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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Moral-Carcedo, Julián (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.) |
| Abstract: | The main consistent conclusions of the empirical literature about the effects of minimum wages are threefold. First, there exists evidence about the negative employment effects of minimum wages, notably for the least-skilled groups. Secondly, after an increase in minimum wage, the probability that a teenager leaves school also increases. And, thirdly, the minimum wage affects not only the earnings of workers on minimum wage, but also of other workers with higher wages. In this paper we present an adverse selection model that deals with all these aspects. In this model, costly education serves as a signal of the worker’s ability, which, initially, is private information. The firms in this model make competitive offers to workers after observing if they are or not educated, but retain the option to fire them when their true ability is revealed. Under this model setting, after the establishment of a minimum wage, an adverse selection problem emerges and no low skilled worker is hired. We show how a situation of equilibrium could be re-established through changes in the firing and educational costs that reinforce the signalling mechanism. These changes, however, do not alter, qualitatively, the main conclusions about the effects of minimum wage, since the negative effect on low skilled unemployment, on the spill-over in wages, and on the discouraging effect on education, persist. |
| Keywords: | Signalling; minimum wages; firing costs; education |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpaper:200904&r=lab |
| By: | McGuinness, Seamus (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin); Sloane, Peter J. (University of Wales, Swansea) |
| Abstract: | There is much disagreement in the literature over the extent to which graduates are mismatched in the labour market and the reasons for this. In this paper we utilise the Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society (REFLEX) data set to cast light on these issues, based on data for UK graduates. REFLEX examines the labour market status of graduates five years after graduation and distinguishes between first and current job, vertical and horizontal mismatch, over/underqualification and over/underskilling as well as including a range of questions on the nature of work organisation and individual competences. We find substantial pay penalties for over-education for both sexes and for overskilling in the case of men only. When both education and skill mismatch variables are included together in the model only overskilling reduces job satisfaction consistently for both sexes. Using job attributes data it appears that the lower wages of the overqualified may in part simply represent a compensating wage differential for positive job attributes, while for men at least there are real costs to being overskilled. |
| Keywords: | skills, education, job matching, graduates |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4168&r=lab |
| By: | John S. Heywood; Daniel Parent |
| Abstract: | We show that the reported tendency for performance pay to be associated with greater wage inequality at the top of the earnings distribution applies only to white workers. This results in the white-black wage differential among those in performance pay jobs growing over the earnings distribution even as the same differential shrinks over the distribution for those not in performance pay jobs. We show this remains true even when examining suitable counterfactuals that hold observables constant between whites and blacks. We explore reasons behind our finding that performance pay is associated with greater racial earnings gaps at the top of the wage distribution focusing on the interactions between discrimination, unmeasured ability and selection. |
| Keywords: | Racial wage differentials, compensation practices |
| JEL: | J15 J31 J33 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0916&r=lab |
| By: | Chen, Longhwa (Aletheia University); Eriksson, Tor (Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business) |
| Abstract: | Besides wage offers, credentials like education, work experience and skill requirements are key screening tools for firms in their recruitment of new employees. This paper contributes some new evidence to a relatively tiny literature on firms’ recruitment behaviour. In particular, our analysis is concerned with how vacancy durations vary with firms’ minimum wage offers and minimum job requirements (regarding education, skills, age, gender and earlier work experience). The empirical analysis is based on ten employer surveys carried out by the DGBAS on Taiwan during the period 1996-2006. We estimate logistic discrete hazard models with a rich set of job and firm characteristics as explanatory variables. The results show that vacancies associated with higher wage offers take, ceteris paribus, longer to be filled. The impact of firms’ wage offers and credential requirements does not vary over the business cycle. However, firms vary their skills requirements over the business cycle: our empirical analysis shows that, for a given wage offer, requirements are stricter in recessions and downturns. Separating between reasons for posting vacancies turned out important in explaining differences in vacancy durations. The duration of vacancies due to regular turnover and changing business cycle condition are less affected by skill requirements than that of other vacant jobs. |
| Keywords: | Job vacancies; Recruitment; Wage offers; Job requirements |
| JEL: | J32 J33 M12 |
| Date: | 2009–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:aareco:2009_006&r=lab |
| By: | Norin, Anna (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | The aim of the present paper is to empirically estimate the monetary value workers place on safer working conditions. The marginal willingness to pay for workplace safety is estimated using data on job durations together with data on accident risks and wages. The results indicate that individuals value safety to 0.65-4.1 percent of annual wages. Male workers in service occupations are found to have the highest marginal willingness to pay. Female blue-collar workers are found to value workplace safety higher than male blue-collar workers. |
| Keywords: | Search; Accelerated duration; Wage differentials; Sweden |
| JEL: | J17 J28 J31 J81 |
| Date: | 2009–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0771&r=lab |
| By: | Eva M. Berger |
| Abstract: | In contrast to unemployment, the effect of non-participation and parttime employment on subjective well-being has much less frequently been the subject of economists' investigations. In Germany, many women with dependent children are involuntarily out of the labor force or in part-time employment because of family constraints (e.g., due to lack of available and appropriate childcare). Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) Study, this paper analyzes the impact of involuntary familyrelated non-participation and part-time employment on mothers' life satisfaction. Controlling for unobserved individual fixed effects, I find that both the pecuniary effects (foregone earnings) and the non-pecuniary effects (psychological costs) are significantly negative. Compensating income variations reveal that the residual household income would have to be raised by 182 percent (157 percent/77 percent) in order to just offset the negative effect of not being able to work because of family constraints (of being in short/long part-time employment). Moreover, in terms of overall happiness among mothers, non-participation is revealed to be a more serious problem than unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Subjective well-being, life satisfaction, labor force participation, part-time, maternal employment, work-family conflict |
| JEL: | I31 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp890&r=lab |
| By: | Julie L. Hotchkiss; Myriam Quispe-Agnoli |
| Abstract: | Using matched employer-employee data from the state of Georgia, this paper investigates the potential for employer monopsony power in the labor market for undocumented workers. We find that the labor supply elasticity of undocumented workers is about 13 percent lower than that estimated for documented workers, suggesting that at least some of the observed wage gap between documented and undocumented workers can be explained by firms' exploiting their monopsony power. There is also evidence of some displacement, with the hiring of undocumented workers being associated with a small amount of documented worker separation. |
