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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Ponzo, Michela |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the determinants of on-the-job search activities of Italian workers. On-the-job search is a good indicator of labour turnover, overcoming the limitations due to a lack of adequate data about labour turnover. Using several waves of the Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) we estimate with a Probit model how individual socio-demographic characteristics and economic variables affect the probability of on-the-job search. We find that the probability of being engaged in job-search activities is higher for males, when wage is lower, for workers with low tenure and higher levels of education and for residents in large cities. Public sector workers show a considerable lower probability of on-the-job search, suggesting higher satisfaction on the job. White-Collars and Teachers search much less than Blue-Collars. The number of job held and the average number of hours worked per week are important factors that increase the probability of on-the-job search. Married women and women with children are less likely to be looking for an alternative employment. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Job search; labor mobility. JEL classifications: J28; J62; M51. |
| JEL: | J62 J28 M51 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15476&r=lab |
| By: | Mark Bils; Yongsung Chang; Sun-Bin Kim |
| Abstract: | We model unemployment allowing workers to differ by comparative advantage in market work. Workers with comparative advantage are identified by who works more hours when employed. This enables us to test the model by grouping workers based on their long-term wages and hours from panel data. The model captures the greater cyclicality of employment for workers with low comparative advantage. But the model fails to explain the magnitude of countercyclical separations for high-wage workers or the magnitude of procyclical findings for high-hours workers. As a result, it only captures the cyclicality of the extensive, employment margin for low-wage, low-hours workers. |
| JEL: | E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15030&r=lab |
| By: | Lourdes Gallardo; Hugo Nopo |
| Abstract: | Returns to labor for workers with similar endowments of productive characteristics in Ecuador are influenced by two characteristics that, arguably, should play no role on the determination of wages: gender and ethnicity. This paper analyzes wage gaps due to both characteristics in Ecuador for the period 2003-2007, applying a matching comparisons technique developed in Ñopo (2008). The results indicate ethnic wage gaps that are notably higher than gender wage gaps. Furthermore, ethnic wage gaps are higher among males than among females. Differences in human capital characteristics, however, explain almost one-half of the ethnic wage gaps but only a small fraction of the gender wage gaps. Both gender and ethnic wage gaps are more pronounced at the lower extremes of the earnings distribution. |
| Keywords: | Matching, Non-parametric, Wage Gaps, Gender, Ethnicity, Latin America |
| JEL: | C14 D31 J16 O54 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4625&r=lab |
| By: | Böckerman, Petri; Ilmakunnas, Pekka; Johansson , Edvard |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of establishment- and industry-level labor market turnover on employees’ job satisfaction and perceived job insecurity. Our linked employer-employee panel data contain both information on employees’ subjective well-being and register-based information on job and worker flows. The results show that job destruction and worker outflow measures reduce job satisfaction and, especially, perceived security. These effects are much weaker when the individual-specific fixed effects are taken into account. The evidence also reveals that the establishment-level job and worker flows do not translate into higher wages. These findings speak against the existence of compensating wage differentials for job uncertainty. |
| Keywords: | job flows; worker flows; job satisfaction; perceived security; job instability |
| JEL: | J63 J28 |
| Date: | 2009–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15447&r=lab |
| By: | Dale T. Mortensen |
| Abstract: | Matched employer-employee data exhibits both wage and productivity dispersion across firms and suggest that a linear relationship holds between the average wage paid and a firm productivity. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that these facts can be explained by a search and matching model when firms are heterogenous with respect to productivity, are composed of many workers, and face diminishing returns to labor given the wage paid to identical workers is the solution to the Stole-Zwiebel bilateral bargaining problem. Helpman and Iskhoki (2008) show that a unique single wage (degenerate) equilibrium solution to the model exists in this environment. In this paper, I demonstrate that another equilibrium exists that can be characterized by a non-degenerate distribution of wages in which more productive firms pay more if employed workers are able to search. Generically this dispersed wage equilibrium is unique and exists if and only if firms are heterogenous with respect to factor productivity. Finally, employment is lower in the dispersed wage equilibrium than in the single wage equilibrium but this fact does not imply that welfare is higher in the single wage equilibrium. |
| JEL: | E24 J3 J64 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15033&r=lab |
| By: | Lise Patureau (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA, F-95000 Cergy-Pontoise) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the determinants of international business cycle comovement in a two-country Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model featured by monopolistic competition and nominal price rigidity, following so the New Open Economy Macroeconomy (NOEM) literature. Within this framework, we assess the role of labor market search and matching frictions in the international propagation of supply and monetary shocks. Our results show that labor market frictions improve the ability of the New Open Economy Macroeconomy framework to account for international business cycles comovement. In particular, the NOEM model with labor market search is consistent with the international propagation mechanism of monetary shocks identified in the data. Through their impact on labor market dynamics, labor market institutions affect the magnitude of international comovement. Business cycle synchronization is thus found to increase with the generosity of the unemployment benefits system, whereas it decreases with the strictness of employment protection. |
| Keywords: | International business cycles, Search, Labor market institutions, Wage bargaining, International transmission of shocks |
| JEL: | E24 E32 F41 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2009-05&r=lab |
