|
on Labour Economics |
| By: | Riddell, Craig; Boudarbat, Brahim; Lemieux, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the evolution of the returns to human capital in Canada over the period 1980-2006. Most of the analysis is based on Census data, and on weekly wage and salary earnings of full-time workers. Our main finding is that the returns to education increased substantially for Canadian men between 1980 and 2000, in contrast to conclusions reached in previous studies. For example, the adjusted wage gap between men with exactly a bachelors’ degree and men with only a high school diploma increased from 34 percent to 43 percent during this period. Most of this rise took place in the early 1980s and late 1990s. Returns to education also rose for Canadian women, but the magnitudes of the increases were more modest. For instance, the adjusted BA-high school wage differential among women increased about 4 percentage points between 1980 and 1985 and remained stable thereafter. Results based on Labour Force Survey data show the upward trend in returns to education has recently been reversed for both men and women. Another important development is that after fifteen years of expansion (1980-1995), the return to work experience measured by the wage gap between younger and older workers declined between 1995 and 2000. Finally, we find little difference between measures based on means and those based on medians of log wages for both genders. Also, the use of broader earnings measures (such as including self-employment earnings, using weekly earnings of all workers, or using annual earnings of full-time workers) does not alter the main conclusions from the analysis based on weekly wage and salary earnings of full-time workers. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Wage Differentials, Returns to Education, Canada |
| Date: | 2008–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:bricol:craig_riddell-2008-15&r=lab |
| By: | Felipe Balmaceda |
| Abstract: | This paper studies firm-provided training in the presence of the following labor market policies: minimum wages, unemployment benefits, firing costs, and severance payments. I show that in high minimum wage economies, a more intense use of labor market policies reduces firm-provide training, while in low minimum wage economies, this may result in more training. The results of the paper are used to shed light on the relationship between the skill-premium and labor-market policies. In particular, I show that the skill premium is non-decreasing in the strictness of employment-protection legislation and non-increasing with the minimum wage and unemployment benefits. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edj:ceauch:252&r=lab |
| By: | Melly, Blaise (Brown University); Puhani, Patrick A. (University of Hannover) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the wage effects of privatization using person-level firm-based panel datasets from one privatized and one nonprivatized public sector firm in the same country for the years immediately before and after privatization. Thus, we can analyze the before-after effects of privatization while controlling for individual and time fixed effects and allowing for firm-specific trends. Because the change in wage regime coincides with substantial losses in the market share of the privatized but not the nonprivatized firm, the situation approximates a natural experiment in switching workers from the public to the private sector. We find significant changes in the wage structure of the privatized but not the nonprivatized firm. Specifically, wage and wage growth distributions widened significantly after privatization. Conditioning on worker characteristics, we find that younger employees and those with shorter tenure gained from privatization, while high-skilled workers gained relative to medium-skilled workers. Surprisingly, low-skilled workers also gained, although seemingly in the form of temporary compensation intended to increase acceptance of privatization. |
| Keywords: | privatization, liberalization, competition, labor markets, wage distributions |
| JEL: | J31 J45 L33 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3760&r=lab |
| By: | Bernard Decaluwé (Université Laval - Département d'Economie); Fida Karam (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | Recently, much research interest is directed towards the impact of migration on the sending country. However, we think that this literature does not successfully analyse the effects of migration on unemployment and wage rates especially in urban areas. It studies the effect of one king of migration flow, mainly international migration, on labour market in the country of origin and shows that international migration is able to reduce the unemployment rate and/or raise the wage rates. However, it is common to find labour markets affected simultaneously by inflows and outflows of workers. Using a detailed CGE model applied to the Moroccan economy, we show that if we take simultaneously into account Moroccan emigration to the European Union, immigration from Sub-Saharan Africa into Moroccan urban areas and rural-urban migration, the impact on Moroccan urban labour market disaggregated by professional categories is ambiguous. |
| Keywords: | Imperfect labor market, migration, computable general equilibrium model. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00331322_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Bernard Decaluwé (Université Laval - Département d'Economie); Fida Karam (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | Recently, much research interest is directed towards the impact of migration on the sending country. However, we think that this literature does not successfully analyse the effects of migration on unemployment and wage rates especially in urban areas. It studies the effect of one king of migration flow, mainly international migration, on labour market in the country of origin and shows that international migration is able to reduce the unemployment rate and/or raise the wage rates. However, it is common to find labour markets affected simultaneously by inflows and outflows of workers. Using a detailed CGE model applied to the Moroccan economy, we show that if we take simultaneously into account Moroccan emigration to the European Union, immigration from Sub-Saharan Africa into Moroccan urban areas and rural-urban migration, the impact on Moroccan urban labour market disaggregated by professional categories is ambiguous. |
| Keywords: | Imperfect labor market, migration, computable general equilibrium model. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00331322_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Jahn, Elke J. (Aarhus School of Business); Wagner, Thomas (University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | To reduce unemployment targeted hiring subsidies for long-term unemployed are often recommended. To explore their effect on employment and wages, we devise a model with two types of unemployed and two methods of search, a public employment service (PES) and random search. The eligibility of a new match depends on the applicant's unemployment duration and on the method of search. The hiring subsidy raises job destruction and extends contrary to Mortensen-Pissarides (1999, 2003) the duration of a job search, so that equilibrium unemployment increases. Like the subsidy, organizational reforms, which advance the search effectiveness of the PES, crowd out the active jobseekers and reduce overall employment as well as social welfare. Nevertheless, reforms are a visible success for the PES and its target group, as they significantly increase the service's placement rate and lower the duration of a job search via the PES. |
| Keywords: | matching model, hiring subsidy, endogenous separation rate, active labour market policy, PES, random search |
| JEL: | J41 J63 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3768&r=lab |
| By: | Stephan, Gesine (IAB, Nürnberg); Pahnke, André (IAB, Nürnberg) |
| Abstract: | For Germany, we analyse the (relative) effects of participation in several active labour market programmes on the employment prospects of participants. First, our results show that different matching algorithms result in different severe problems of common support. Second, we obtain favourable effects of participation in training programmes, which is not true for job creation schemes. Third, while lock-in effects are smaller for shorter programmes, long retraining shows mainly positive effects compared to shorter training at the end of the observation period. Fourth, participants in job creation schemes are too different from participants in training programmes to conduct a reliable comparison. |