| Keywords: | Labor market |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:2009-14&r=lab |
| By: | Cihan Bilginsoy |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the union effects on the wage gap and dispersion in two pooled samples of construction craftworkers (CPS 1983-88 and 2000-05) using decomposition analysis and kernel density estimation. It shows that despite the decline in the adjusted union wage gap declined over time, the unadjusted union wage premium remained high due to the divergence of returns to workforce characteristics in favor of union workers. This pattern was more marked in the basic trades in comparison with the mechanical trades. Unions also contributed to a wider wage dispersion because they created a union wage gap and this wage gap increased across the “competitive” wage distribution. Unions raised the wages of workers who were located in the middle of the wage density but did not have an effect on the lower wage workers. |
| Keywords: | Wage structure, unionization, construction |
| JEL: | J3 J5 L7 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uta:papers:2009_07&r=lab |
| By: | Sîle O'Dorchai (DULBEA, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses disparity in women’s pay across 20 European countries using EU-SILC 2006. First, a selectivity-adjusted gender pay gap is computed and examined in each of the countries. Next, the impact of parenthood is analysed. We show that women suffer a wage disadvantage compared with men all over Europe. Motherhood usually reinforces the gender gap but discrimination is more sex- than maternity-related so that it concerns all women as (potential) mothers. Fatherhood has a positive impact on men’s wages. Finally, in most countries, the wage gap between mothers and fathers is even deeper than that between women and men. |
| Keywords: | wage gap estimation/decomposition, gender, parenthood. |
| JEL: | C21 J24 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dul:wpaper:09-11.rs&r=lab |
| By: | Sanromá, Esteve (University of Barcelona); Ramos, Raul (University of Barcelona); Simón, Hipólito (University of Alicante) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyse the role played by the different components of human capital in the wage determination of recent immigrants within the Spanish labour market. Using microdata from the Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes 2007, the paper examines returns to human capital of immigrants, distinguishing between human capital accumulated in their home countries and in Spain. It also examines the impact on wages of the legal status. The evidence shows that returns to host country sources of human capital are higher than returns to foreign human capital, reflecting the limited international transferability of the latter. The only exception occurs in the case of immigrants from developed countries and immigrants who have studied in Spain. Whatever their home country, they obtain relatively high wage returns to education, including the part not acquired in the host country. Having legal status in Spain is associated with a substantial wage premium of around 15%. Lastly, the overall evidence confirms the presence of a strong heterogeneity in wage returns to different kinds of human capital and in the wage premium associated to the legal status as a function of the immigrants' area of origin. |
| Keywords: | immigration, wages, human capital |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4157&r=lab |
| By: | Maurer-Fazio, Margaret (Bates College); Hughes, James W. (Bates College); Zhang, Dandan (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines differences in China's ethnic majority and minority patterns of labor force participation and decomposes these differences into treatment and endowment effects using the technique developed by Borooah and Iyer (2005). Population census data are used to estimate gender-separated urban labor force participation rates (lfpr) using logit regressions which control for educational attainment, marital status, pre-school and school-age children, household size, age, and measures of local economic conditions. We focus on six minority groups (Hui, Koreans, Manchu, Mongolians, Uygurs, and Zhuang) and the majority Han. We find sizable differences between the lfpr of urban women of particular ethnic groups and the majority Han. Men's lfpr are very high and exhibit little difference between Han and ethnic minorities. For almost all pair-wise comparisons between Han and minority women, we find that differences in coefficients account for more than 100% of the Han-ethnic difference in labor force participation. Differences in endowments often have substantial effects in reducing this positive Han margin in labor force participation. Roughly speaking, treatment of women's characteristics, whether in the market or socially, tend to increase the Han advantage in labor force participation. The levels of these characteristics on average tend to reduce this Han advantage. |
| Keywords: | China, ethnic minorities, labor force participation, economic reform, population censuses |
| JEL: | J1 J2 J7 O1 O5 P2 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4148&r=lab |
| By: | Goux, Dominique; Maurin, Eric |
| Abstract: | French children start public school either the year they turn two or the year they turn three. We evaluate the impact of this unique schooling policy on maternal labour supply. Using a Regression-discontinuity design, we show that early school availability has a significant employment effect on lone mothers, but no effect on two-parent families. Also we show that the effect grows larger as the child grows older and as the family loses eligibility for child benefits. Finally, we provide some new evidence that school enrolment at the age of two has no adverse effect on children’s subsequent educational outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Maternal Labor Supply; Preschool |
| JEL: | J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7299&r=lab |
| By: | Dahl, Molly (Congressional Budget Office); DeLeire, Thomas (University of Wisconsin, Madison); Schwabish, Jonathan (Congressional Budget Office) |
| Abstract: | While many studies have found that the EITC increases the employment rates of single mothers, no study to date has examined whether the jobs taken by single mothers as a result of the EITC incentives are "dead-end" jobs or jobs that have the potential for earnings growth. Using a panel of administrative earnings data linked to nationally representative survey data, we find no evidence that the EITC expansions between 1994 and 1996 induced single mothers to take "dead-end" jobs. If anything, the increase in earnings growth during the mid-to-late 1990s for single mothers who were particularly affected by the EITC expansion was higher than it was for other similar women. The EITC encourages work among single mothers, and that work continues to pay off through future increases in earnings. |
| Keywords: | earned income tax credit, earnings, single mothers |
| JEL: | J3 H2 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4146&r=lab |
| By: | Sologon, Denisa Maria (Maastricht University); O'Donoghue, Cathal (Teagasc Rural Economy Research Centre) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses ECHP and OECD data for 14 EU countries to explore the role of labour market factors in explaining cross-national differences in the dynamic structure of earnings: in permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility. Based on ECHP, minimum distance estimator is used to decompose earnings inequality into the permanent and transitory components and compute earnings mobility. The predicted components together with the institutional OECD data are used in a non-linear least squares setting to estimate the relationship between permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility, and labour market policy and institutional factors. The results revealed a highly complex framework, where institutions interact significantly not only with each other and with the overall institutional setting, but also with the macroeconomic shocks in shaping the pattern of the three labour market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility, labour market institutions, labour market policies |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J31 J60 J50 J08 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4151&r=lab |