| By: | Kai Christoffel (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); James Costain (Banco de España, Alcalá 50, E-28014 Madrid, Spain.); Gregory de Walque (Banque Nationale de Belgique, Boulevard de Berlaimont 14, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.); Keith Kuester (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Ten Independence Mall, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1574, USA.); Tobias Linzert (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Stephen Millard (Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH, UK.); Olivier Pierrard (Banque Centrale du Luxembourg, 2 boulevard Royal, L-2983 Luxembourg, 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 behaviour. 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. JEL Classification: E31, E32, E24, J64. |
| Keywords: | Inflation Dynamics, Labour Market, Business Cycle, Real Rigidities. |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:200901053&r=lab |
| By: | Silva , José Ignacio; Toledo, Manuel |
| Abstract: | Recently, Pissarides (2008) has argued that the standard search model with sunk fixed matching costs increases unemployment volatility without introducing an unrealistic wage response in new matches. We revise the role of matching costs and show that when these costs are not sunk and, therefore, can be partially passed on to new hired workers in the form of lower wages, the amplication mechanism of fixed matching costs is considerably reduced and wages in new hired positions become more sensitive to productivity shocks. |
| Keywords: | unemployment volatility puzzle; search and matching; matching costs |
| JEL: | E32 J32 J64 |
| Date: | 2009–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15695&r=lab |
| By: | Olivier Bargain (UCD Geary Institute); Prudence Kwenda (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the wage gap between informal and formal salary workers in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico. We use rich datasets that allow us to define informality in a relatively comparable fashion across countries. We compute precise wage differentials by accounting for taxes paid in the formal sector. For each country, we analyze how the sector wage gap varies within groups, between groups and over time. To account for unobserved heterogeneity, we use large (unbalanced) panels to estimate fixed effects models at the mean and at different quantiles of the wage distribution. We find that unobserved heterogeneity explains a large part of the (conditional) wage gap. The remaining informal sector wage penalty is large in the lower part of the distribution but almost disappears at the top. The penalty primarily concerns young workers and is found to be procyclical. We carefully investigate the robustness of these results and discuss their policy implications as well as regularities across countries. |
| Keywords: | wage gap, informal sector, quantile regression, fixed effects model, selection |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J24 J31 C14 O17 |
| Date: | 2009–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200916&r=lab |
| By: | Liu, Xiangbo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the macroeconomic and welfare effects of illegal immigration on the native born within a dynamic general equilibrium framework with labor market frictions. A key feature of the model is that job competition is allowed for between domestic workers and illegal immigrants. We calibrate the model to match some key statistics of the postwar U.S. economy. The model predicts that in the long run illegal immigration is a boon, but the employment opportunities of domestic workers are strongly negatively affected. The model also predicts that the level of domestic consumption has a U-shaped relationship with the share of illegal immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth; Immigration; Welfare; Search; Unemployment |
| JEL: | F22 O41 J64 |
| Date: | 2009–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15469&r=lab |
| By: | De Luca, Giuliana; Ponzo, Michela |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether and to which extent employment condition and working hours influence individuals’ decision process in consuming primary care. The hypothesis is that the higher the workers’ opportunity cost in terms of earning forgone, the less the demand for General Practitioner (GP) visits. Data used in the analysis come from the 2004/2005 “Health conditions and recourse to health services” survey provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). We apply a negative binomial regression to model the relationship between the number of GP visits and employment related variables, controlling for a rich set of individual demographic characteristics, socio-economic variables, health status, supply and geographical factors. We show that self-employed workers, managers and cadres use significantly less primary care services notwithstanding the access is free. We interpret these findings as being due to the fact that these type of workers have higher opportunity costs than white and blue collars, since they suffer more from the loss of earnings related to the absence from work |
| Keywords: | Opportunity cost; hours of work; utilisation of GP; labour market. |
| JEL: | I18 J21 J20 I10 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15479&r=lab |
| By: | Kundu, AMIT |
| Abstract: | Domestic workers, most of whom arefemale are hired to work in private households. But their work remains unrecognised as a legitimate form of activity. This paper through micro level study shows that young married women coming from distant places with higher number of children, with low and uncertain income ofother family members, prefer part-time domestic work to supplement their family income. Through Engel's ratio, it is identified that the standard of living is slightly better than that of part-time domestic workers. But most of the domestic workers of West Bengal are deprived of over time pay, public holidays and timely payment of salaries. |
| Keywords: | Domestic Worker; Labour Laws; Conditions of Work; Rights; |
| JEL: | J40 |
| Date: | 2008–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7636&r=lab |
| By: | Panos, Georgios; Theodossiou, Ioannis |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates behavioural differences between union and non-union workers in their preferences regarding reciprocal loyalty in the employment relationship. It uses a vignettes approach to elicit preferences and a novel dataset with unusually rich information on semi-skilled employees from four European countries. It focuses on reciprocal employer-employee arrangements stating that if the employee exerts higher effort, the employer reciprocates by offering higher job security. Such reciprocal arrangements are found to be valued more highly by unionized workers. The evidence suggests that the norm-enhancing role of union membership is the key candidate explanation of this pattern. Union workers are also found more likely to exercise the ‘voice’ rather than the ‘exit’ option in their current job. |
| Keywords: | Trade Union; Loyalty; Reciprocity; Adaptation; Conjoint Analysis; Exit; Voice |