| Keywords: | evaluation of active labour market programmes, propensity score matching, common support problem |
| JEL: | J68 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3767&r=lab |
| By: | Myck, Michal (DIW Berlin); Ochmann, Richard (DIW Berlin); Qari, Salmai (WZB - Social Science Research Center Berlin) |
| Abstract: | There is by now a vast number of studies which document a sharp increase in cross-sectional wage inequality during the 2000s. It is often assumed that this inequality is of a "permanent nature" which in turn is used as an argument calling for government intervention. We examine these claims using a fully balanced panel of full-time employed individuals in Germany from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 1994–2006. In line with previous studies, our sample shows sharply rising inequality during the 2000s. Applying covariance structure models, we calculate the fraction of permanent and transitory wage and earnings inequality. From 1994 on, permanent inequality increases continuously, peaks in 2001 and then declines in subsequent years. Interestingly the decline in the permanent fraction of inequality occurs at the time of most rapid increases in cross-sectional inequality. It seems therefore that it is primarily the temporary and not the permanent component which has driven the strong expansion of cross-sectional inequality during the 2000s in Germany. |
| Keywords: | variance decomposition, covariance structure models, earnings inequality, wage dynamics |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3751&r=lab |
| By: | Lemos, Sara (University of Leicester); Portes, Jonathan (Department for Work and Pensions, UK) |
| Abstract: | The UK was one of only three countries that granted free movement of workers to accession nationals following the enlargement of the European Union in May 2004. The resulting large, rapid and concentrated migration inflow can be seen as a natural experiment that arguably corresponds closely to an exogenous supply shock. We evaluate the impact of this migration inflow – one of the largest in British history – on the UK labour market. We use new monthly micro level data and an empirical approach that ascertains which particular labour markets in the UK – with varying degrees of natives' mobility and migrants' self-selection – may have been affected. Our results suggest modest effects throughout the labour market. Despite anecdotal evidence, we found little hard evidence that the inflow of accession migrants contributed to a fall in wages or a rise in claimant unemployment in the UK between 2004 and 2006. |
| Keywords: | migration, employment, wages, Central and Eastern Europe, UK |
| JEL: | J22 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3756&r=lab |
| By: | Tor Eriksson (Department of economics - University of Aarhus); Marie-Claire Villeval (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines) |
| Abstract: | Variable pay links pay and performance but may also help firms in attracting more productive employees. Our experiment investigates the impact of performance pay on both incentives and sorting and analyzes the influence of repeated interactions between firms and employees on these effects. We show that (i) the opportunity to switch from a fixed wage to variable pay scheme increases the average effort level and its variance; (ii) high skill employees concentrate under the variable pay scheme; (iii) however, in repeated interactions, efficiency wages reduce the attraction of performance pay. Social motivation and reputation influence both the provision of incentives and their sorting effect. |
| Keywords: | performance pay ; incentives ; sorting ; social motivation ; experiment |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00331753_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Tracy A. Falba; William T. Gallo; Jody L. Sindelar |
| Abstract: | We explore the impact on depressive symptoms of deviation in actual labor force behavior at age 62 from earlier expectations. Our sample of 4,241 observations is drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We examine workers who were less than 62 years of age at the 1992 HRS baseline, and who had reached age 62 by our study endpoint, enabling comparison of actual labor force withdrawal with earlier expectations. Poisson regression were used to estimate the impact of expected full-time work status on depressive symptoms; regressions are estimated separately for those working fulltime at age 62 and those not working fulltime. We found significant effects on depression at age 62 both for full-time workers who expected not to be working full-time, and for participants not working full-time who expected to be doing so. These results hold even after adjustment for earlier depressive symptoms, sociodemographic and other relevant controls. The findings suggest that working longer and retiring earlier than expected each may compromise psychological well-being. The current financial crisis may result in both scenarios as some workers may have to work longer than expected due to the decline in pension and other wealth while others may retire earlier due to job loss. |
| JEL: | I10 I18 J14 J18 J26 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14435&r=lab |
| By: | Decreuse, Bruno; Kazbakova, Elvira |
| Abstract: | We revisit the signalling hypothesis, whereby potential employers use the duration of unemployment as a signal as to the productivity of applicants. We suggest that the quality of such a signal is very low when the unemployed receive unemployment benefits: individuals have good reasons to remain unemployed. Conversely, the signal becomes much more efficient once benefits have elapsed: skilled workers should not stay unemployed in such cases. Therefore, the potential duration of unemployment benefits should drive employers' expectations and their recruitment practices. This mechanism can explain why hazards fall after benefit expiration, and why hazards respond more to the potential duration of benefits than to replacement rates. |
| Keywords: | Worker heterogeneity; Signalling; Hazard rate; Unemployment compensation; Moral hazard |
| JEL: | J65 J64 D83 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11223&r=lab |
| By: | Manuela Goretti |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes wage- and price-setting relations in new EU member countries. Panel estimates indicate a strong and significant relationship between real wages and labor productivity, as well as evidence of wage pass-through to inflation. Terms of trade shocks do not feed through to real wages. Country-specific wage developments, beyond differences in labor productivity growth, are mostly explained by real wage catch-up from different initial levels and different labor market conditions. Qualitative evidence also suggests that public sector wage demonstration effects and institutional factors may play a role in wage determination. |
| Keywords: | Wage policy , Pricing policy , European Union , Europe , Public sector wages , Labor markets , Labor productivity , External shocks , Inflation , |
| Date: | 2008–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/243&r=lab |
| By: | Paul Cavelaars |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between product market competition and labour market institutions in a general equilibrium context. It concludes that an increase in product market competition, enhanced .exibility of labour supply, social security reform and a reduction in union bargaining power are mutually re-inforcing (in terms of their employment impact) in some, but not all cases. This stresses the need for an extremely careful design of such reforms. |
| Keywords: | labour market regulation; wage bargaining. |
| JEL: | E24 E52 J50 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:182&r=lab |