| By: | Martin Sommer |
| Abstract: | Over the past decade, productivity-adjusted wages have grown at a slower pace in Japan than in other rich countries. This paper suggests that Japan's dualities between regular and "nonregular" labor market contracts and the relatively inefficient services sector have exacerbated the negative impact of globalization and technical change on the labor income share felt in all advanced economies. Reforms aimed at increasing productivity in services and reducing gaps in employment protection and benefits between regular and nonregular workers could help put Japan's wages on an upward trajectory in the medium term. |
| Keywords: | Wages , Japan , Developed countries , Productivity , Labor markets , Employment , Aging , Labor market reforms , Economic models , Cross country analysis , |
| Date: | 2009–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:09/97&r=lab |
| By: | Denisa Maria Sologon; Cathal O'Donoghue |
| Abstract: | This paper uses ECHP and OECD data for 14 EU countries to explore the role of labour market factors in explaining cross-national differences in the dynamic structure of earnings: in permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility. Based on ECHP, minimum distance estimator is used to decompose earnings inequality into the permanent and transitory components and compute earnings mobility. The predicted components together with the institutional OECD data are used in a non-linear least squares setting to estimate the relationship between permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility, and labour market policy and institutional factors. The results revealed a highly complex framework, where institutions interact significantly not only with each other and with the overall institutional setting, but also with the macroeconomic shocks in shaping the pattern of the three labour market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility, labour market institutions; labour market policies |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J31 J60 J50 J08 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp183&r=lab |
| By: | Kai Christoffel (European Central Bank); James Costain (División de Investigación, Servicio de Estudios, Banco de España); Gregory de Walque (Research Department, National Bank of Belgium); Keith Kuester (Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Tobias Linzert (European Central Bank); Stephen Millard (Bank of England); Olivier Pierrard (Banque Centrale du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews recent approaches to modeling the labour market, and assesses their implications for inflation dynamics through both their effect on marginal cost and on price-setting behavior. In a search and matching environment, we consider the following modeling setups: right-to-manage bargaining vs. efficient bargaining, wage stickiness in new and existing matches, interactions at the firm level between price and wage-setting, alternative forms of hiring frictions, search on-the-job and endogenous job separation. We find that most specifications imply too little real rigidity and, so, too volatile inflation. Models with wage stickiness and right-to-manage bargaining or with firm-specific labour emerge as the most promising candidates |
| Keywords: | Inflation Dynamics, Labour Market, Business Cycle, Real Rigidities |
| JEL: | E E E J |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:200905-19&r=lab |
| By: | Katja Coneus; Johannes Gernandt; Marianne Saam |
| Abstract: | We analyse the determinants of dropout from secondary and vocational education in Germany using data from the Socio-Economic Panel from 2000 to 2007. In addition to the role of classical variables like family background and school achievements, we examine the effect of noncognitive skills. Both, better school grades and higher noncognitive skills reduce the risk to become an educational dropout. The influence of school achievements on the dropout probability tends to decrease and the influence of noncognitive skills tends to increase with age. |
| Keywords: | Noncognitive skills, school grades, secondary education, vocational training |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp176&r=lab |
| By: | Janine Leschke (European Trade Union Institute et Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Maria Jepsen (European Trade Union Institute et Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | Much of the gender inequality in the labour market is brought about by women's dual role as worker and (potential) carer. In this regard transitional arrangements can contribute to mitigate the risks associated with parenthood and to distribute risks more equally. This paper looks at these issues in light of the transitional labour market (TLM) concept. The first section discusses various gender-equality models which imply different ways of organising, for example, childcare, parental leave and flexible working time. Sections two and three look at gender inequalities in labour market outcomes and discuss transitional arrangements that can contribute to the achievement of more gender equality in six countries taken as examples. The last section discusses the results of the labour market and institutional analysis in light of the TLM concept. |
| Keywords: | Gender, labour market, transitional labour markets, childcare, parental leave, flexible working time. |
| JEL: | J08 J16 J38 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:09027&r=lab |
| By: | Steven Poelhekke |
| Abstract: | German metropolitan areas with more highly skilled workers became increasingly skilled between 1975 and 2003, and this has important implications for urban employment growth.Using for the first time German metropolitan areas instead of administrative regions we show that the share of college graduates affects growth by the same magnitude as it does in US MSAs. However, conventional estimators are biased upwards. Correcting for the endogeneity of initial employment and solving a common problem of under-identification shows that the effect is at least a third smaller and closer to 0.5% employment growth for a 10% increase in the concentration of skilled workers. The effect is robust to various controls across two data sets. We additionally question the view that aggregate productivity growth is solely due to college graduates. After distinguishing between six different skill levels we find positive growth effects of high school graduates with vocational training, especially if the local concentration of technical professionals is high. The concentration of non-technical university graduates becomes more important over time, but has less bearing on the marginal growth effects of other skill groups. City success may thus depend on the right' combination of skills as well as college graduates. |
| Keywords: | human capital; skills; city employment growth; Germany; GMM estimation |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:209&r=lab |
| By: | Salm, Martin (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the effect of job loss on health for near elderly employees based on longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study. Previous studies find a strong negative correlation between unemployment and health. To control for possible reverse causality, this study focuses on people who were laid off for an exogenous reason – the closure of their previous employers' business. I find that the unemployed are in worse health than employees, and that health reasons are a common cause of job termination. In contrast, I find no causal effect of exogenous job loss on various measures of physical and mental health. This suggests that the inferior health of the unemployed compared to the employed could be explained by reverse causality. |
| Keywords: | job displacement, health, unemployment |
| JEL: | I12 J63 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4147&r=lab |
| By: | K. Sundaram |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a review of the concepts and definitions used in the NSS Employment-Unemployment Surveys (EUS, for short) which have remained virtually unchanged since they were introduced in the NSS 27th Round (1972-73) based on the analysis and recommendations in the Report of the Expert Group on Unemployment Estimate – better known as the Dantwala Committee Report (GOI, 1970). It also examines critically the employment-unemployment estimates derived/derivable from EUS and the use of such estimates for planning and policy. [CDE DSE WP 174] |