| JEL: | J51 J28 J52 |
| Date: | 2009–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15471&r=lab |
| By: | Fali Huang (School of Economics, Singapore Management University); Peter Cappelli (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | Arguably the fundamental problem faced by employers is how to elicit effort from employees. Most models suggest that employers meet this challenge by monitoring employees carefully to prevent shirking. But there is another option that relies on heterogeneity across employees, and that is to screen job candidates to find workers with a stronger work ethic who require less monitoring. This should be especially useful in work systems where monitoring by supervisors is more difficult, such as teamwork systems. We analyze the relationship between screening and monitoring in the context of a principal-agent model and test the theoretical results using a national sample of U.S. establishments, which includes information on employee selection. We find that employers screen applicants more intensively for work ethic where they make greater use of systems such as teamwork where monitoring is more difficult. This screening is also associated with higher wages, as predicted by the theory: The synergies between reduced monitoring costs and high performance work systems enable the firm to pay higher wages to attract and retain such workers. Screening for other attributes, such as work experiences and academic performance, does not produce these results. |
| Keywords: | Employee Screening, Monitoring, Work Ethic, High Performance Work Practices, Principal-Agent Model. |
| JEL: | M51 M54 J30 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:siu:wpaper:09-2007&r=lab |
| By: | L. Randall Wray |
| Abstract: | Unemployment was singled out by John Maynard Keynes as one of the principle faults of capitalism; the other is excessive inequality. Obviously, there is some link between these two faults: since most people living in capitalist economies must work for wages as a major source of their incomes, the inability to obtain a job means a lower income. If jobs can be provided to the unemployed, inequality and poverty will be reduced--although such policy will not directly address the problem of excessive income at the top of the distribution. Most importantly, Keynes wanted to put unemployed labor to work--not digging holes, but in socially productive ways. This would help to ensure that the additional effective demand created by government spending would not be exhausted in higher prices as it ran up against bottlenecks or other supply constraints. Further, it would help maintain public support for the government's programs by providing useful output. And it would generate respect for, and feelings of self-worth in, the workers employed in these projects (no worker would want to spend her days digging holes that serve no useful purpose). President Roosevelt's New Deal jobs programs (such as the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps) are good examples of such targeted job-creating programs. These provided income and employment for workers, actually helped increase the nation's productivity, and left us with public buildings, dams, trails, and even music that we still enjoy today. As our nation (and the world) collapses into deep recession, or even depression, it is worthwhile to examine Hyman P. Minsky's comprehensive approach to resolving the unemployment problem. |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_560&r=lab |
| By: | Olivier Bargain (UCD Geary Institute); Karina Doorley (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Financial incentives to work usually have significant effect on the labor market participation of married women and single mothers. In contrast, inactive single males are often suspected to be demand-side rationed, even though this group composes the core of social assistance recipients in continental Europe. We exploit a particular feature of the main welfare scheme in France (Revenu Minimum d'Insertion, RMI), namely that childless adults under age 25 are not eligible for welfare payments. Using a regression discontinuity approach and the French micro-census data, we find convincing evidence that the RMI reduces employment among single men with the lowest education levels. Important policy implications are drawn. |
| Keywords: | Regression discontinuity; Welfare; Social assistance; Labor supply |
| JEL: | H52 J21 |
| Date: | 2009–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200917&r=lab |
| By: | Luana Marquez Garcia; Hugo Nopo; Paola Salardi |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the evolution of Brazilian wage gaps by gender and skin color over a decade (1996-2006), using the matching comparison methodology developed by Ñopo (2008). In Brazil, racial wage gaps are more pronounced than those found along the gender divide, although both noticeably decreased over the course of the last decade. The decomposition results show that differences in observable characteristics play a crucial role in explaining wage gaps. While in the case of racial wage gaps, observable human capital characteristics account for most of the observed wage gaps, the observed gender wage gaps have the opposite sign than what the differences in human capital characteristics would predict. In both cases the role of education is prominent. |
| Keywords: | Gender, race, wage gaps, Brazil, matching |
| JEL: | C14 D31 J16 O54 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4626&r=lab |
| By: | Euna Han; Edward C. Norton; Lisa M. Powell |
| Abstract: | Previous estimates on the association between body weight and wages in the literature have been contingent on education and occupation. This paper examines the direct effect of BMI on wages and the indirect effects operating through education and occupation choice, particularly for late-teen BMI and adult wages. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 data, we show that education is the main pathway for the indirect BMI wage penalty. The total BMI wage penalty is underestimated by 18% for women without including those indirect effects. Whereas for men there is no statistically significant direct BMI wage penalty, we do observe a small indirect wage penalty through education. |
| JEL: | I1 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15027&r=lab |
| By: | Massimiliano BRATTI; Robin NAYLOR; Jeremy SMITH |
| Abstract: | Estimates of a high average return to a degree for UK graduates have provided a policy rationale for increasing the share of the costs of higher education borne by UK students over recent decades. We use evidence from a cohort of people born in 1970 to estimate hourly wage returns to a university degree. We analyse the extent of variations around average returns, focussing on heterogeneity in returns by factors such as: gender, degree subject studied, degree class awarded, student ability measures and family background. Among other results, we find substantial evidence of heterogeneous returns to a first degree according to subject area of study and class of degree awarded. |