| By: | Aydemir, Abdurrahman (Statistics Canada); Chen, Wen-Hao (Statistics Canada); Corak, Miles (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the intergenerational education mobility of Canadian men and women born to immigrants. A detailed portrait of Canadians is offered, as are estimates of the degree of generational mobility among the children of immigrants. Persistence in the years of schooling across the generations is rather weak between immigrants and their Canadian born children, and a third as strong as for the general population. Parental earnings is not correlated with years of schooling for second generation children, and if anything negatively correlated. Finally we find that the intergenerational transmission of education has not changed across the birth cohorts of the post-war period. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, education, intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | F22 I20 J62 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3759&r=lab |
| By: | Silasi, Grigore; Simina, Ovidiu Laurian |
| Abstract: | The paper is a contribution at the scientific debate of migration and mobility issues in the context of an enlarged European Union (EU-27). We consider that Romania, a country with a labour market that faces distortions, will benefit from migration on short term, but will need to import labour force in order to maintain the development trend. Remittances, as result of Romanians emigration after 2002, helped the economic development of the country in the last years (remittances’ inflow doubled the FDI). As a response to the media debate regarding Romania’s emigration, we consider that the fear of mass migration from Romania following the year 2007 is not justified. While the European (and mostly British) media cries on the threat of Bulgarians and Romanians’ emigration, as following to the 2007 accession, the scientific reports say that the A8 countries’ migration benefits to economy of the EU15 countries. In the same time, the Romanian media and the Romanian entrepreneurs announce the ‘Chinese invasion’ and the lack of labour in construction, industry and even agriculture. We see labour as goods: the economic theory say that goods are moving with the prices, the highest price attracts (more) goods. Romania is not only a gateway for the East-West international migration (like Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece for the South-North direction), but a labour market in need of workers. While a big part of the labour force is already migrated, mostly to the SE Europe (some 2.5m workers are cited to be abroad, with both legal and illegal/irregular status), the Romanian companies could not find local workers to use them in order to benefit from the money inflow targeting Romania in the light of its new membership to the European Union (foreign investments and European post accession funds). Instead of increasing the salaries, the local employers rather prefer to ‘import’ workers from poorer countries (Chinese, Moldavians, Ukrainians, who still accept a lower wage as compared to the medium wage in Romania, but bigger enough as compared to those from their country of origin). The paper concludes with the case of the Banat region, considered the ‘Western Europe’ from Romania, as a small scale model for the labour market relations within the whole EU. |
| Keywords: | labour migration; labour market distortions; South-Eastern Europe Syndrome; network effect; decision making; motivation; need for esteem; Banat region |
| JEL: | F22 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2007–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11184&r=lab |
| By: | Mann, Jitendar S. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaees:7563&r=lab |
| By: | Eriksen, Kristoffer W. (Norwegian School of Hotel Management, Dept. of Business Administration, University of Stavanger); Kvaløy, Ola (Norwegian School of Hotel Management, Dept. of Business Administration, University of Stavanger); Olsen, Trond E. (Dept. of Finance and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | In many tournaments it is the contestants themselves who determine reward allocation. Labor-union members bargain over wage distribution, and many firms allow self-managed teams to freely determine internal resource allocation, incentive structure, and division of labour. We analyze, and test experimentally, a rank-order tournament where heterogenous agents determine the spread between winner prize and looser prize. We investigate the relationship between prize spread, uncertainty (i.e. noise between e¤ort and performance), heterogeneity and effort. The paper challenges well-known results from tournament theory. We find that a large prize spread is associated with low degree of uncertainty and high degree of heterogeneity, and that heterogeneity triggers effort. By and large, our real-effort experiment supports the theoretical predictions. |
| Keywords: | Rank-order tournament; prize spread; ability-difference |
| JEL: | C30 |
| Date: | 2008–10–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhhfms:2008_023&r=lab |
| By: | Irineu E. Carvalho Filho |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of household income on labor participation and school enrollment of children aged 10 to 14 in Brazil using a social security reform as a source of exogenous variation in household income. Estimates imply that the gap between actual and full school enrollment was reduced by 20 percent for girls living in the same household as an elderly benefiting from the reform. Girls' labor participation rates reduced with increased benefit income, but only when benefits were received by a female elderly. Effects on boys' enrollment rates and labor participation were in general smaller and statistically insignificant. |
| Keywords: | Income distribution , Brazil , Labor , Women , Education , Social security , Human capital , |
| Date: | 2008–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/241&r=lab |
| By: | Sanghoon Ahn; Kyoji Fukao; Keiko Ito |
| Abstract: | Applying a common empirical approach to comparable industry-level data on production, trade,and labor markets for Japan and South Korea, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of outsourcing on different sectors of the labor market focusing on differences in educational attainment. While outsourcing measures used in previous studies only take account of the outsourcing of intermediate inputs, this paper, utilizing the Asian International Input-Output Tables, incorporates the outsourcing of assembly. The econometric results indicate that outsourcing to Asia (particularly to China) has a negative impact on the demand for workers with lower education and a positive impact on the demand for workers with higher education both in Japan and Korea. Moreover, the international outsourcing of assembly has a significant impact on skill upgrading, particularly in the Korean electrical machinery sector. |
| Keywords: | Outsourcing, labor demand, skill upgrading, Japan, Korea, manufacturing, Asian International Input-Output Tables |
| JEL: | F14 F16 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd08-001&r=lab |
| By: | Jesse Rothstein |
| Abstract: | Growing concerns over the achievement of U.S. students have led to proposals to reward good teachers and penalize (or fire) bad ones. The leading method for assessing teacher quality is "value added" modeling (VAM), which decomposes students' test scores into components attributed to student heterogeneity and to teacher quality. Implicit in the VAM approach are strong assumptions about the nature of the educational production function and the assignment of students to classrooms. In this paper, I develop falsification tests for three widely used VAM specifications, based on the idea that future teachers cannot influence students' past achievement. In data from North Carolina, each of the VAMs' exclusion restrictions are dramatically violated. In particular, these models indicate large "effects" of 5th grade teachers on 4th grade test score gains. I also find that conventional measures of individual teachers' value added fade out very quickly and are at best weakly related to long-run effects. |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J33 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14442&r=lab |
