to address these deficiencies. In many cases, the FFE programs appear to have little impact, because the levels of key outcome variables, such as school attendance or micronutrient status, are already high. Despite this evidence, significant research gaps remain. A surprising gap in this literature is the lack of convincing evidence of these programs' effect on school enrollment and attendance for a representative sample of school-aged children from the school's service area. There is also no conclusive empirical evidence on the impact of FFE programs on age at entry and grade repetition, and little on drop-out rates. In general, the impacts of take-home ration programs are poorly understood. Also, few studies identify the differential impacts of FFE on children by age or xiv summary gender. Finally, the impact of FFE programs on learning achievement has not been carefully analyzed by schooling inputs and class size. Perhaps the greatest omission in current research on FFE programs is the absence of well-designed cost-effectiveness studies. The policy decision on whether to undertake an FFE program or an alternative education or nutrition intervention should be based on relative differences in cost-effectiveness. However, most studies that measure program impact do not collect the additional data needed to obtain a measure of cost-effectiveness. Such studies would identify the cost from various interventions of achieving a certain percentage increase in primary-school attendance, for example. The most convincing approach would be to conduct sideby- side randomized field experiments of alternative programs. To our knowledge, only one study has done so, comparing in-school meals to programs that provide teachers with school supplies or foster parent–teacher communication. However, even these comparisons are complicated by the scarcity of programs likely to have the same kind of combined impacts on both education and nutrition outcomes. The most immediate policy implication of this review study is that more careful and systematic research is needed to find the most cost-effective combination of programs available. Without rigorous estimates of the impact of FFE programs on school participation, it is not possible to determine whether important secondary effects on learning achievement or cognitive development come primarily through school attendance or through joint effects of schooling and improved nutrition. It is these joint effects that are uniquely available through FFE programs. If the learning and cognitive benefits to school-aged children of simultaneous improvements in nutrition and schooling from FFE programs are small, cash-based programs may be more effective at increasing school participation. If there are no joint education and nutrition effects from FFE programs, it may be more cost-effective to replace these programs with specialized education and nutrition programs that are more narrowly targeted at specific objectives. More comprehensive and rigorous evaluation studies of FFE programs are needed to determine the full scope of the impacts of these programs and their relative cost-effectiveness. Our interpretation of the empirical evidence reviewed here leads to several recommendations on the design and use of FFE programs. Effects tend to be larger where schooling participation is low or where there are significant nutritional deficiencies. This fact argues for doing an assessment of school needs in target areas before starting an FFE program. Such an evaluation would improve targeting and allow FFE program components, such as the nutrient composition and quantity of food, to be tailored to local needs. Also, program administrators should be willing to consider complementary programs to improve school quality. Learning effects cannot be achieved if the instruction is of little value. Poor school quality lowers summary xv the benefits of participation and discourages attendance. Though much more evidence is needed, results from field experiments in the Philippines suggest that the cost of alternative programs to improve school quality may be only a fraction of the per child cost of an FFE program. Coordinated programs that combine FFE with improvements in school quality may be much more effective.." "Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Poverty reduction, Hunger, Food for education, School children, Education, Nutrition, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fprevi:9&r=lab |
| By: | Feri, Francesco (University of Innsbruck); Irlenbusch, Bernd (London School of Economics); Sutter, Matthias (University of Innsbruck) |
| Abstract: | The need for efficient coordination is ubiquitous in organizations and industries. The literature on the determinants of efficient coordination has focused on individual decision-making so far. In reality, however, teams often have to coordinate with other teams. We present an experiment with 825 participants, using six different coordination games, where either individuals or teams interact with each other. We find that teams coordinate much more efficiently than individuals. This finding adds one important cornerstone to the recent literature on the conditions for successful coordination. We explain the differences between individuals and teams using the experience weighted attraction learning model. |
| Keywords: | coordination games, individual decision-making, team decision-making, experience-weighted attraction learning, experiment |
| JEL: | C71 C91 C92 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3741&r=lab |
| By: | Miguel A. Malo; Fernando Munoz-Bullon |