| Keywords: | Employment-Unemployment Surveys; United Nations System of National Accounts; Indian System of National Accounts; primary products; Dantwala Committee; Planning Commission; NSS 61st Round Employment-Unemployment Survey; regular wage/salary workers; National Accounts Division of the Central Statistical Organization; Gross Value Added; Usual Principal Status; Directorate General of Employment and Training; work force participation rates; NIC-Codes; Modified Current Weekly Status |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1950&r=lab |
| By: | Dahlia K. Remler; Elda Pema |
| Abstract: | Higher education institutions and disciplines that traditionally did little research now reward faculty largely based on research, both funded and unfunded. Some worry that faculty devoting more time to research harms teaching and thus harms students’ human capital accumulation. The economics literature has largely ignored the reasons for and desirability of this trend. We summarize, review, and extend existing economic theories of higher education to explain why incentives for unfunded research have increased. One theory is that researchers more effectively teach higher order skills and therefore increase student human capital more than non-researchers. In contrast, according to signaling theory, education is not intrinsically productive but only a signal that separates high- and low-ability workers. We extend this theory by hypothesizing that researchers make higher education more costly for low-ability students than do non-research faculty, achieving the separation more efficiently. We describe other theories, including research quality as a proxy for hard-to-measure teaching quality and barriers to entry. Virtually no evidence exists to test these theories or establish their relative magnitudes. Research is needed, particularly to address what employers seek from higher education graduates and to assess the validity of current measures of teaching quality. |
| JEL: | I2 I21 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14974&r=lab |
| By: | Morris M. Kleiner; Alan B. Krueger |
| Abstract: | This study examines the extent and influence of occupational licensing in the U.S. using a specially designed national labor force survey. Specifically, we provide new ways of measuring occupational licensing and consider what types of regulatory requirements and what level of government oversight contribute to wage gains and variability. Estimates from the survey indicated that 35 percent of employees were either licensed or certified by the government, and that 29 percent were fully licensed. Another 3 percent stated that all who worked in their job would eventually be required to be certified or licensed, bringing the total that are or eventually must be licensed or certified by government to 38 percent. We find that licensing is associated with about 14 percent higher wages, but the effect of governmental certification on pay is much smaller. Licensing by multiple political jurisdictions is associated with the highest wage gains relative to only local licensing. Specific requirements by the government for a worker to enter an occupation, such as education level and long internships, are positively associated with wages. We find little association between licensing and the variance of wages, in contrast to unions. Overall, our results show that occupational licensing is an important labor market phenomenon that can be measured in labor force surveys. |
| JEL: | J08 J44 J58 J80 K23 K31 L38 L5 L51 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14979&r=lab |
| By: | Christian A. Gregory; Christopher J. Ruhm |
| Abstract: | The literature examining the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and wages has fairly consistently found that BMI has a negative impact on earnings for women, and less (if any) consequences for men. In this paper, we relax the assumption -- largely unquestioned in this research -- that the conditional mean of wages is linear or piecewise linear in body mass index (BMI). Using data from the 1986 and 1999-2005 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate semi-parametric wage models that allow earnings to vary with BMI in a highly flexible manner. For women, the results show that earnings peak at levels far below the clinical threshold of "obesity" or even "overweight". For men, our main estimates suggest a reasonably flat BMI-wage profile that peaks early in the "overweight" category. However, the results of instrumental variables (IV) models or specifications focusing on long-lags of BMI are more similar to those for women. The findings for females (and the IV estimates for males) suggest that it is not obesity but rather some other factor -- such as physical attractiveness -- that produces the observed relationship between BMI and wages. We also provide non-parametric estimates of the association between BMI and health expenditures, using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. These cast further doubt on the hypothesis that the wage penalties associated with increasing BMI occur because the latter serve as an index for underlying medical costs. |
| JEL: | I1 I12 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14984&r=lab |
| By: | Dominika Kalinowska; Uwe Kunert |
| Abstract: | Results from travel demand research in many countries show that – on average – women are less mobile and have different mobility patterns than men. Recent longitudinal studies of gender specific travel demand reveal converging mobility of males and females. Moreover, in some countries results show convergence between cohort and gender specific travel demand: women and men display more and more similar travel behaviour while older individuals today have higher mobility demands than ever before. Do these developments hold also for Germany? Based on socio-economic and demographic analysis of gender specific travel behaviour using the German mobility survey data from 2002, we ask what individual travel patterns can be expected for the future in the year 2025. We place emphasis on the importance of educational attainment and labour force participation for the assessment of future personal mobility. |
| Keywords: | travel demand, cohort effects, gender, households, ageing population |
| JEL: | R41 J11 J14 J16 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp892&r=lab |
| By: | Bino Paul G.D |
| Abstract: | This is the first Bi-annual India Labour Market Report, published by Adecco TISS Labour Market Research Initiatives. The exploration of emerging issues in Indian labour market through the ATLMRI discussion paper series, consisting of eight discussion papers on themes such as employment, employability, labour law, and educational attainment, has provided useful cues about contemporary issues in Indian labour market. A felt need was for a more comprehensive report on emerging aspects of Indian labour market. Thus, the idea of India Labour Market was born. |
| Keywords: | labouar market, labour, employment, employability, law, educational attainment, ATLMRI, ADDECO, Addeco, Labour Studies, India, TISS |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1943&r=lab |
| By: | Flannery, Darragh (National University of Ireland, Galway); O'Donoghue, Cathal (Teagasc Rural Economy Research Centre) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present a theoretical model of higher education participation. We assume that young people that complete upper secondary education are faced with three choices, go to higher education, not go to higher education or go to higher education and work part time. Utilizing the Living in Ireland survey data 1994-2001 we model this choice in an Irish context by variation in costs (direct and indirect), the estimated lifecycle returns and household credit constraints. Using a random parameters logit choice model we find that simulated lifecycle earnings positively impact the educational/labour choices of young individuals in Ireland. This positive relationship is also found to be true for a choice-specific household income variable constructed in the paper. From the random parameters logit estimations we also find that preferences for choices with higher simulated lifecycle earnings and household income vary across individuals. We conduct policy simulations from our estimations and found that increasing student financial aid levels by 10% combined with a slight widening of the income limits for these aids can lead to significant movement away from the decision to not enter higher education. |