| By: | Victor Lavy; M. Daniele Paserman; Analia Schlosser |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the extent of ability peer effects in the classroom and explore the underlying mechanisms through which these peer effects operate. We identify as low ability students those who are enrolled at least one year behind their birth cohort ("repeaters"). We show that there are marked differences between the academic performance and behavior of repeaters and regular students. The status of repeaters is mostly determined by first grade; therefore, it is unlikely to have been affected by their classroom peers, and our estimates will not suffer from the reflection problem. Using within school variation in the proportion of these low ability students across cohorts of middle and high school students in Israel, we find that the proportion of low achieving peers has a negative effect on the performance of regular students, especially those located at the lower end of the ability distribution. An exploration of the underlying mechanisms of these peer effects shows that, relative to regular students, repeaters report that teachers are better in the individual treatment of students and in the instilment of capacity for individual study. However, a higher proportion of these low achieving students results in a deterioration of teachers' pedagogical practices, has detrimental effects on the quality of inter-student relationships and the relationships between teachers and students, and increases the level of violence and classroom disruptions. |
| JEL: | I2 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14415&r=lab |
| By: | Libertad González Luna; Tarja Viitanen |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of divorce legalization on the long-term well-being of children. Our identification strategy relies on exploiting the different timing of divorce legalization across European countries. Using European Community Household Panel data, we compare the adult outcomes of cohorts who were raised in an environment where divorce was banned with cohorts raised after divorce was legalized in the same country. We also have “control” countries where all cohorts were exposed (or not exposed) to divorce as children, thus leading to a difference-in-differences approach. We find that women who grew up under legal divorce have lower earnings and income as well as worse health as adults compared with women who grew up under illegal divorce. These effects are not found for men. We find no effects of divorce legalization on children’s family formation or dissolution patterns. |
| Keywords: | Divorce, legislation, intergenerational effects, child outcomes |
| JEL: | J12 J13 K36 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1122&r=lab |
| By: | Decreuse, Bruno; Maarek, Paul |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the impact of FDI on the labor share of income in developing countries. We propose a theory that relies on the impacts of FDI on productive heterogeneity between firms in a frictional labor market. We argue that FDI have two opposite effects on the labor share: a negative force originated by market power and technological advance, and a positive force due to increased labor market competition between firms. Then, we test this theory on aggregate panel data through fixed effects and system-GMM estimations. We find a quantitatively meaningful U- shaped relationship between the labor share in the manufacturing sector and the ratio of FDI stock to GDP. However, most of the countries are stuck in the decreasing part of the curve, which we relate to multinationals' location choices. |
| Keywords: | FDI; Matching frictions; Firm heterogeneity; Technological advance |
| JEL: | F16 E25 F21 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11224&r=lab |
| By: | Hiroshi Sato; Li Shi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the intergenerational correlation of education in rural China. The focus is on the influence of family class origin (jiating chengfen), the political label hung on every family throughout the Maoist era. A nationally representative cross-sectional household survey for 2002 is used. It is shown that the effects of family class origin on family members' educational attainment varies across historical periods. Regarding the educational level of male heads of household with landlord/rich peasant background, we found a drop caused by the class-based discrimination in the Maoist era and a rebound in the postreform era. It was also found that family class origin remains significant for the educational achievement of the current younger generation. Children aged 16-18 who are of landlord/rich peasant and middle peasant origins are more likely to achieve higher educational attainment. We conclude that a class-specific, education-oriented family culture has been shaped first as a mixture of family cultural capital inherited from the pre-Maoist era and surfacing again in the postreform era, and, second, as intergenerational cultural reaction against class-based discrimination during the Maoist era. |
| Keywords: | education, intergenerational correlation, class origin, family culture, social discrimination |
| JEL: | D31 J24 N35 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd08-007&r=lab |
| By: | G. C. Lim (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); R. Dixon (Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne); Sarantis Tsiaplias (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | A time-varying Phillips curve was estimated as a means to examine the changing nature of the negative relationship between wage inflation and the unemployment rate in Australia. The implied equilibrium unemployment rate was generated and the analysis showed the important role played by variations in the slope of the Phillips curve (and thus in real wage rigidity) in changing the equilibrium unemployment rate. The deviations of actuals from the estimated equilibrium unemployment rates also performed well as measures of inflationary pressures. |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2008n21&r=lab |
| By: | Ronald Fischer |
| Abstract: | We present a static general equilibrium model of an economy with agents with heterogeneous wealth and endogenous credit constraints created by partial loan recovery rates. Higher loan recovery rates and better bankruptcy protection increase output and credit penetration, while the former raises the average interest rate spread and the latter decreases it. We also study the interaction of credit constraint with differences in wealth distribution across countries. In a closed economy, higher loan recovery rates and better bankruptcy legislation raise the prime interest rate, as well as the interest rate spread. We incorporate a labor market in order to analyze the interaction between increased labor protection and credit restrictions. We find that stronger labor protection leads to lower wages and output. Nevertheless they will be supported by workers in firms with strong balance sheets and opposed by workers and employers in firms with weak balance sheets. JEL Class.: G38, E44, D53. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edj:ceauch:250&r=lab |
| By: | Baddeley, M.; Fingleton, B. |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the Fujita, Krugman and Venables (FKV) nonlinear model of wage differentials. Using a spatial econometric model incorporating a spatial autoregressive error process, we estimate a quadratic form using cross-sectional data for 98 countries from 1970 to 2000. The evidence suggests no necessary tendency for all countries to converge towards the stable upper root. Polarization is possible. This polarization may be permanent - generating persistent international wage differentials. Our findings suggest that moderating the transmission of shocks across countries should be a key element of international macroeconomic policy co-ordination. |
| Keywords: | Globalisation, convergence, wage differentials, spatial error models |
| JEL: | R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0845&r=lab |
| By: | Sami Saafi (Labrii, ULCO) |