| Abstract: | In this article, we analyze the dynamics of temporary workers’ transitions into permanent contracts for workers related to the tourism industry. For this purpose, we use an administrative retrospective dataset from Spanish Social security records. Results show that while individuals with a weaker attachment to the tourism industry achieve open-ended contracts sooner than in most other industries, on the contrary, it takes more time to those with a greater attachment to the tourism industry to exit from the temporary status. In addition, we find that for workers substantially engaged in the tourism industry, it takes more time to reach an open-ended contract when they have held between six and ten contracts in the past (as opposed to holding only one previous contract). On the contrary, for individuals with a weaker attachment to the tourism industry, holding between two and ten previous contracts implies a quicker exit from temporality. |
| Keywords: | Temporary employment, Temporality trap, Spanish tourism industry |
| JEL: | L83 J62 J64 C41 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb083510&r=lab |
| By: | Geraint Johnes; Vivi Maltezou |
| Abstract: | Using personnel records from two firms in the banking industry, duration models are estimated to examine separations in the context of Great Britain and Greece. We find that it is sustained, rather than instantaneous, performance that is linked to separations. In common with some earlier studies, we find qualified support for a u-shaped relationship between performance and separations, but only in the case of the British data. Both of the banks under investigation experienced substantial reorganisation activity over the time period considered, and we find that the year following this was characterised by increased separation propensities. While most of our findings are consistent across the firms in the two countries studied, we find that single men are more likely than their female counterparts to quit in Britain, but less likely to quit in Greece. We offer some suggestions about why this should be the case. |
| Keywords: | duration modelling, labour turnover, personnel economics |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:005709&r=lab |
| By: | Torssander, Jenny (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University); Erikson, Robert (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | In many analyses of social inequality in health, different dimensions of social stratification have been used more or less interchangeably as measures of the individual’s general social standing. This procedure, however, has been questioned in previous studies, most of them comparing education, class and/or income. In the present article, the importance of education and income as well as two aspects of occupation – class and status – are examined. The results are based on register data and refer to all Swedish employees in the age range 35-59 years. There are clear gradients in total death risk for all socioeconomic factors except for income from work among women. The size of the independent effects of education, class, status and income differ between men and women. For both sexes, there are clear net associations between education and mortality. Class and income show independent effects on mortality only for men and status shows an independent effect only for women. While different stratification dimensions – education, social class, income, status – all can be used to show a “social gradient” with mortality, each of them seems to have a specific effect in addition to the general effect related to the stratification of society for either men or women. |
| Keywords: | - |
| Date: | 2008–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2008_005&r=lab |
| By: | Trude Lappegård (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | We address the issue of the relationship between couples’ parental leave practices and their workplace situation. This analysis is based on information from Norwegian administrative registers on around 200 000 couples, covering a period of almost 10 years. The most common practice among couples is that a father makes use of his exclusive right to father’s leave and the mother uses all common leave. There are few obstacles in fathers’ workplaces limiting father’s leave, except in workplaces where there are high costs involved. Parental leave practices involving couples sharing part of their common leave are associated both with mothers’ workplaces, with higher costs of absence, and fathers’ workplaces, with lower costs of absence. |
| Keywords: | gender; parenthood; parental leave; work |
| JEL: | I38 J18 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:561&r=lab |
| By: | Eduardo Gandelman Author-X-Name_First: Eduardo Author-X-Name_Last: Gandelman; Nestor Gandelman Author-X-Name_First: Nestor Author-X-Name_Last: Gandelman; Julie Rothschild Author-X-Name_First: Julie Author-X-Name_Last: Rothschild |
| Abstract: | Using micro data on judicial proceedings in Uruguay, this paper presents evidence that female defendants receive more favorable treatment in courts than male defendants. This is due to longer foreclosure proceedings and higher probabilities of being granted extensions in evictions and dispossessions for female defendants. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3250&r=lab |
| By: | Andrén, Daniela (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Andrén, Thomas (National Institute of Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of being on part-time sick leave compared to full-time sick leave on the probability of recovering (i.e., returning to work with full recovery of lost work capacity). Using a discrete choice one-factor model, we estimate mean treatment parameters and distributional treatment parameters from a common set of structural parameters. Our results show that part-time sick leave increases the likelihood of recovering and dominates full-time sick leave for sickness spells of 150 days or longer. For these long spells, the probability of recovering increases by 10 percentage points. |