| Keywords: | higher education participation, random parameters logit model, lifecycle simulated earnings, higher education policy |
| JEL: | I23 C35 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4163&r=lab |
| By: | Marie-Pierre Dargnies (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of the possibility to enter a tournament as a team on the gender gap in tournament entry. While a large and siignificant gender gap in entry in the individual tournament is found in line with the literature, no gender gap is found in entry in the team tournament. While women do not choose to enter the tournament significantly more often when it is team-based, men enter significantly less as part of a team than alone. Changes in overconfidence as well as in risk, ambiguity and feedback aversion, the difference in men and women's taste for the uncertainty on their teammate's ability all account for a part of the disappearance of the gender gap in tournament entry. A remaining explanation is that being part of a team changes men and women's taste for performing in a competitive environment. |
| Keywords: | Gender gap, tournament, teams. |
| JEL: | D81 C91 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:09006&r=lab |
| By: | Steffen Rätzel (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg) |
| Abstract: | In empirical analyses, employment status has a substantial influence on individual wellbeing. People without work are consistently less happy, even after controlling for income. This result seems to contradict the standard theory assumption of labour disutility. In this paper, we analyze the impact of working time on happiness. The results show distinct positive utility effects caused by employment and working time. Happiness correlates positively with hours worked. However, there is an inverse U-shaped correlation – excessive hours reverse the relationship. Additionally, the results show the importance of exogenously given deviations of working time from the individually preferred labour supply. These discrepancies reduce well-being and counterbalance the positive effects of work. |
| Keywords: | Labour Supply, Working Hours, Happiness, Life Satisfaction |
| JEL: | J22 J30 D60 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mag:wpaper:09005&r=lab |
| By: | Denisa Maria Sologon; Cathal O'Donoghue |
| Abstract: | This paper uses ECHP for 14 EU countries to explore the dynamic structure of individual earnings and the extent to which changes in cross-sectional earnings inequality reflect transitory or permanent components of individual lifecycle earnings variation. Increases in inequality reflect increases in permanent differentials in four countries and increases in both components in two. Decreases in inequality reflect decreases in transitory differentials in four countries, in permanent differentials in two and in both components in rest. In general, increases in inequality are accompanied by decreases in mobility, whereas only in three countries the increase in mobility is determined by the decrease in inequality. |
| Keywords: | Panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J31 J60 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp184&r=lab |
| By: | Cingano, Federico (Bank of Italy); Leonardi, Marco (University of Milan); Messina, Julián (University of Girona); Pica, Giovanni (University of Salerno) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the joint effect of EPL and financial market imperfections on investment, capital-labour substitution, labour productivity and job reallocation in a cross-country framework. In the spirit of Rajan and Zingales (1998) and Ciccone and Papaioannou (2006), we exploit variation in the need for reallocation at the sectoral and aggregate level to assess the average effect of EPL on firms' policies. Then, exploiting firm-level information we study if the effect of EPL is stronger in firms with lower levels of internal resources. We find that, on average, EPL reduces investment per worker, capital per worker and value added per worker in high reallocation sectors relative to low reallocation sectors. The reduction in the capital-labour ratio is less pronounced in firms with higher internal resources, suggesting that financial constraints exacerbate the negative effects of EPL on capital deepening. |
| Keywords: | labor market imperfections, financial market imperfections, capital-labor substitution |
| JEL: | J21 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4158&r=lab |
| By: | Campbell, Carl M. |
| Abstract: | This study derives a reduced-form equation for the aggregate supply curve from a model in which firms pay efficiency wages and workers have imperfect information about average wages at other firms. If specific assumptions are made about workers’ expectations of average wages and about aggregate demand, the model predicts how the aggregate demand and supply curves shift and how output and prices adjust in response to demand shocks and supply shocks. The model also provides an alternative explanation for Lucas’ (1973) finding that the AS curve is steeper in countries with greater inflation variability. |
| Keywords: | Aggregate supply curve; efficiency wages; imperfect information |
| JEL: | E32 J41 E10 |
| Date: | 2009–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15296&r=lab |
| By: | Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso (University of Florida); Light, Audrey (Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: | Researchers often identify degree effects by including degree attainment (D) and years of schooling (S) in a wage model, yet the source of independent variation in these measures is not well understood. We argue that S is negatively correlated with ability among degree-holders because the most able graduate the fastest, while a positive correlation exists among dropouts because the most able benefit from increased schooling. Using data from the NLSY79, we find support for this explanation, and we reject the notion that the independent variation in S and D reflects reporting error. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, degree effects |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4169&r=lab |
| By: | Robert Dur; Arjan Non; Hein Roelfsema |
| Abstract: | We study optimal incentive contracts for workers who are reciprocal to management attention. When neither worker¿s effort nor manager¿s attention can be contracted, a double moral-hazard problem arises, implying that reciprocal workers should be given weak financial incentives. In a multiple-agent setting, this problem can be resolved using promotion incentives. We test these predictions using German Socio-Economic Panel data. We find that workers who are more reciprocal are significantly more likely to receive promotion incentives, while there is no such relation for individual bonus pay. |
| Keywords: | Reciprocity, social exchange, incentive contracts, double moral hazard, GSOEP |
| JEL: | D86 J41 M51 M52 M54 M55 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp177&r=lab |
| By: | Hervé Boulhol; Laure Turner |
| Abstract: | This paper formalises the analysis of the employment-productivity trade-off by extending the framework developed by Gordon (1997) to account for labour heterogeneity. The extent of the trade-off is determined by the extent of the adjustment of capital to effective labour and by the changes in aggregate labour quality. The main experiment reported in the paper consists of assessing the labour utilisation and productivity impacts in OECD countries of aligning group-specific employment rates to the US levels. Matching the US employment performance defined in that sense would enable low-employment OECD countries to reduce only half of the aggregate employment-rate gap vis-à-vis the United States, the other half being mechanically due to differences in the population structure by age and educational attainment. In this experiment, a 1% gain in employment is associated with a decrease of 0.24% in labour productivity on average across countries, and of 0.35% in low-employment countries.<P>Compromis emploi - productivité et effets de composition<BR>Cette étude formalise l’analyse du compromis entre emploi et productivité en étendant le cadre développé par Gordon (1997) pour prendre en compte l’hétérogénéité de la main-d’oeuvre. L’ampleur de ce compromis est déterminée par l’étendue de l’ajustement du capital à la main-d’oeuvre effective et par les changements dans la qualité de la main-d’oeuvre. La principale expérience rapportée dans l’étude consiste en l’évaluation de l’impact sur l’utilisation de la main-d’oeuvre et sur la productivité du travail de l’alignement, pour chaque pays de l’OCDE, des taux d’emplois par groupe de population sur ceux des États-Unis. Répliquant la performance des États-Unis ainsi définie permettrait aux pays de l’OCDE ayant un faible niveau d’emplois de réduire seulement la moitié de l’écart de taux d’emploi agrégé vis-à-vis des États-Unis, l’autre moitié étant due mécaniquement à la structure de la population par âge et niveau d’éducation. Dans cette expérience, des gains de 1% en termes d’emplois sont associés à une baisse de 0.24% de la productivité du travail en moyenne pour les pays de l’OCDE et de 0.35% pour les pays ayant les niveaux d’emplois les plus bas. |