| Abstract: | Certes, l’innovation technologique a souvent été synonyme de chômage pour l’opinion publique. Cette opinion est fondée sur l’idée de substitution du capital au travail. En revanche, selon la théorie de compensation, l’innovation technologique détruit des emplois à court terme (effet de remplacement), mais en crée à moyen et à long terme (effet de compensation). La théorie de compensation postule qu’à long terme - c’est-à-dire lorsque l’accumulation de nouveau capital est possible et le revenu global disponible n’est plus supposé constant, l’extension des capacités de production, favorisée par l’augmentation des profits, permet de créer de nouveaux emplois. Néanmoins les mécanismes de compensation requièrent un transfert fluide de la main d’oeuvre, du capital et de la demande entre les différentes activités. Un tel transfert s’opère d’autant mieux que les marchés sont efficients, flexibles, c’est-à-dire que les prix s’adaptent et que les barrières de mobilités sont réduites. Certainly, in the public opinion, technological innovation has often been considered as synonymous to unemployment. This opinion is based on the idea of substitution capital/labor. However, according to the compensation theory, technological innovations destroy jobs in the short term (replacement effect) but create new jobs in the medium and long terms (compensation effect). The compensation theory postulates that in the long term- that is to say when new capital accumulation is possible and available, total income is not assumed constant- the extension of production capacities, favored by the increase of benefits, allows to create new jobs. But, the compensation mechanisms request a fluid transfer of employees, capital and demand between different activities. Such transfer takes place even better when markets are efficient, flexible, which means that prices are flexible and that the barriers to mobility are reduced. |
| Keywords: | : Technological innovations, employment, compensation theory |
| JEL: | O33 C52 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rii:riidoc:184&r=lab |
| By: | Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth (Georgia Tech); Belton, Willie (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: | It has been well documented in the literature that ethnicity matters significantly in the determination of self-employment rates. In particular, African-American self-employment rates lag far behind rates for other racial groups. Similarly, the literature also provides evidence of the long lived nature of institutions and the link between institutions and decision making. After controlling for the appropriate factors that can lead to self-employment differentials, we provide an explanation for the self-employment gap that still exists between African-Americans and White Americans. We focus on the important role of repeated negative institutional shocks and how such shocks influence the development of an information matrix as well as the transmission of information across time and generations. We show that African-Americans who were less likely to be influenced by negative institutional shocks and the information stock created from these experiences, have similar self-employment rates to comparably situated White Americans. |
| Keywords: | African-American, institutions, information, self-employment |
| JEL: | J15 J01 J24 D80 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3761&r=lab |
| By: | Viviana Fernández; Brian M. Lucey |
| Abstract: | We present a static general equilibrium model of an economy with agents with heterogeneous wealth and endogenous credit constraints created by partial loan recovery rates. Higher loan recovery rates and better bankruptcy protection increase output and credit penetration, while the former raises the average interest rate spread and the latter decreases it. We also study the interaction of credit constraint with differences in wealth distribution across countries. In a closed economy, higher loan recovery rates and better bankruptcy legislation raise the prime interest rate, as well as the interest rate spread. We incorporate a labor market in order to analyze the interaction between increased labor protection and credit restrictions. We find that stronger labor protection leads to lower wages and output. Nevertheless they will be supported by workers in firms with strong balance sheets and opposed by workers and employers in firms with weak balance sheets. JEL Class.: G38, E44, D53. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edj:ceauch:251&r=lab |
| By: | Yu-Fu Chen; Michael Funke |
| Abstract: | In January 2008, China imposed a new labour contract law. This new law is the most significant reform to the law of employment relations in mainland China in more than a decade. The paper provides a theoretical framework on the inter-linkages between labour market regulation, option value and the choice and timing of employment. All in all, the paper demonstrates that the Labour Contract Law in it´s own right will have only small impacts upon employment in the fast-growing Chinese economy. On the contrary, induced increasing unit labour costs represent the real issue and may reduce employment. |
| Keywords: | China, Labour Contract Law, Real Options, Employment |
| JEL: | C61 D81 D92 J23 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dun:dpaper:220&r=lab |
| By: | Marc Blatter (Economics Department, University of Bern); Andras Niedermayer (Kellogg School of Management, CMS-EMS, Northwestern University) |
| Abstract: | We consider software developers who can either work on an open source project or on a closed source project. The former provides a publicly available signal about their talent, whereas the latter provides a signal only observed by their employer. We show that a talented employee may initially prefer a less paying job as an open source developer to commercial closed source projects, because a publicly available signal gives him a better bargaining position when renegotiating wages with his employer after the signal has been revealed. Also, we derive conditions under which two effects suggested by standard intuition are reversed: a “pooling equilibrium” (with both talented and untalented workers doing closed source) is less likely if differences in talent are large; a highly visible open source job leads to more effort in a career concerns setup. The former effect is because a higher productivity of talented workers raises not only the value but also the cost of signaling; the latter stems from more effort and the choice of a high visibility job being substitutes for the purpose of signaling. Results naturally apply to other industries with high and low visibility jobs, e.g. academic rather than commercial research, consulting rather than management. |
| Keywords: | Open source software, signaling |
| JEL: | C70 L86 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0806&r=lab |
| By: | Sonia Oreffice (University of Alicante) |
| Abstract: | I estimate how intra-household bargaining affects gay and lesbian couples’ labor supplies, investigating their similarity to heterosexual decision-making, in a collective household framework. Data from the 2000 US Census show that couples of all types exhibit a significant response to bargaining power shifts, as measured by differences between partners in age or non-labor income. In gay, lesbian, and heterosexual cohabiting couples, a relatively young or rich partner has more bargaining power and hence supplies less labor, the opposite holding for his/her mate. Married couples value the older spouse instead, or the richer. No effects are found for same-sex roommates. |
| Keywords: | Household Decision Making, Same-Sex Couples, Labor Supply |
| JEL: | D1 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2008.81&r=lab |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Matthew G. Resseger; Kristina Tobio |
| Abstract: | What impact does inequality have on metropolitan areas? Crime rates are higher in places with more inequality, and people in unequal cities are more likely to say that they are unhappy. There is also a negative association between local inequality and the growth of both income and population, once we control for the initial distribution of skills. What determines the degree of inequality across metropolitan areas? Twenty years ago, metropolitan inequality was strongly associated with poverty, but today, inequality is more strongly linked to the presence of the wealthy. Inequality in skills can explain about one third of the variation in income inequality, and that skill inequality is itself explained by historical schooling patterns and immigration. There are also substantial differences in the returns to skill, related to local concentrations in different industries, and these too are strongly correlated with inequality. |
| JEL: | H0 I0 J0 R0 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14419&r=lab |