| Keywords: | part-time sick leave; selection; unobserved heterogeneity; treatment effects |
| JEL: | I12 J21 J28 |
| Date: | 2008–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0320&r=lab |
| By: | Kevin Denny (School of Economics & Geary Institute, University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The Trivers Willard hypothesis – that higher maternal quality is associated with a higher sex ratio – is tested using a large population survey from 12 European countries. Several outcomes are studied, the proportion of children born who are male and the sex of the first three children. The principal explanatory variables of interest are mother’s education, marital status and age at birth. Little evidence, if any, of such a relationship is found. |
| Keywords: | sex ratio, maternal quality |
| Date: | 2008–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200822&r=lab |
| By: | Nestor Gandelman Author-X-Name_First: Nestor Author-X-Name_Last: Gandelman |
| Abstract: | The gender of the household head has often been treated as an exogenous determinant of homeownership. This paper argues that several determinants of homeownership also affect household headship and that failing to explicitly account for this endogeneity leads to inconsistent results. Using individual level data for Chile, Honduras and Nicaragua, the paper shows that although on average women have lower probability of being homeowners, women who head households (single, separated or divorced) have a greater probability of attaining homeownership. Thus household level analysis should control for the endogeneity of household headship in order to properly address the gender effect on housing tenure. Estimating a bivariate probit model, the paper finds evidence that femaleheaded families have a lower probability of owning their home in Latin American countries. Without the endogeneity control this result was not present in eight countries. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3252&r=lab |
| By: | Gilles Duranton (University of Toronto); Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (London School of Economics); Richard Sandall (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the association between one of the most basic institutional forms, the family, and a series of demographic, educational, social, and economic indicators across regions in Europe. Using Emmanuel Todd’s classification of medieval European family systems, we identify potential links between family types and regional disparities in household size, educational attainment, social capital, labor participation, sectoral structure, wealth, and inequality. The results indicate that medieval family structures seem to have influenced European regional disparities in virtually every indicator considered. That these links remain, despite the influence of the modern state and population migration, suggests that either such structures are extremely resilient or else they have in the past been internalized within other social and economic institutions as they developed. |
| Keywords: | institutions; family types; education; social capital; labor force |
| JEL: | J12 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2008–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2008-07&r=lab |
| By: | Fregert, Klas (Department of Economics, Lund University); Pehkonen, Jaakko (School of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | We describe the size and timing for comprehensive as well as decomposed measures of unemployment. We then test for and confirm a change in the structural rate of unemployment by finding structural breaks in the Okun and Beveridge relations. Finally, we employ existing empirical models to examine the contributions of exogenous factors to the changes in the structural unemployment rate. We present separate estimates for the mid-1990s, late 1990s and early 2000s. They indicate that the structural rate has decreased in both countries, but has not returned to the levels of the 1980s. |
| Keywords: | Structural unemployment; Okun curve; Beveridge curve; Finland; Sweden; |
| JEL: | E24 E65 J64 |
| Date: | 2008–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2008_014&r=lab |
| By: | Arulampalam, Wiji (University of Warwick); Naylor, Robin (University of Warwick); Smith, Jeremy (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | We exploit a rich administrative panel data-set for cohorts of Economics students at a UK university in order to identify causal effects of class absence on student performance. We utilise the panel properties of the data to control for unobserved heterogeneity across students and hence for endogeneity between absence and academic performance of students stemming from the likely influence of unobserved effort and ability on both absence and performance. Our estimations also exploit features of the data such as the random assignment of students to classes and information on the timetable of classes, which yield potential instruments in our identification strategy. Among other results, we find that there is a causal effect of absence on performance for students: missing class leads to poorer performance. There is evidence from a quantile regression specification that this is particularly true for better-performing students, consistent with our hypothesis that effects of absence on performance are likely to vary with factors such as student ability. |
| Keywords: | randomised experiments, quantile regression, selection correction, panel data, education, student performance, class absence |
| JEL: | C41 J24 I2 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3749&r=lab |
| By: | Joan Costa i Font; Mireia Jofre-Bonet |