| Keywords: | démographie, aggregate employment, emploi agrégé, qualité de l'emploi, quality of labour, labour productivity, productivité du travail, demographics |
| JEL: | E24 J10 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:698-en&r=lab |
| By: | Pablo Vazquez Vega; Mario Alloza; Raquel Vegas; Stefano Bertozzi |
| Abstract: | The current slump is having a heterogeneous impact on the EU economies regarding their GDP and employment growth responses. The impact of immigrants’ unemployment on public finances of EU countries depends on three factors: (i) the sensitiveness of the economy to the business cycle, (ii) the share that migrants represent over total labour force population and (iii) the benefits structure of their unemployment benefits programs. Our results confirm that the impact of the rise in immigrants’ unemployment on the unemployment benefit burden during the next few years is likely to be sizeable. Unemployment benefit burden is expected to peak in 2009 after an increase in 2008, and to slow down slightly in 2010. We find that Latvia, Estonia and France are the ones more likely to suffer a higher public finance burden from the rise in immigrants´ unemployment. Other economies such as Germany, Finland, Spain, Ireland, Italy or Austria would also register a noticeable increase in their public burden although to a lesser extent. |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2009-15&r=lab |
| By: | Tarjei Havnes and Magne Mogstad (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | There is a heated debate in the US and Canada, as well as in many European countries, about a move towards subsidized, universally accessible child care. At the same time, studies on universal child care and child development are scarce, limited to short-run outcomes, and the findings are mixed. We analyze the introduction of subsidized, universally accessible child care in Norway, addressing the impact on the long-run outcomes of children. Our precise difference-in-difference estimates show that child care had strong positive effects on children's educational attainment and labor market participation, and also reduced welfare dependency. 17,500 new child care places produces around 6,200 additional years of education. In line with these results, we find that children exposed to child care delay child bearing and family formation as adults. Subsample estimations by child's sex and mother's education suggest that good access to subsidized child care levels the playing field. A battery of specification checks support our empirical strategy. |
| Keywords: | Universal child care; child development; long-run outcomes; difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | J13 H40 I28 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:582&r=lab |
| By: | Daniel Parent |
| Abstract: | Using U.S. and Canadian census data I exploit the massive out migration of approximately I million French-Canadians who moved mainly to New England between 1865 and 1930 to look at how the educational attainment and enrollment patterns of their descendants compare with those of same aged French-speaking Quebeckers. Data from the 1971 (1970) Canadian (U.S.) censuses reveal that New England born residents who had French as their mother tongue enjoyed a considerable advantage in terms of educational attainment. I attribute this large discrepancy to their exposure to the U.S. public school system wich had no equivalent in Quebec until the late sixties. This results is even more remarkable given the alleged negative selection out of Quebec and the fact that Franco-Americans were fairly successful in replicating the same educational institutions as the ones existing in Quebec. Turning to the 2001 (2000) Canadian (U.S.) censuses, I find strong signs that the gap has subsided for the younger aged individuals. In fact, contrary to 30 years earlier, young Quebeckers in 2001 had roughly the same number of years of schooling and were at least as likely to have some post-secondary education. However, they still trail when it comes to having at least a B.A. degree. This partial reversal reflects the impact of the "reverse treatment" by which Quebec made profound changes to its educational institutions, particularly in the post-secondary system, in the mid-to-late 60's. Given the speed at which this partial catch-up occurred, it would appear that the magnitude of the intergenerational externalities that can be associated with education is at best fairly modest. |
| Keywords: | Educational attainment, Institutions |
| JEL: | N10 I20 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0917&r=lab |
| By: | Jorge Soares (Department of Economics,University of Delaware) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a new rationale for imposing restrictions on child labor. In a standard overlapping generations model where parental altruism results in transfers that children allocate to consumption and education, the Nash-Cournot equilibrium results in sub-optimal levels of parental transfers and does not maximize the average level of utility of currently living agents. A ban on child labor decreases children's income and generates an increase in parental transfers bringing their levels closer to the optimum, raising children's welfare as well as average welfare in the short-run and in the long-run. Moreover, the inability to work allows children to allocate more time to education, and it leads to an increase in human capital. Besides, to increase transfers, parents decrease savings and, hence, physical capital accumulation. When prices are flexible, these effects diminish the positive welfare impact of the ban on child labor. |
| Keywords: | child labor, altruism, overlapping generations, welfare. |
| JEL: | D91 E21 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:09-01.&r=lab |
| By: | Gerald Eisenkopf |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses the impact of performance based selection in secondary education on student incentives. The theoretical approach combines human capital theory with signaling theory. The consideration of signaling offers an explanation for observed performance of educational systems with a standard peer effect argument. More specifically it can be optimal to select students according to ability even if selective systems do not outperform comprehensive systems in tests. Selection achieves the same output with lower private costs for the students. The paper questions the strong focus on educational tests to measure the efficiency of selective systems as long as these tests provide no information about a student’s incentives and private costs. |
| Keywords: | Education, signalling, selection, ability grouping, incentives |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:twi:respas:0042&r=lab |
| By: | Anil Nathan (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross) |