| By: | Jose Emilio Boscá (University of Valencia); Rafael Domenech (University of Valencia); Javier Ferri (University of Valencia) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses REMS, a Rational Expectations Model of the Spanish economy designed by Boscá et al (2007), to analyse the effects of lowering the overall tax wedge to the level prevailing in the US. Our results partially confirm previous findings in the literature: a reduction in the overall tax wedge of 19.5 points, in order to reach the US levels, has a positive effect in the long run, increasing total hours by about 7 per cent and GDP by about 8 percentage points. In terms of GDP per adult, these results account for 1/4 of the gap with respect to the US, but imply a reduction of only one percentage point in the labour productivity gap. The rise in total hours per adult is explained by a similar increase in both hours per employee and the employment rate of about 3.5 percentage points, allowing hours per adult to converge to levels only slightly lower than those in the US. |
| Keywords: | general equilibrium, tax wedge, tax reforms, fiscal policy, labour market |
| JEL: | E32 E62 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iei:wpaper:0804&r=lab |
| By: | Erber, Georg (Department of Information Society and Competition, DIW Berlin â German Institute for Economic Research); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of ICT- and non-ICT capital, and of labour at different skill levels, on productivity and employment in the financial intermediation sector of twelve EU member countries plus the US and Japan. A stochastic possibility frontiers (SPF) approach is applied to assess the relation between the production inputs and to compute both time-varying and average inefficiencies. For the empirical analysis, annual data from 1995 to 2005 are employed that were obtained from recently released data contained in the EU KLEMS database. The results obtained shed some light on the relative impact of ICT- and non-ICT capital and labour inputs, and provide new insights about the structural dynamics between these factor inputs. We find that the financial sectors in the twelve EU member states studied are quite similar in terms of efficiency, and that efficiency and productivity depends much more on human capital than on physical capital. We conclude that learning-by-doing and learning-by-using are more decisive elements in shaping the productivity growth path than ICT investment alone, which can leave managers and employees overwhelmed by the complexity and needs of structural adjustments in the companiesâ organisation. |
| Keywords: | stochastic production possibility frontiers; ICT; structural dynamics |
| JEL: | C23 C51 D23 E23 O33 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2008_005&r=lab |
| By: | Benno Torgler; Bruno S.Frey; Markus Schaffner; Sascha L.Schmidt |
| Abstract: | The risk of external interventions crowding-out intrinsic motivation has long been established in economics. This paper introduces a new dimension by arguing that a crowding-out effect does become possible if individuals receive higher relative compensation. Using a unique, large data set that focuses on 26 seasons in basketball (NBA) we find empirical support for a relative crowding-out effect. Performance is reduced as a reaction to a relative income advantage. |
| Keywords: | Crowding-out, relative income, positional concerns, motivation |
| JEL: | D00 D60 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:236&r=lab |
| By: | Holmlund, Helena (CEP, London School of Economics); McNally, Sandra (London School of Economics); Viarengo, Martina (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | There is considerable disagreement in the academic literature about whether raising school expenditure improves educational outcomes. Yet changing the level of resources is one of the key policy levers open to governments. In the UK, school expenditure has increased by about 40 per cent in real terms since 2000. Thus, providing an answer to the question as to whether such spending has an impact on educational outcomes (and whether it is good use of public money) is of paramount importance. In this paper we address this issue for England using much better data than what has generally been used in such studies. We are also able to test our identification assumption by use of a falsification test. We find that the increase in school expenditure over recent years has had a consistently positive effect on outcomes at the end of primary school. Back-of-envelope calculations suggest that the investment may well be cost-effective. There is also some evidence of heterogeneity in the effect of expenditure, with higher effects for students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. |
| Keywords: | education, resources |
| JEL: | I21 H52 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3769&r=lab |
| By: | Sabarwal, Shwetlena (World Bank); Terrell, Katherine (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | Using 2005 firm level data for 26 ECA countries, this paper estimates performance gaps between male- and female-owned businesses, while controlling for their location by industry and country. We find that female entrepreneurs have significantly smaller scale of operations (as measured by sales revenues) and are less efficient in terms of Total Factor Productivity (TFP), although this difference is very small. However, they generate the same amount of profit per unit of revenue as men. We find that while both male and female entrepreneurs in ECA are sub-optimally small, women's returns to scale are significantly larger than men's implying that they would gain more from increasing their scale. We argue that the main reasons for the sub-optimal size of female-owned firms are that they are both capital constrained and concentrated in industries with small firms. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, finance, gender, Eastern Europe, Central Asia |
| JEL: | D24 M21 O12 O16 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3758&r=lab |
| By: | Jan Kakes; Jasper de Winter |
| Abstract: | We investigate the determinants of Dutch households' preferences for income redistribution, using survey data. Our results show that support for redistributive policies is related to self-interest, exposure to misfortune and risk-aversion. In addition, people who believe that prosperity is primarily due to luck rather than hard work tend to favour redistribution, indicating that equal opportunities are considered important. Interestingly, support for redistributive policies is positively related to education, while the impact of age is ambiguous. This is an important outcome, as it implies that globalisation and skill-biased technological progress may put less pressure on the Dutch social security system than previously assumed. |
| Keywords: | Redistribution; social security. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 H23 H55 P16 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:179&r=lab |
| By: | Zhao Chen; Shiqing Jiang; Ming Lu; Hiroshi Sato |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use the "2002 Chinese Household Income Project Survey" (CHIP2002) data to examine how heterogeneous social interactions affect the peer effect in the rural-urban migration decision in China. We find that the peer effect, measured by the village migration ratio, significantly increases the individual probability of outward migration. We also find that the magnitude of the peer effect is nonlinear, depending on the strength and type of social interactions with other villagers. Interactions in information sharing can increase the magnitude of the peer effect, while interactions in mutual help in labor activities, such as help in housing construction, nursing and farm work in busy seasons, will impede the positive role of the peer effect. Being aware of the simultaneity bias caused by the two-way causality between social interaction strengths and migration, we utilize "historical family political identity in land reform" as an instrumental variable for social interactions. However, the hypothesis that probit and instrumental-variable probit results are not significantly different is not rejected. The existence of a nonlinear peer effect has rich policy implications. For policy makers to encourage rural-urban migration, it is feasible to increase education investment in rural areas or increase information sharing among rural residents. However, only an increase in the constant term in the regression, i.e., a "big push" in improving institutions for migration, can help rural Chinese residents escape the low equilibrium in migration. |
| Keywords: | labor migration, urbanization, peer effect, social interaction, social multiplier |
| JEL: | J61 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd08-008&r=lab |
| By: | David A. Grigorian; Tigran A. Melkonyan; J. Scott Shonkwiler |