| Abstract: | Excessive preoccupation for self-image has been pointed out as an essential factor explaining food disorders. This paper draws upon Akerlof and Kranton (2000) to model how ’self-image’ and others’ appearances influence health related behaviours. We estimate the influence of ’peers’ image’ on the likelihood of anorexia and self-image using data from a cross sectional European representative survey for 2004. We follow a two-step empirical strategy. First, we estimate the probability that a woman is extremely thin and, at the same time, she sees herself as too fat. Our findings reveal that peers’ average Body Mass Index decreases the likelihood of being anorexic. Second, we take apart the two processes and estimate a recursive probit model of being very thin and perceiving one self as being too fat. Although peers’ Body Mass Index decreases the likelihood of being very thin but increases that of seeing one self as too fat, the unobservables explaining both processes are significantly correlated. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2008-30&r=lab |
| By: | Michael Grimm (ISS, The Hague / The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | In the middle of the nineties the rural population in Burkina Faso was seriously hit by rising food prices. Whereas cotton farmers were able to cope with this shock given the simultaneous boom in the cotton sector, food crop farmers had to withdraw children from school and to let them work more intensively. Using the exogenous character of the income variation as an instrument allows to disentangle the pure effect of parental income from effects related to parental education, family background and other unobservables. A set of simple policy simulations illustrates the potential of unconditional cash transfers to raise schooling levels and to protect investment in children’s education against transitory income shocks. Although the involved effects are not negligible and much higher as simulations based on the pure OLS effect would suggest, they also show that making transfers conditional on attendance might largely increase the efficiency of such transfers. |
| Keywords: | Child Labor, Education, Income Elasticity of Education, Agricultural Shocks, Cotton Production, Burkina Faso |
| JEL: | I21 O12 Q12 |
| Date: | 2008–08–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:iaidps:174&r=lab |
| By: | Kieron Meagher; Andrew Wait |
| Abstract: | We model the determinants of who makes decisions, the principal or an agent, when there are multiple decisions. Decision making takes effort and time; and, once implemented, the expected loss from a particular decision (or project) increases with the length of time since the last decision was made. The model shows delegation is more likely as: (i) controllable uncertainty increases; (ii) uncontrollable uncertainty decreases; (iii) the number of plants in the firm decreases; (iv) the complexity of the decision increases; and (v) the importance of the decision increases. The theoretical predictions are consistent with our novel empirical results on the delegation of major organizational change decisions using workplace data. Our unique data allows us to identify who made a decision to implement a significant change, as well as key internal and external factors highlighted as potentially important in our theory. Empirically, delegation is more likely in organizations that: face a competitive product market; export; have predictable product demand; have a larger workplace; and that have fewer other workplaces in the same organization producing a similar output. We find business strategy is not related to the allocation of decision making authority; delegation, however, is associated with the use of human resource techniques such as the provision of bonuses to employees. |
| Keywords: | decision making authority, decentralization, delegation, competition, exports, uncertainty, principal and agent |
| JEL: | D23 L23 L29 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:dpaper:587&r=lab |
| By: | Osipian, Ararat |
| Abstract: | The massification of higher education in Ukraine is a fact while financing the system is still an issue. External pressures from the Central government and the market require changes in university governance. Europeanization of educational system and adherence to the principles laid down by the Bologna declaration add to already existing challenges faced by universities. This paper states that there is no one right prescription for changing governance in Ukraine’s universities, because they differ in their history, location, culture, organizational structure, student body, faculty, and educational process and content. It proposes different approaches to the different types of the universities, considering universities as collegiums and bureaucracies, and suggests the political system as a viable form of organizational structure for the task of reforming universities. |
| Keywords: | governance; higher education; reform; university; Ukraine |
| JEL: | P36 I20 I23 |
| Date: | 2008–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11058&r=lab |
| By: | Boeri, Tito (Bocconi University); Severgnini, Battista (Humboldt University, Berlin) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the literature on competition and corruption, by drawing on records from Calciopoli, a judicial inquiry carried out in 2006 on corruption in the Italian soccer league. Unlike previous studies, we can estimate the determinants of match rigging and use this information in identifying corruption episodes in years in which there are no pending judicial inquiries. We find evidence of corruption activity well before Calciopoli. Career concerns of referees seem to play a major role in match rigging. An implication of our study is that a more transparent selection of the referees and evaluation of their performance is essential in removing incentives to match rigging. Another implication is that in presence of significant "winners-take-all" effects, more competitive balance may increase corruption unless media concentration is also significantly reduced. |