| Keywords: | Degree, return, subject, UK, university |
| JEL: | J3 J4 I2 |
| Date: | 2008–12–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mil:wpdepa:2008-40&r=lab |
| By: | Philip Oreopoulos |
| Abstract: | Thousands of resumes were sent in response to online job postings across multiple occupations in Toronto to investigate why Canadian immigrants, allowed in based on skill, struggle in the labor market. Resumes were constructed to plausibly represent recent immigrants under the point system from the three largest countries of origin (China, India, and Pakistan) and Britain, as well as non-immigrants with and without ethnic-sounding names. In addition to names, I randomized where applicants received their undergraduate degree, whether their job experience was gained in Toronto or Mumbai (or another foreign city), whether they listed being fluent in multiple languages (including French). The study produced four main findings: 1) Interview request rates for English-named applicants with Canadian education and experience were more than three times higher compared to resumes with Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani names with foreign education and experience (5 percent versus 16 percent), but were no different compared to foreign applicants from Britain. 2) Employers valued experience acquired in Canada much more than if acquired in a foreign country. Changing foreign resumes to include only experience from Canada raised callback rates to 11 percent. 3) Among resumes listing 4 to 6 years of Canadian experience, whether an applicant’s degree was from Canada or not, or whether the applicant obtained additional Canadian education or not had no impact on the chances for an interview request. 4) Canadian applicants that differed only by name had substantially different callback rates: Those with English-sounding names received interview requests 40 percent more often than applicants with Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani names (16 percent versus 11 percent). Overall, the results suggest considerable employer discrimination against applicants with ethnic names or with experience from foreign firms. |
| JEL: | J15 J31 J7 K31 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15036&r=lab |
| By: | Martine Mariotti |
| Abstract: | Conventional wisdom holds that international political pressure and domestic civil unrest in the mid-1970s and 1980s brought an end to apartheid in South Africa. I show that, prior to these events, labor market pressure in the late 1960s/early 1970s caused a dramatic unraveling of apartheid in the workplace. Increased educational attainment among whites reduced resistance to opening semi-skilled jobs to Africans. This institutional change reflected white economic preferences rather than a relaxation of attitudes toward apartheid. I show that whites benefited from the relaxation of job reservation rules and that this is the primary cause of black occupational advancement. |
| JEL: | N37 J71 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:cbeeco:2009-503&r=lab |
| By: | Hilary Ingham; Mike Ingham |
| Abstract: | Poland’s post-communist economic performance has been generally good. However, for many years its growth was jobless, it exhibited very high unemployment rates and concomitantly made little progress in approaching the targets set for EU Member States under the Lisbon Strategy. Unexpectedly, in 2003 the country’s labour market began to exhibit a new dynamism, with employment growing strongly and unemployment tumbling. This apparent improvement coincided with a liberalisation of its Labour Code. Unfortunately, the measures introduced to increase flexibility are seemingly at variance with the EU’s Fixed-Term Work Directive and might need to be modified. |
| Keywords: | Poland, unemployment, temporary work contracts |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:006005&r=lab |
| By: | Brian McCaig |
| Abstract: | Can a small, poor country reduce poverty by gaining increased market access to a large, rich country? The 2001 U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement provides an excellent opportunity to examine this question as, unlike other bilateral trade agreements, the U.S. tariff cuts were not influenced by Vietnamese industries. Between 2002 and 2004, provinces that were more exposed to the U.S. tariff cuts experienced faster decreases in poverty. An increase of one standard deviation in provincial exposure leads to a reduction in the poverty headcount ratio of approximately 11 to 14 percent, but this effect diminishes the further the province is from a major seaport. Three labour market channels from the trade agreement to poverty alleviation are subsequently explored. Provinces that were more exposed to the tariff cuts experienced (1) increases in provincial wage premiums for low-skilled workers, (2) faster movement into wage and salaried jobs for low-skilled workers, and (3) more rapid job growth in formal enterprises |
| JEL: | F14 F16 I32 O11 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:cbeeco:2009-502&r=lab |
| By: | Nicolas L. Dromel (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Elie Kolakez (ERMES - TEPP, Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas); Etienne Lehmann (CREST-INSEE et IZA) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we argue that credit market imperfections impact not only the level of unemployment, but also its persistence. For this purpose, we first develop a theoretical model based on the equilibrium matching framework of Mortensen and Pissarides (1999) and Pissarides (2000) where we introduce credit constraints. We show these credit constraints not only increase steady-state unemployment, but also slow down the transitional dynamics. We then provide an empirical illustration based on a country panel dataset of 19 OECD countries. Our results suggest that credit market imperfections would significantly increase the persistence of unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Credit markets, labor markets, unemployment, credit constraints, search frictions. |
| JEL: | E24 E44 J08 J64 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:09032&r=lab |
| By: | Alex Bryson; John Forth; Patrice Laroche |
| Abstract: | Using nationally representative workplace surveys we examine the relationship between unionization and workplace financial performance in Britain and France. We find that union bargaining is detrimental to workplace performance in Britain and that this effect is larger when unionization is endogenized. In France, union bargaining is associated with poorer workplace performance but the effect disappears once unionization is treated as endogenous. However, high levels of union density do have a negative impact on workplace performance in France. In Britain the union effect does not rise with union density. |
| Keywords: | Trade union, firm performance, France, Britain |
| JEL: | J51 L25 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0920&r=lab |