| Abstract: | Empirical studies that use self-reported data on remittances to measure the latter's impact on microeconomic incentives mostly ignore the potential errors associated with reporting/measurement issues. An econometric procedure to control for these errors is developed and applied to household-level data from Armenia. We find evidence of systematic under-reporting of remittances. After controlling for this, we find a strong negative impact of remittances on incentives to work. |
| Keywords: | Workers remittances , Armenia , Data collection , Financial incentives , Labor supply , Economic models , |
| Date: | 2008–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/230&r=lab |
| By: | Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: | Until very recently, the conventional wisdom was that the return to education was very high in Africa. However, some recent analysis point to low average returns to education in some African countries including Nigeria. Given these low returns to education, a relevant question is what causes low returns or what can cause changes in returns to education? In this paper, I examine the hypothesis that economic and political reforms can lead to increased returns to schooling using the case of Nigeria. Following the sudden death of military general Sanni Abacha, Nigeria moved to democracy in 1999, ending an over 15 years stretch of military rule. This move was followed by significant institutional and economic reforms, which provide an opportunity to examine the short term impact of reforms on returns to education. The average return to education is estimated using instrumental variables exploiting a quasi experiment in Nigeria. The results provide evidence that reforms implemented post democracy in Nigeria led to a 2.6% point increase in average returns to education. Furthermore, I find that the low average return to schooling in Nigeria reflects more the low returns at the primary and secondary levels. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, wage reform, military, democratic reform |
| JEL: | J08 O12 O15 P5 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3766&r=lab |
| By: | Trude Lappegård (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | We address the relationship between family policies and fertility in Norway, including three somewhat different policies: parental leave, formal childcare, and the childcare cash benefit. Norwegian family policy has been considered dualistic, giving priority to both dual-earner support and general family support. Our data are administrative register data covering the period 1995–2002. The analysis shows that policies that promote father involvement in childcare and gender equality are positively associated with timing of second births, while policies giving more general family support are positively associated with timing of third births. The so-called "double-tracked" family policy seems to apply to different couples in a positive matter. An important insight of this paper is that both policies designed to improve reconciliation of work and family, and policies designed to improve childcare choices for parents, are indeed popular; however, in terms of fertility outcomes, there is wide heterogeneity in how they respond to the policies. |
| Keywords: | fertility; family policy; parental leave; formal childcare; the childcare cash benefit |
| JEL: | J13 J18 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:564&r=lab |
| By: | Andaluz, Joaquín (University of Zaragoza); Marcén, Miriam (University of Zaragoza); Molina, José Alberto (University of Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the dynamics of bargaining in an intrahousehold context. To explore long-term partner relationships, we analyse bilateral bargaining by considering that spouses take decisions sequentially. We conclude that a greater valuation of the present, rather than the future, for the spouse who takes the second decision, increases the set of possible sustainable agreements, as well as the proportion of time that this agent devotes to a family good. |
| Keywords: | Stackelberg game, family bargaining, family good |
| JEL: | C71 C72 C62 J12 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3757&r=lab |
| By: | Benno Torgler (QUT); Markus Schaffner (QUT); Bruno S. Frey (University of Zurich); Sascha L. Schmidt (European Business School, Oestrich Winkel, Germany); Uwe Dulleck (QUT) |
| Abstract: | The experimental literature and studies using survey data have established that people care a great deal about their relative economic position and not solely, as standard economic theory assumes, about their absolute economic position. Individuals are concerned about social comparisons. However, behavioral evidence in the field is rare. This paper provides an empirical analysis, testing the model of inequality aversion using two unique panel data sets for basketball and soccer players. We find support that the concept of inequality aversion helps to understand how the relative income situation affects performance in a real competitive environment with real tasks and real incentives. |
| Keywords: | Inequality aversion, relative income, positional concerns, envy, social comparison, performance, interdependent preferences |
| JEL: | D00 D60 L83 |
| Date: | 2008–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:auncer:2008-25&r=lab |
| By: | Anirban Basu; Wesley Yin; G. Caleb Alexander |
| Abstract: | Features of Part D gave rise to broad concern that the drug benefit would negatively impact prescription utilization among the six million dual eligible beneficiaries, either during the transition from state Medicaid to Part D coverage, or in the long-run. At the same time, Part D contained other features, such as its auto-enrollment and premium subsidization policies, which were designed to safeguard utilization for this vulnerable group. Using national retail pharmacy claims, we examine the experience of dual eligibles during the first 18 months of Part D. We find no evidence that Part D adversely affected pharmaceutical utilization or out-of-pocket expenditures in the transition period, or in the 18 months subsequent to Part D implementation. |
| JEL: | H42 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14413&r=lab |
| By: | Jose Apesteguia; Ignacio Palacios-Huerta |
| Abstract: | Much like cognitive abilities, emotional skills can have major effects on perfor mance and economic outcomes. This paper studies the behavior of professional subjects involved in a dynamic competition in their own natural environment. The setting is a penalty shoot-out in soccer where two teams compete in a tournament framework taking turns in a sequence of five penalty kicks each. As the kicking order is determined by the random outcome of a coin flip, the treatment and control groups are determined via explicit randomization. Therefore, absent any psychological effects, both teams should have the same probability of winning regardless of the kicking order. Yet, we find a systematic first-kicker advantage. Using data on 2,731 penalty kicks from 262 shoot-outs for a three decade period, we find that teams kicking first win the penalty shoot-out 60.5% of the time. A dynamic panel data analysis shows that the psychological mechanism underlying this result arises from the asymmetry in the partial score. As most kicks are scored, kicking first typically means having the opportunity to lead in the partial score, whereas kicking second typically means lagging in the score and having the opportunity to, at most, get even. Having a worse prospect than the opponent hinders subjects' performance. Further, we also find that professionals are self-aware of their own psychological effects. When a recent change in regulations gives winners of the coin toss the chance to choose the kicking order, they rationally react to it by systematically choosing to kick first. A survey of professional players reveals that when asked to explain why they prefer to kick first, they precisely identify the psychological mechanism for which we find empirical support in the data: they want “to lead in the score in order to put pressure on the opponent." |
| Keywords: | LeeX |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1116&r=lab |
| By: | Chrystelle Gaujard (Department of Economics, Grandiose University) |