| Abstract: | The rigorous economic analysis of peer group formation is a burgeoning subject. Much has been written about how peers in uence an individual's behavior, and these effects are quite prevalent. However, less has been written on how exactly these peer groups begin and the resulting consequences of their formation. A reason for the dearth of knowledge on peer group formation is the lack of quality data sets that clearly define one's peers. To resolve this issue, this paper explores data which allows a peer group to be defined openly through self nominations. Using these nominations as well as characteristics of the students and their friends, it is possible to see on what dimensions these individuals are sorting into friendships. The data suggests that there is heavy sorting within race and academic ability. Additionally, tests for statistical discrimination on race and academics show that it is exhibited towards blacks and Hispanics. There is also weak evidence of statistical discrimination against whites. Empirical analysis also shows that the degree of statistical discrimination decreases for blacks and Hispanics over a year; however, there is little change for whites over the same period. This result suggests a process of learning about a noisy signal on academic characteristics. Future work includes models describing the benefit of having various friends and the probability of forming those friendships, which can be used to simulate redistribution policies. |
| Keywords: | National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Add Health, friendship formation, statistical discrimination, school redistribution |
| JEL: | J15 I2 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hcx:wpaper:0905&r=lab |
| By: | Nancy Qian |
| Abstract: | Many believe that increasing the quantity of children will lead to a decrease in their quality. This paper exploits plausibly exogenous changes in family size caused by relaxations in China's One Child Policy to estimate the causal effect of family size on school enrollment of the first child. The results show that for one-child families, an additional child significantly increased school enrollment of first-born children by approximately 16 percentage-points. The effect is larger for households where the children are of the same sex. |
| JEL: | I20 J13 O1 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14973&r=lab |
| By: | Rakesh Basant |
| Abstract: | A brief but comprehensive overview of linkages between higher education and the high tech sector and study the major linkages in India is provided. It is found that the links outside of the labor market are weak. This is attributed to a regulatory structure that separates research from the university and discourages good faculty from joining, which erodes the quality of the intellectual capital necessary to generate new knowledge. [IIMA WP No. 2009-05-01]. |
| Keywords: | education, high-tech industry, capital, intellectual, labour market, research, university, faculty, Patenting, India, research output |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1935&r=lab |
| By: | María Cervini Pla (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses intergenerational earnings mobility in Spain correcting for different selection biases. We address the co-residence selection problem by combining information from two samples and using the two-sample two-stage least square estimator. We find a small decrease in elasticity when we move to younger cohorts. Furthermore, we find a higher correlation in the case of daughters than in the case of sons; however, when we consider the employment selection in the case of daughters, by adopting a Heckman-type correction method, the diference between sons and daughters disappears. By decomposing the sources of earnings elasticity across generations, we find that the correlation between child's and father's occupation is the most important component. Finally, quantile regressions estimates show that the influence of the father's earnings is greater when we move to the lower tail of the offspring's earnings distribution, especially in the case of daughters' earnings. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility, earnings, two sample two stage least square estimator, Spain. |
| JEL: | D31 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea0904&r=lab |
| By: | Kunz, Marcus |
| Abstract: | "The paper shows that the distribution of regional unemployment rates in Germany exhibits strong persistent behaviour. Furthermore, panel unit root tests and autoregressive fixed effects models indicate that regional unemployment rates display conditional rather than unconditional convergence. Thus, highly persistent unemployment disparities can be regarded as region-specific unemployment rates due to different regional endowments, adjusting quite rapidly to their region-specific means and therefore towards a stable pattern of unemployment disparities, rather than towards the national unemployment rate. Additionally, an investigation of adjustment processes suggests that the degree of persistence in western German unemployment rates after aggregate shocks has decreased markedly since the 1960s. For more recent years (1989-2004), neither aggregate nor region-specific shocks exhibit persistent behaviour. Therefore, slowworking adjustment mechanisms in response to shocks are not responsible for the persistent unemployment differentials. A comparison of regions and districts shows that the two regional levels have quite similar adjustment paths. The estimated half-lives of both aggregate and regionspecific shocks are found to be very robust within a range of 1-3 years." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Arbeitslosigkeit - Entwicklung, Arbeitslosenquote, regionale Verteilung, Persistenz, regionale Disparität, Konvergenz |
| JEL: | C22 C23 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200908&r=lab |
| By: | Sebastian Braun |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how different unionisation structures affect firm productivity, firm performance, and consumer welfare in a monopolistic competition model with heterogeneous firms and free entry. While centralised bargaining induces tougher selection among hetero- geneous producers and thus increases average productivity, firm-level bargaining allows less productive entrants to remain in the market. Centralised bargaining also results in higher average output and profit levels than either decentralised bargaining or a competitive labour market. From a welfare perspective, the choice between centralised and decentralised bar- gaining involves a potential trade-off between product variety and product prices. Extending the model to a two-country setup, I furthermore show that the positive effect of centralised bargaining on average productivity can be overturned when firms face international low-wage competition. |
| Keywords: | Trade Unions, Productivity, Firm Performance, International Competition |
| JEL: | J50 D43 F16 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2009-027&r=lab |
| By: | Arai, Mahmood (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University); Besancenot, Damien (University of Paris 13); Huynh, Kim (University of Paris 2); Skalli, Ali (University of Paris 2) |
| Abstract: | We present evidence indicating that immigrants and especially those from the Maghreb/Middle-East give first names to their children that are different from those given by the French majority population. When it comes to natives with an immigrant background, these differences are very little pronounced. Being born and raised up in France as well as being exposed to the French society and culture through residence, citizenship and the educational system draws individuals with or without immigrant background into similar ways of expressing belongings when choosing first names for their children, indicating the very strong assimilating forces in the French society. |
| Keywords: | First names; Immigration |
| JEL: | J13 J15 |
| Date: | 2009–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2009_0013&r=lab |
| By: | Nadine Levratto; Evelyne Serverin |
| Abstract: | The modernization of the economy Act voted in August 4th, 2008 aimed at introducing a new statute of self-entrepreneur, the auto-entrepreneur in French, in order to support an economic policy combining fight against unemployment, search for points of growth and improvement of the purchasing power. The matter of this article is to open the debate about the model of the self-entrepreneur embedded in this new law, by adopting a double point of view: legal as far as the labor is concerned and economic too since it deals with the model of the firm supported by this view. The first section discusses the proclamation of independence of the self-entrepreneur, by highlighting the existence of multiple legal dependences, within the framework of a plurality of jobs on the one hand, and within the exercise of the productive activity itself on the other hand. The second section deals with the contradictions that exist between the legal conception of self-employer on one side, and the growth expectations of the companies, and the entrepreneurship theories on the other. |