| By: | Datta Gupta, Nabanita; Larsen, Mona |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of an acute health shock on retirement among elderly male workers in Denmark, 1991-1999, and in particular whether various welfare state programs and institutions impinge on the retirement effect. The results show that an acute health event increases the retirement chances of elderly male workers by 8%, and that this increase in the baseline retirement probability is not affected by eligibility to early exit programs and persists even after accounting for selection due to take-up of disability pension. Neither is it affected by the relatively long duration of sickness benefits in Denmark nor by the promotion of corporate social responsibility initiatives since the mid-1990s. In the late 1990s, however, the retirement rate following a health shock is reduced to 3% with the introduction of the subsidized employment program (fleksjob) but this effect is on the margin of being significant. For the most part, the retirement effect following a health shock seems to be immune to the availability of a multitude of government programs for older workers in Denmark. |
| Keywords: | retirement; health shocks; welfare state programs; medical diagnoses |
| JEL: | I12 I18 J26 |
| Date: | 2007–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15497&r=lab |
| By: | Rema Hanna; Leigh Linden |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we illustrate a methodology to measure discrimination in educational contexts. In India, we ran an exam competition through which children compete for a large financial prize. We recruited teachers to grade the exams. We then randomly assigned child "characteristics" (age, gender, and caste) to the cover sheets of the exams to ensure that there is no systematic relationship between the characteristics observed by the teachers and the quality of the exams. We find that teachers give exams that are assigned to be lower caste scores that are about 0.03 to 0.09 standard deviations lower than exams that are assigned to be high caste. The effect is small relative to the real differences in scores between the high and lower caste children. Low-performing, low caste children and top-performing females tend to lose out the most due to discrimination. Interestingly, we find that the discrimination against low caste students is driven by low caste teachers, while teachers who belong to higher caste groups do not appear to discriminate at all. This result runs counter to the previous literature, which tends to find that individuals discriminate in favor of members of their own groups. |
| JEL: | I2 J16 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15057&r=lab |
| By: | Marcelo Sánchez (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.) |
| Abstract: | Existing work on wage bargaining (as exemplified by Cukierman and Lippi, 2001) typically predicts more aggressive wage setting under monetary union. This insight has not been confirmed by the EMU experience, which has been characterised by wage moderation, thereby eliciting criticism from Posen and Gould (2006). The present paper formulates a model where, realistically, trade unions set wages with national prices in mind, deviating from Cukierman and Lippi (2001) who postulate that wages are set having area-wide prices in mind. For reasonable ranges of parameter values (and macroeconomic shocks), simulations show that a monetary union is found to elicit real wages that are broadly comparable to those obtained under monetary autonomy. The confidence bounds around these results are rather wide, in particular including scenarios of wage restraint. The paper also performs welfare comparisons concerning macroeconomic stabilisation in light of structural factors such as country size, the preference for price stability, aggregate demand slopes, labour substitutability across unions, the number of wage-setting institutions and the cross-country distribution of technology and demand shocks. JEL Classification: E50, E58, J50, J51. |
| Keywords: | Inflation, Trade Unions, Monetary Union, Strategic Monetary Policy, Unemployment, Wage Moderation. |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:200901058&r=lab |
| By: | Karim Moussaly-Sergieh (Statistics Canada); Francois Vaillancourt (Université de Montréal) |
| Abstract: | Getting a university degree offers substantial financial returns, for women more so than men and for undergraduate degrees more so than advanced degrees. This report finds that high returns to education signal high labour demand in particular fields relative to supply, information which is helpful for policymakers who distribute funds and for students who must choose their specialty. |
| Keywords: | social policy, university postsecondary education, internal rate of return |
| JEL: | I21 J24 I22 H52 H75 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:79&r=lab |
| By: | Nicolas L. Jacquet (School of Economics, Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the efficiency properties of risk-neutral workers’ mobility decisions in an equilibrium model with search frictions, but no search externalities, when the rent accruing to a match is split through bargaining. Matches are ex ante homogeneous and their true productivity is learnt after the match is formed. It is shown that the efficiency of worker turnover depends on contract enforceability, and that in the absence of complete enforceability the equilibrium fails to be efficient. This is because without complete enforceability firms cannot credibly offer workers contracts that will guarantee them the entire future of all potential future matches. |
| Keywords: | On-the-Job Search; Learning; Bargaining; Contracts; Enforceability |
| JEL: | J30 J6 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:siu:wpaper:17-2007&r=lab |
| By: | Joshua L. Rosenbloom; William A. Sundstrom |
| Abstract: | In much economic analysis it is a convenient fiction to suppose that changes over time in wages and employment are determined by shifts in supply or demand within a more or less competitive market framework Indeed, this framework has been effectively deployed to understand many episodes in American economic history. We argue here, however, that by minimizing the role of labor-market institutions such an approach is incomplete. Drawing on the history of American labor markets over two centuries, we argue that institutions--by which we mean both formal and informal rules that constrain the choices of economic agents--have played a significant role in the determination of wages, employment and other market outcomes over time. The historical evolution of American labor markets can best be characterized as a sequence of relatively stable arrangements punctuated by shifts in institutional regimes. Our narrative emphasizes the importance of understanding the historically contingent role of institutional regimes in conditioning the operation of supply and demand in empirical and policy analysis of the labor market. |
| JEL: | J0 J18 N3 N31 N32 N4 N41 N42 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15055&r=lab |
| By: | Qingyan Shang; Bruce A. Weinberg |