| Abstract: | Les start-up sont désormais entrées dans le jargon populaire. Le terme luimême est ambigu. En effet « start-up » signifie « démarrer », autrement dit, l’entité considérée est une création d’entreprise, mais dans la pratique, elle est essentiellement rattachée à une entreprise innovante attire encore et toujours les individus et les investisseurs. Comment fonctionnent ces entreprises ? Quelles en sont les caractéristiques ? Cet article tente de cerner et synthétiser leurs caractéristiques organisationnelles grâce à la construction de leur idéaltype. En tant qu’entreprises dont l’émergence est insérée dans un contexte de ruptures, les start-up peuvent être révélatrices de nouvelles propositions pour l’organisation du travail et de l’emploi. Start-ups are now well-known even if the term itself seems to be ambiguous. « To start-up » means initially to begin a new business whereas in practice it deals mainly with an innovative company which still attracts individuals and investors. How do these companies operate? What are their distinctive characteristics? This article attempts to define and to typify their organizational features by building their idealtype. As startups have been emerging in a changing context, they might reveal new proposals for the organization of work. |
| Keywords: | start-ups, organization and managment of work |
| JEL: | M13 L26 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rii:riidoc:178&r=lab |
| By: | Engelbert Stockhammer (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration); Simon Sturn (IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the hypothesis that the extent to which hysteresis occurs in the aftermath of recessions depends on monetary policy reactions. The degree of hysteresis is explained econometrically by the extent of monetary easing during a recession and by standard variables for labour market institutions in a pooled cross-country analysis using quarterly data. The sample includes 40 recessions in 19 OECD countries for which the required data is available. The time period lasts from 1980 to 2007. The paper builds on Ball (1999) and extends the sample of countries, the time period under investigation and the set of control variables. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy, NAIRU, structual unemployment, hysteresis, endogenous NAIRU |
| JEL: | E24 E39 E50 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:wpaper:15-2008&r=lab |
| By: | Elisabeth Gugl (Department of Economics, University of Victoria); Linda Welling (Department of Economics, University of Victoria) |
| Abstract: | Birth order effects are found in empirical work, but lack solid theoretical foundations in economics. Our new modeling approach to children provides this. Each child’s needs change as it grows, and births are sequential. Each child has the same genetic make-up and parents do not favor one child over the other. Parental child care time lowers the caregiver’s current and future wages; this opportunity cost varies across time. Benefits also vary, and when parental child care is a public input co-resident children allow economies of scope in child care. Birth order effects emerge from the changing benefits and costs. |
| Keywords: | Birth order, children, family |
| JEL: | D13 D91 J13 |
| Date: | 2008–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vic:vicddp:0801&r=lab |
| By: | Francesca Bettio; Tushar K. Nandi |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate which factors influence the pattern of enforcement (violation) of basic rights among women trafficked for sexual exploitation. A conceptual frameworkis adopted where the degree of agency and the possibility to influence the terms of sex-based transactions are seen as conditional on the enforcement of some basic rights. Using IOM data on women assisted in exiting from trafficking for sexual exploitation, we investigate the enforcement (violation) of five uncompromisable rights, namely the right to physical integrity, to move freely, to have access to medical care, to use condoms, and to exercise choice over sexual services. By combining classification trees analysis and ordered probit estimation we find that working location and country of work are the main determinants of rights enforcement, while individual and family characteristics play a marginal role. Specifically, we find that (i) in lower market segments working on the street is comparatively less ‘at risk’ of rights violation; (ii) there is no consistently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ country of work, but public awareness on trafficking within the country is important; (iii) the strength of organized crime in the country of work matters only in conjunction with other local factors, and (iv) being trafficked within one’s country, as opposed to being trafficked internationally, is associated with higher risk of rights violation |
| Keywords: | human trafficking, sexual exploitation, basic rights, classification and regression trees, ordered probit |
| JEL: | J49 J8 J16 K42 C35 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:543&r=lab |
| By: | Henry Sauermann; Wesley M. Cohen |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of individual-level motives upon innovative effort and performance in firms. Drawing from economics and social psychology, we develop a model of the impact of individuals' motives and incentives upon their innovative effort and performance. Using data on over 11,000 industrial scientists and engineers (SESTAT 2003), we find that individuals' motives have significant effects upon innovative effort and performance. These effects vary significantly, however, by the particular kind of motive (e.g., desire for intellectual challenge vs. pay). We also find that intrinsic and extrinsic motives affect innovative performance even when controlling for effort, suggesting that motives affect not only the level of individual effort, but also its quality. Overall, intrinsic motives, particularly the desire for intellectual challenge, appear to benefit innovation more than extrinsic motives such as pay. |
| JEL: | O3 O30 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14443&r=lab |
| By: | Cappellari, Lorenzo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Jenkins, Stephen P. (University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | We model the dynamics of social assistance benefit receipt in Britain using data from the British Household Panel Survey, waves 1–15. First, we discuss definitions of social assistance benefit receipt, and present information about the trends between 1991 and 2005 in the receipt of social assistance benefits, and in annual rates of transition into and out of receipt. Second, we review potential multivariate modelling approaches especially the dynamic random effects probit models that are used in our empirical analysis and, third, discuss sample selection criteria and explanatory variables. Fourth, we present our regression estimation estimates and interpret them. The final section contains a summary of the substantive results, and highlights some lessons concerning application of the analysis for other countries and some methodological issues. |
| Keywords: | social assistance, welfare benefits, dynamic random effects probit, income dynamics |
| JEL: | I38 C33 C35 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3765&r=lab |
| By: | Nabanita Datta Gupta (Danish National Centre for Social Research); Leslie S Stratton (Department of Economics, VCU School of Business) |
| Abstract: | We exploit time use data from Denmark and the United States to examine the impact institutions and social norms have on individuals' bargaining power within a household, hypothesizing that the more generous social welfare system and more egalitarian social norms in Denmark will mitigate the impact standard economic power measures have upon couples' time use. Further we posit that leisure time will be more sensitive to power considerations than housework time which may be more influenced by preferences regarding household public goods, to gendered notions of time use, and to censoring. Our results are generally supportive of these hypotheses, with leisure time on non-work days in the US being particularly responsive to economic power. In addition, we find some evidence that institutions matter as women in the US who are more likely to receive welfare benefits enjoy more leisure time than would be suggested by their economic power alone. |
| Keywords: | Time Use, Power, Leisure, Institutions, Norms |
| JEL: | J22 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vcu:wpaper:0806&r=lab |