| Keywords: | concentration, corruption, career concerns, random effect ordered probit, Monte Carlo simulations, soccer |
| JEL: | D73 L82 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3745&r=lab |
| By: | Ofer Malamud; Cristian Pop-Eleches |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of having access to a home computer on child and adolescent outcomes. To avoid the bias due to non-random access to home computers, we exploit a unique government program which provided vouchers towards the purchase of a personal computer for low-income children enrolled in Romanian public schools. Since the fixed number of vouchers were allocated based on a simple ranking of family income, this program affords a stark regression discontinuity which allows comparisons across students very similar in family income and other respects, but who experienced markedly different access to a computer at home. In 2007, we conducted a household survey of children who participated in the program in 2005. Using these data, we show that children who received a voucher were 50 percent more likely to own a computer. Next, we show that receipt of a voucher had a large impact on time spent in front of the computer and decreased the amount of time spent watching TV and doing homework. Children in households that won a voucher also report having lower school grades and lower educational aspirations. There is also suggestive evidence that winning a voucher is associated with negative behavior outcomes. Nevertheless, we find that having a stay- at-home mom and the presence of rules regarding computer use do mitigate some of the negative effects of winning a computer voucher, indicating that parental monitoring and supervision may be important mediating factors. |
| Keywords: | computer, educational outcomes |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:har:wpaper:0812&r=lab |
| By: | Robert B. Archibald (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary); David H. Feldman (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary) |
| Abstract: | Many have argued that because the cost of attending college has increased more rapidly than family income, college has become less affordable. In this paper, we argue that this is not the correct way to think about affordability. Goods and services are more or less affordable if the consumer can or cannot afford to purchase the market basket of goods and services in the second time period he or she could afford in the first period. The measure of whether an increase in tuition and fees has increased or decreased affordability should focus on a comparison of the amount of goods and services families have left over after they have paid tuition and fees before and after the tuition increase. This paper explains why this type of measure should be preferred and investigates the recent history of affordability using this measure. |
| Keywords: | Affordability, Higher Education Cost, Cost Disease |
| JEL: | I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2008–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:76&r=lab |
| By: | Doepke, Matthias (Northwestern University); Zilibotti, Fabrizio (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Child labor is a persistent phenomenon in many developing countries. In recent years, support has been growing among rich-country governments and consumer groups for the use of trade policies, such as product boycotts and the imposition of international labor standards, to reduce child labor in poor countries. In this paper, we discuss research on the long-run implications of such policies. In particular, we demonstrate that such measures may have the unintended side effect of lowering domestic support for banning child labor within developing countries, and thus may contribute to the persistence of the child-labor problem. |
| Keywords: | child labor, political economy, international labor standards, trade sanctions |
| JEL: | J20 J88 O10 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3742&r=lab |
| By: | De Paola, Maria; Scoppa, Vincenzo |
| Abstract: | In this paper sport data are used to study the effects of manager replacement on firm performance. Using match results of the major Italian soccer league (“Serie A”) we analyze the effects of coach (manager) changes in terms of team performance. From our preliminary estimates, including year and team fixed effects, it emerges that changing the coach produces a positive effect on a number of measures of team performance. However, this effect turns out to be statistically insignificant once we take into account the fact that the firing of a coach is not an exogenous event, but it is triggered by a “dip” in team performance. Using as an instrument for coach change the number of remaining matches in the season (which is a proxy for the residual length of the coach contract) Two-Stages Least Squares estimations do not show any significant effect of coach change on team performance. |
| Keywords: | Managerial Turnover; Dismissal; Performance evaluation; Sport economics. |
| JEL: | L2 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11030&r=lab |
| By: | Egon Franck (Institute for Strategy and Business Economics, University of Zurich); Philipp Theiler (Institute for Strategy and Business Economics, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Prior to the 1999-2000 season, the National Hockey League changed its point awarding system to avoid too many tied games after playing overtime. Consequently, however, more games reached overtime. Abrevaya (2004), Longley & Sankaran (2007), and Banerjee, Swinnen, and Weersink (2007) all discuss an alternative rule change that might have induced the intended effect and at the same time prevented the unintended effect. We find empirical evidence in support of this position based on data from the Swiss Ice Hockey League, where the most popular proposed alternative solution has been implemented. |