| Abstract: | Observers have argued about whether highly-educated women are opting out of their careers and for families. If so, it is natural to expect fertility to increase and, insofar as children are associated with lower employment, further declines in employment. This paper provides a comprehensive study of recent trends in the fertility of college-graduate women. We study fertility at a range of ages; consider both the intensive and extensive margins, explore a range of data sets; and study the period from 1940 to 2006. In contrast to most existing work, we find that college graduate women are indeed opting for families. Fertility increases at almost all ages along both the intensive and extensive margins since the late 1990s or 2000 and this recent increase in fertility is consistent across datasets. |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15074&r=lab |
| By: | Kwok Tong Soo |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the production function for university students in English universities. Taking as the output the quality of a university degree and the dropout rate, we use as inputs teaching quality and quantity, entry qualifications, and the effort level. Our results uncover new findings regarding the importance of each of these elements in university performance. In particular, we find that the quality of teaching and entry qualifications affect degree performance, but not the number of hours of teaching or private study. Controlling for unobserved ability through a 2SLS/GMM estimator suggests that entry scores have no additional impact on degree performance beyond its role as a measure of student ability. |
| Keywords: | Production function estimation; Higher education; Instrumental variables |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:006023&r=lab |
| By: | Elisabetta Marzano (Department of Economic Studies, Parthenope University of Naples) |
| Keywords: | - |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prt:wpaper:7_2008&r=lab |
| By: | Barbu, Adina (Universitatea Spiru Haret, Facultatea de Finante si Banci); Chirimbu, Sebastian (Universitatea Spiru Haret, Facultatea de Finante si Banci) |
| Abstract: | The present global economic situation led to a re-consideration of the place held by human resources professional formation and development within an organization and on a larger scale of the place that a country's labour force development and specialization should hold for overcoming the effects of the global economic crisis. First of all the formal education achieved in schools, highschools and universities should support the society's (at a macro level) and community's (at a micro level) efforts to reach economic and social progress and should act as a catalizator for progress, due to simplified curricula, adapted to the labour force demands and foreseeing global research trends and domanins. However, formal education is only the premises for human resources development in contemporary organizations; trainings are the ones which will make a difference between the human resources of different companies, due to the knowledge and abilities that are taught to employees. |
| Keywords: | training; mobilities |
| JEL: | A29 I21 |
| Date: | 2009–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sphedp:2009_022&r=lab |
| By: | Jingjing Chai; Wolfram Horneff; Raimond Maurer; Olivia S. Mitchell |
| Abstract: | This paper derives optimal life cycle portfolio asset allocations as well as annuity purchases trajectories for a consumer who can select her hours of work and also her retirement age. Using a realistically-calibrated model with stochastic mortality and uncertain labor income, we extend the investment universe to include not only stocks and bonds, but also survival-contingent payout annuities. We show that making labor supply endogenous raises older peoples' equity share; substantially increases work effort by the young; and markedly enhances lifetime welfare. Also, introducing annuities leads to earlier retirement and higher participation by the elderly in financial markets. Finally, if we allow for an age-dependent leisure preference parameter, this fits well with observed evidence in that it generates lower work hours and smaller equity holdings at older ages as well as sensible retirement age patterns. |
| JEL: | D01 D11 D14 G11 G22 G23 H31 H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15079&r=lab |
| By: | Kwok Tong Soo; Ching-Fu Chen |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the efficiency of students in English universities using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and a new dataset which is able to capture the behaviour of university students. Taking as the output the classification of a university degree, we use as inputs teaching hours and quality, entry qualifications, and the effort level. We find that university students differ in terms of the efficiency with which they use inputs in producing good degrees. In a second stage, we explore the determinants of the efficiency of university students using a truncated regression model. Higher student efficiency is found to be positively and significantly related to university size, and negatively and significantly related to the proportion of part-time students and the number of academic staff. The quality of a university has no significant impact on the efficiency of its students once endogeneity of university quality is controlled for. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); Efficiency; Education |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:006024&r=lab |
| By: | Rania Antonopoulos |
| Abstract: | Widespread economic recessions and protracted financial crises have been documented as setting back gender equality and other development goals in the past. In the midst of the current global crisis--often referred to as "the Great Recession"--there is grave concern that progress made in poverty reduction and women's equality will be reversed. Indeed, for many developing countries it is particularly worrisome that, through no fault of their own, the global economic downturn has exacerbated effects from other crises manifest in food insecurity, poverty, and increasing inequality. This paper explores both well-known and less discussed paths of transmission through which crises affect women's world of work and overall wellbeing. As demand for textile and agricultural exports decline, along with tourism, job losses are expected to rise in these female-intensive industries. In addition, the gendered nature of the world of work suggests that women will see an increase in their share among informal and vulnerable workers worldwide, and will also supply more of their labor under unpaid conditions. The latter is particularly important in the context of developing countries, where many production activities take place outside the strict boundaries of the market. The paper also makes this point: examined through the prism of gender equality, the ability of the state to implement countercyclical policies matters greatly. If policy responses at the national and international levels end up aggravating inequities, gender equality processes face many more barriers, especially among the poor. |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_562&r=lab |