| Keywords: | Self-employment, firm theory, labor contract, multiple jobs |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2009-20&r=lab |
| By: | Elder, Todd E. (Michigan State University); Goddeeris, John H. (Michigan State University); Haider, Steven J. (Michigan State University) |
| Abstract: | We analyze four methods to measure unexplained gaps in mean outcomes: three decompositions based on the seminal work of Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973) and an approach involving a seemingly naïve regression that includes a group indicator variable. Our analysis yields two principal findings. We show that the coefficient on a group indicator variable from an OLS regression is an attractive approach for obtaining a single measure of the unexplained gap. We also show that a commonly-used pooling decomposition systematically overstates the contribution of observable characteristics to mean outcome differences when compared to OLS regression, therefore understating unexplained differences. We then provide three empirical examples that explore the practical importance of our analytic results. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, decompositions |
| JEL: | J31 J24 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4159&r=lab |
| By: | Monica Paiella; Andrea Tiseno (-; -) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we focus on the recent restructuring of the Italian pension system and in particular on the reforms concerning the tax-favored retirement saving accounts. These reforms issued in the early and mid- 1990s reduced the riskiness of private retirement saving plans and their overall cost. We find that private pension saving incentives had little if any effect on household savings. Further, those workers who have experienced the most severe public pension cut are not significantly more likely to contribute to a private retirement plan, ceteris paribus. We find, however, that the pension fund legislation had a strong effect on the allocation of savings and triggered substantial substitution of non-tax-favored nonretirement wealth for tax-favored pension funds. |
| Keywords: | household savings, pension funds, social security reforms, difference-in-difference estimation |
| JEL: | H31 D14 D12 |
| Date: | 2009–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prt:dpaper:1_2009&r=lab |
| By: | Mahmood Arai (Department of Economics and SULCIS - Stockholm University); Damien Besancenot (CEPN - Centre d'économie de l'Université de Paris Nord - CNRS : UMR7115 - Université Paris-Nord - Paris XIII); Kim Huynh (L.E.M. - Laboratoire d'Economie Moderne - Université Paris 2); Ali Skalli (LEM - Laboratoire d'Economie Moderne - Université Panthéon-Assas - Paris II) |
| Abstract: | We present evidence indicating that immigrants and especially those from the Maghreb/Middle-East give first names to their children that are different from those given by the French majority population. When it comes to natives with an immigrant background, these differences are very little pronounced. Being born and raised up in France as well as being exposed to the French society and culture through residence, citizenship and the educational system draws individuals with or without immigrant background into similar ways of expressing belongings when choosing first names for their children, indicating the very strong assimilating forces in the French society. |
| Keywords: | First names; integration; belonging; immigrants. |
| Date: | 2009–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00383090_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Byrne, Delma (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)); McCoy, Selina (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)) |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:rb20090102&r=lab |
| By: | Raghav Gaiha; Vani S. Kulkarni; Manoj K. Pandey; Katsushi S. Imai |
| Abstract: | The objective of this analysis is mainly to construct an intuitive measure of the performance of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in India -a nation-wide poverty alleviation programme which was introduced in 2005. The focus is on excess demand at the district level. Some related issues addressed are (i) whether excess demand responds to poverty, and (ii) whether recent hikes in NREGS wages are inflationary. Our analysis confirms responsiveness of excess demand to poverty. Also, apprehensions expressed about the inflationary potential of recent hikes in NREGS wages have been confirmed. More importantly, higher NREGS wages are likely to undermine self-selection of the poor in it. So, in order to realise the poverty reducing potential of this scheme, a policy imperative is to ensure a speedier matching of demand and supply in districts that are highly poverty prone, as also to avoid the trade-offs between poverty reduction and inflation. |
| Keywords: | Employment Guarantee, NREGS, wages, demand, supply, poverty, prices, India |
| JEL: | C21 I30 I38 J48 O12 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2009-03&r=lab |
| By: | Bernard Gazier (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne et Institut Universitaire de France); Jérôme Gautié (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This contribution aims at presenting a critical and syntetic overview of the researches done, since 1995, under the aegis of the "Transitional Labour Markets" current. In its first part, the survey focuses on the positive theoretical bases of this current. They come from diverse theories of the labour market and of organisations, and are integrated into a systemic perspective. The second part deals with the normative consequences stemming from this approach. The third part presents and discusses recent developments, identifying unsolved problems. |
| Keywords: | Transitional labour markets, employment, labour market policies. |
| JEL: | J08 J13 J2 I38 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:09001&r=lab |
| By: | Raymond B. Palmquist; Daniel J. Phaneuf; V. Kerry Smith |
| Abstract: | Leisure activities such as local recreation trips usually take place in discrete blocks of time that are surrounded by time devoted to other commitments. It can be costly to transfer time between blocks to allow for longer outings. These observations affect the value of time within those blocks and suggest that traditional methods for valuing time using labor markets miss important considerations. This paper presents a new model for time valuation that uses non-employment time commitments to infer the shadow value of time spent in recreation. A unique survey that elicited revealed and stated preference data on household time allocation is used to implement the model. The results support the conclusion that there is an increasing marginal value of time for recreation as the trip length increases. |
| JEL: | D13 J22 Q26 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14986&r=lab |
| By: | Arnaud Daugnaix (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.); Marie Goransson (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.) |
| Abstract: | Depuis la réforme Copernic, les hauts fonctionnaires endossent un rôle double en matière d’évaluation. D’une part, ils sont évalués dans le cadre des dispositifs liés aux postes à mandat. D’autre part, ils évaluent leurs collaborateurs directs au moyen des cercles de développement. Cette situation nouvelle engendre des changements importants. Au départ d’une étude de cas menée au sein d’un Service Public Fédéral, nous analysons à la fois les dispositions statutaires des deux systèmes adoptés et le ressenti des top managers à leur égard. Divers axes balisent notre recherche. Pour commencer, les systèmes sont examinés sous l’angle du management de la performance. Leur contribution à la cohérence de l’action publique est ensuite abordée. En outre, la décentralisation des procédures évaluatives, de leurs conséquences, et des moyens dévolus aux managers est étudiée tant sur le plan formel qu’informel. Pour terminer, la problématique de l’objectivité conçue et perçue est envisagée dans le régime de mandats et des cercles de développement. Quelques conclusions achèvent l’article. |
| Keywords: | haute administration fédérale, postes à mandat et leur évaluation, cercles de développement, perception et ressenti. |
| JEL: | D73 H83 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:09-019&r=lab |