| Keywords: | NHL; Swiss Hockey League (NL); overtime; incentive effects; rule changes |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:wpaper:0093&r=lab |
| By: | Cazavan-Jeny, Anne (ESSEC Business School); Margaine, Julien (ESSEC Business School); Missonier-Piera, Franck (EM-Lyon Business School) |
| Abstract: | Ces dernières années, la publication du niveau de rémunération des dirigeants a soulevé d’intenses controverses. Un certain nombre d’études ont mis en évidence une relation positive entre le salaire des dirigeants et la performance de la société, aux Etats-Unis et en Grande- Bretagne. La rémunération des dirigeants est également proche de la structure du gouvernement d’entreprise. Or la structure française de gouvernement d’entreprise est différente de celle observée aux États-Unis ou en Grande-Bretagne. En France, la tradition voulait que l’on ne divulgue pas ou peu d’information sur le niveau de rémunération des dirigeants. Cependant depuis 2002, les sociétés cotées doivent indiquer dans leurs rapports annuels le montant des rémunérations des dirigeants et des membres du conseil d’administration. (loi NRE, 15 mai 2001). A partir d’un échantillon de 110 sociétés cotées françaises sur la période 2002-2004 (indice SBF 120), l’objet de cette recherche est d’apporter des éclairages sur la rémunération des dirigeants dans un pays connu pour être plutôt conservateur sur le sujet. Pour étudier les déterminants de la rémunération des dirigeants, nous avons utilisé trois mesures de cette rémunération : la partie fixe du salaire, le bonus annuel et la rémunération globale. Les premiers résultats montrent que les trois mesures de la rémunération des dirigeants peuvent être expliquées par la taille de la société, et la partie variable (bonus) par la performance boursière. Les résultats sur le risque sont plus mitigés et indiquent que le risque spécifique de la firme est négativement associé à la rémunération des dirigeants, ce qui confirme les résultats de Gray et Cannela (1997). Enfin, les variables de gouvernance ont un impact significatif sur le niveau de rémunération des dirigeants. |
| Keywords: | CEO compensation; Corporate governance; Performance |
| JEL: | G35 M41 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:essewp:dr-08015&r=lab |
| By: | Ximena Soruco Author-X-Name_First: Ximena Author-X-Name_Last: Soruco; Giorgina Piani Author-X-Name_First: Giorgina Author-X-Name_Last: Piani; Máximo Rossi Author-X-Name_First: Máximo Author-X-Name_Last: Rossi |
| Abstract: | This study seeks to identify, measure and analyze possible discriminatory behaviors in southern Ecuador. There are three main findings. First, emigration is perceived as a social problem. Second, emigrant families are seen as economically “irrational” because they are not perceived to be investing remittances in productive and sustainable activities; emigrants are additionally portrayed as “irresponsible” because they leave their families in search of better living conditions. Third, emigrants’ children are perceived as doing worse in school than their peers and as living outside the society at large. Observed discrimination follows a cultural pattern: persons closer to the dominant culture are proportionately more to discriminate against emigrants and their families, and women show more discriminatory attitudes than men. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3244&r=lab |
| By: | Waldo Tapia; Juan Yermo |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the fees that are charged to participants in mandatory, defined contribution pension systems, focusing on the experience of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Australia, and Sweden. In order to compare fees across countries, this paper looks at the evolution of a simple cost measure, the ratio of annual fees to assets under management. The relatively high fee to assets ratios in some Latin American and Central and Eastern European countries can be partly explained by the recent implementation of their private systems. However, system maturity cannot explain all differences observed between countries. The paper argues that the particularly low fees observed in Bolivia and Sweden at the inception of their respective systems stem largely from a decision to force cost competition among providers via a central agency or =clearing house‘. <P>Frais facturés aux particuliers ayant souscrit à un régime de retraite individuel : Comparaison entre plusieurs pays <BR>Ce document traite principalement des frais administratifs facturés aux particuliers ayant souscrit à un régime de retraite obligatoire à cotisations définies en mettant l‘accent sur les pratiques observées en Amérique latine, en Europe centrale et orientale, en Australie et en Suède. Pour pouvoir comparer les coûts d‘un pays à l‘autre, les auteurs examinent l‘évolution d‘une mesure simple des frais, à savoir le montant des frais annuels rapporté à celui des actifs gérés. Le niveau relativement élevé des ratios des frais de gestion relevés dans certains pays d‘Amérique latine et d‘Europe centrale et orientale peut être dû au fait que la mise en place de systèmes privés y est toute récente. Cependant, la maturité des systèmes ne peut expliquer toutes les différences observées entre les pays. Les auteurs affirment que le niveau particulièrement faible des frais facturés en Bolivie et en Suède dès la création de leurs systèmes respectifs est dans une large mesure imputable à la décision prise par ces pays de mettre les prestataires en situation de concurrence par les coûts grâce à la création d‘un organisme central ou ?chambre de compensation?. |
| Keywords: | facilitation des échanges, pension fund, fond de pension, frais d'administration |
| JEL: | G23 G32 J32 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dafaab:27-en&r=lab |