| By: | Ghazala Azmat; Nagore Iriberri |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of providing relative performance feedback information on performance underpiece-rate incentives. A natural experiment that took place in a high school offers an unusualopportunity to test this effect in a real-effort setting. For one year only, students received informationthat allowed them to know whether they were above (below) the class average as well as the distancefrom this average. We exploit a rich panel data set and find that the provision of this information ledto an increase of 5% in students' grades. Moreover, the effect was significant for the wholedistribution. However, once the information was removed the effect disappeared. To rule out theconcern that the effect may be driven by teachers within the school, we verify our results usingnational level exams (externally graded) for the same students, and the effect remains. |
| Keywords: | school performance, relative performance, piece-rate, feedback, natural experiment, socialcomparison, self-perception, competitive preferences |
| JEL: | I21 M52 C30 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0915&r=lab |
| By: | Kenneth Y. Chay; Jonathan Guryan; Bhashkar Mazumder |
| Abstract: | One literature documents a significant, black-white gap in average test scores, while another finds a substantial narrowing of the gap during the 1980's, and stagnation in convergence after. We use two data sources -- the Long Term Trends NAEP and AFQT scores for the universe of applicants to the U.S. military between 1976 and 1991 -- to show: 1) the 1980's convergence is due to relative improvements across successive cohorts of blacks born between 1963 and the early 1970's and not a secular narrowing in the gap over time; and 2) the across-cohort gains were concentrated among blacks in the South. We then demonstrate that the timing and variation across states in the AFQT convergence closely tracks racial convergence in measures of health and hospital access in the years immediately following birth. We show that the AFQT convergence is highly correlated with post-neonatal mortality rates and not with neonatal mortality and low birth weight rates, and that this result cannot be explained by schooling desegregation and changes in family background. We conclude that investments in health through increased access at very early ages have large, long-term effects on achievement, and that the integration of hospitals during the 1960's affected the test performance of black teenagers in the 1980's. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15078&r=lab |
| By: | Giovanni Gallipoli (University of British Columbia, Canada The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, Rimini, Italy); Laura Turner (University of British Columbia, Canada The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, Rimini, Italy); |
| Abstract: | What are idiosyncratic shocks and how do people respond to them? This paper starts from the observation that idiosyncratic shocks are experienced at the individual level, but responses to shocks can encompass the whole household. Understanding and accurately modeling these responses is essential to the analysis of intra-household allocations, especially labor supply. Using longitudinal data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) we exploit information about disability and health status to develop a life-cycle framework which rationalizes observed responses of household members to idiosyncratic shocks. Two puzzling ndings associated to disability onset motivate our work: (1) the almost complete absence of `added worker' eects within households and, (2) the fact that single agents' labor supply responses to disability shocks are larger and more persistent than those of married agents. We show that a rst-pass, basic model of the household has predictions about dynamic labor supply responses which are at odds with these facts; despite such failure, we argue that these facts are consistent with optimal household behavior when we account for two simple mechanisms: the rst mechanism relates to selection into and out of marriage, while the second hinges on insurance transfers taking place within households. We show that these mechanisms arise naturally when we allow for three features: a linkage between human capital accumulation and life-cycle labor supply, endogenous marriage contracts and the possibility of time transfers between partners. We also report evidence that the extended model with endogenous marriage contracts can t divorce patterns observed in Canadian data, as well as correlations between disability prevalence and marital status, providing an ideal framework to study intra-household risk-sharing with limited commitment. |
| Keywords: | tourism specialisation, economic growth, developing countries |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:04-09&r=lab |
| By: | Langinier, Corinne (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Marcoul, Phillipe (Department of Rural Economy, University of Alberta) |
| Abstract: | Patent examiners, who are often accused of granting questionable patents, might lack proper incentives to carefully scrutinize applications. Furthermore, they have outside options and leave the patent office. It is thus interesting to investigate whether their granting behavior is affected by career concerns. In a simple setting, we analyze different incentive schemes that reward examiners on the basis of rejected and/or accepted patents. We then study the effect of career concerns on the granting behavior of examiners. We find that a reward based on rejection gives more incentives to search for relevant information, and career concerns increase these incentives. Besides, the information provided by the applicant has an impact on the examiners incentive to search for information. |
| Keywords: | patent examiners; career concerns |
| JEL: | J60 O34 |
| Date: | 2009–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2009_022&r=lab |
| By: | Jean-Baptiste Michau |
| Abstract: | This paper emphasizes the two-way causality between the provision of unemployment insurance andthe cultural transmission of work ethic. Values affect the size of the moral-hazard problem and, hence,the policy to be implemented. Conversely, when parents rationally choose how much effort to exert toraise their children to work hard, they form expectations on the policy that will be implemented by thenext generation. In this context, I determine the dynamics of preferences across generations and showthat the different cultural traits, i.e. high and low work ethics, are complementary. The model couldgenerate a lag between the introduction of unemployment insurance and a deterioration of the workethic. Relying on a calibration, I argue that it can account for a substantial fraction of the history ofEuropean unemployment since World War II. As this explanation is compatible with the co- existenceof generous unemployment insurance and low unemployment in the 1950s and 1960s, it could be seenas an alternative to the dominant story that relies on the occurrence of large shocks since the 1970s.Supportive empirical evidence is provided. |
| Keywords: | cultural transmission, European unemployment, unemployment insurance, work ethic |
| JEL: | E24 H31 J65 Z10 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0936&r=lab |
| By: | David Marsden; Simone Moriconi |
| Abstract: | This paper brings new evidence on the relationship between employees' well being, sickness absence and fourdimensions of workplace performance i.e. productivity, efficiency, quality of service and profitability. It uses anew panel dataset with monthly observations over two years for 48 local units of a large multi-site organisationin the logistics sector. It finds that good consultation and communication at the local level are associated withlower absenteeism. It also finds that lower absence is associated with higher efficiency, productivity, quality ofthe service and profitability of the firm. Finally, the authors suggest that the link between workers' absence andthis firm's profitability runs through the increased use of replacement labour which raises short-run costs andreduces quality of service. |
| Keywords: | Time Allocation, absenteeism, Safety, Accidents, Industrial Health |
| JEL: | J22 J28 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0919&r=lab |
| By: | Bruna, Bruno (CELPE (Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy), University of Salerno, Italy); Damiano, Fiorillo (CELPE (Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy), University of Salerno, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a theoretical model and an empirical investigation on unpaid labour regularly supplied in non profit organisations. The contribution is threefold. First, intrinsic motivation in unpaid labour supply is considered, taking into account simultaneity between investment and consumption motives. Second, we study the impact of family care responsibilities on the determination of unpaid labour supply. Third, the specific activity a person is engaged in is shown to have a significant relevance. Empirical analysis, on data from Indagine Multiscopo sulle Famiglie, Aspetti della Vita Quotidiana, 1997, shows that frequently supplied unpaid labour depends on intrinsic motivation, income, age, family responsibilities and the specific task carried out in non profit organisations. The analytical framework suggests that these determinants support the hypothesis that both investment and consumption motives interact in shaping unpaid labour supply, with a stronger impact of consumption purposes. |
| Keywords: | unpaid labour; non profit organisations; |
| JEL: | C13 C21 C31 D12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sal:celpdp:0111&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Morrisson; Fabrice Murtin |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a historical database on educational attainment in 74 countries for the period1870-2010, using perpetual inventory methods before 1960 and then the Cohen and Soto (2007)database. The correlation between the two sets of average years of schooling in 1960 is equal to 0.96.We use a measurement error framework to merge the two databases, while correcting for a systematicmeasurement bias in Cohen and Soto (2007) linked to differential mortality across educational groups.Descriptive statistics show a continuous spread of education that has accelerated in the second half ofthe twentieth century. We find evidence of fast convergence in years of schooling for a sub-sample ofadvanced countries during the 1870-1914 globalization period, and of modest convergence since1980. Less advanced countries have been excluded from the convergence club in both cases. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, human capital, economic history, copula function |
| JEL: | D31 E27 F02 N00 O40 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0934&r=lab |
| By: | Stefanie Behncke |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the extent to which test performance is affected by shocks to noncognitive skills. 440 students took a low stakes mathematics test. About half of them were exposed to positive affirmation while being given test instructions, whereas the other half served as controls. The students were allocated to 14 tutorials and randomisation was conducted at the tutorial level. Mean comparisons suggest that test scores were raised by the intervention. In particular, students with low maths grades and with self-assessed difficulties in maths gained from the positive affirmation. Results suggest that teachers might increase their students' performance by interventions to their non-cognitive skills. Inference is obtained by four different methods that take into account that randomisation was clustered at the tutorial group level. These methods are evaluated in a Monte Carlo study for data generating processes which resemble actual data. We find that randomisation inference followed by the wild cluster bootstrap have superior size properties compared to conventional approaches. |
| Keywords: | test scores, non-cognitive skills, cluster randomised trial, wild cluster bootstrap, randomisation inference |
| JEL: | C15 C21 C93 I20 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:dp2009:2009-11&r=lab |
| By: | Bruno Chiarini; Elisabetta Marzano (Department of Economic Studies, Parthenope University of Naples) |
| Keywords: | - |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prt:wpaper:6_2008&r=lab |
| By: | Alex Bryson; Rafael Gomez; Tobias Kretschmer; P Willman |
| Abstract: | Non-union direct voice has replaced union representative voice as the primary avenue for employeevoice in the British private sector. This paper provides a framework for examining the relationshipbetween employee voice and workplace outcomes that explains this development. As exit-voicetheory predicts, voice is associated with lower voluntary turnover, especially in the case of unionvoice. Union voice is also associated with greater workplace conflict and poorer productivity. Nonunionvoice is associated with better workplace financial performance than other voice regimes. |
| Keywords: | employee voice, trade unions, productivity, industrial action, quits, labor-managementrelations |
| JEL: | J24 J51 J52 J53 J63 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0924&r=lab |
| By: | Mitea-Popia, Crina-Carmen (Universitatea Spiru Haret, Facultatea de Finante si Banci) |
| Abstract: | The ways in which public education is financed and delivered varies greatly throughout the world. Many developing countries have highly centralized government administration of education and other public services. Decentralization is one of the most important phenomena to have affected educational planning in the last years. |
| Keywords: | education; decentralization; devolution; reform; decision; budget |
| JEL: | A29 I21 |
| Date: | 2009–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sphedp:2009_013&r=lab |