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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Schmieder, Johannes F.; Wachter, Till von; Bender, Stefan (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "This paper evaluates the impact of large changes in the duration of unemployment insurance (UI) in different economic environments on labor supply, job matches, and search behavior. We show that differences in eligibility thresholds by exact age give rise to a valid regression discontinuity design, which we implement using administrative data on the universe of new unemployment spells and career histories over twenty years from Germany. We find that increases in UI have small to modest effects on non-employment rates, a result robust over the business cycle and across demographic groups. Thus, large expansions in UI during recessions do not lead to lasting increases in unemployment duration, nor can they explain differences in unemployment durations across countries. We do not find any effect of increased UI duration on average job quality, but show that the mean potentially confounds differential effects on job search across the distribution of UI duration. However, it appears that for a majority of UI beneficiaries increases in UI duration may lead to small declines in wages." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | J30 J65 |
| Date: | 2010–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201004&r=lab |
| By: | Maria Karamessini |
| Abstract: | Greece has today the highest youth unemployment rate in the EU-27 while employment precariousness is disproportionately concentrated among young workers. Youth unemployment and employment precariousness are extremely high even among higher education graduates, generating a very long period of transition from education to work. Protracted transition calls for the development of diverse strategies for successful labour market integration before and after graduation. In this paper we use micro-data from a nation-wide survey conducted in 2005 to examine the incidence of different transition strategies among Greek university graduates, assess their effectiveness for successful labour market integration 5-7 years after graduation and test if the findings conform to the southern European pattern of labour market entry advanced by comparative socio-economic literature. The theoretical framework of our analysis is that of labour market segmentation and job competition theory in a context of high unemployment and imperfect information. |
| Keywords: | Early careers; Greek university graduates; Higher education; Labour market integration; Transition strategies. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:32&r=lab |
| By: | Antón, José-Ignacio; Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael; Carrera, Miguel |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyze how female migrants fare in the labor market in Spain, a country that has experienced impressive immigration flows during the last decade. Particularly, we explore the differential access to employment and the earnings penalty faced by this group considering the interaction between two potential sources of disadvantage for migrant women: gender and migrant condition. Our findings suggest that migrant women do face this double negative disadvantage. In both cases, we find an economically significant gap, at least for migrants from non-developed countries. Regarding the former, the larger unemployment rate of female migrants is not explained by observable characteristics. In the case of earnings differential, although human capital endowments play a relevant role, both the unexplained earnings penalty associated with gender and migrant status slightly rise across the distribution of wages, suggesting the existence of a sort of glass ceiling for female immigrants. |
| Keywords: | immigration; women; Spain; unemployment; earnings |
| JEL: | J31 J70 |
| Date: | 2010–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:20582&r=lab |
| By: | Bardasi, Elena (World Bank); Beegle, Kathleen (World Bank); Dillon, Andrew (International Food Policy Research Institute); Serneels, Pieter (University of East Anglia) |
| Abstract: | Labor market statistics are critical for assessing and understanding economic development. In practice, widespread variation exists in how labor statistics are measured in household surveys in low-income countries. Little is known whether these differences have an effect on the labor statistics they produce. This paper analyzes these effects by implementing a survey experiment in Tanzania that varied two key dimensions: the level of detail of the questions and the type of respondent. Significant differences are observed across survey designs with respect to different labor statistics. Labor force participation rates, for example, vary by as much as 10 percentage points across the four survey assignments. Using a short labor module without screening questions on employment generates lower female labor force participation and lower rates of wage employment for both men and women. Response by proxy rather than self-report yields lower male labor force participation, lower female working hours, and lower employment in agriculture for men. The differences between proxy and self reporting seem to come from information imperfections within the household, especially with the distance in age between respondent and subject playing an important role, while gender and educational differences seem less important. |
| Keywords: | labor statistics, survey design, Tanzania, field experiment |
| JEL: | J21 C93 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4733&r=lab |
| By: | Mateusz Walewski |
| Abstract: | There is a large body of literature on the relationship between innovations and employment at the firm level, with most of the results indicating positive effects. Thus far, this kind of analysis has not been performed for Poland and it seems to be an important and interesting field for research. On the other hand, there is some empirical evidence that developments in the Polish labour market are at least partially driven by the Skill Biased Technical Change (SBTC) process. This paper tries to fill in this gap by looking at three dimensions of the relationship between innovations and employment in Poland: innovations and job creation, innovations and the skill structure of employment innovations, and wage formation. The results of the analysis indicate that there is a weak but positive relationship between the level of innovations and the probability of job creation. However, we have not been able to prove that innovations have any effect on the skill structure of labour demand in Poland. We have however found a positive and statistically significant relationship between the level of innovations and skill-biased wage changes. The results indicate that innovations positively influence the wages of skilled workers while they negatively influence the wages of the unskilled. |
| Keywords: | innovation, employment, wages, Poland |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 O33 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0392&r=lab |
| By: | Chaudhuri, Sarbajit |
| Abstract: | Using a three-sector specific-factor Harris-Todaro type general equilibrium model the paper demonstrates how an inflow of foreign capital might produce favourable effect on the incidence of child labour in a small open dual economy. The welfare of the working families is likely to improve due to the policy even though the urban unemployment situation of unskilled labour may not get better. |
| Keywords: | Child labour; general equilibrium; Harris-Todaro model; foreign capital; return to education; wage inequality |
| JEL: | J13 F10 J10 I28 |
| Date: | 2010–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:20610&r=lab |
| By: | C. Kirabo Jackson |
| Abstract: | I analyze the longer-run effects of a program that pays both 11th and 12th grade students and teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that affected students attend college in greater numbers, have improved college GPAs, and are more likely to remain in college beyond their freshman year. Moreover, the program improves college outcomes even for those students who would have enrolled in college without the program. I also find evidence of increased college graduation for black and Hispanic students ─ groups that tend to underperform in college. This evidence suggests that relatively late high-school interventions may confer lasting positive and large effects on student achievement in college, and may be effective at improving the educational outcomes of minority students. The finding of enduring benefits when extrinsic motivators are no longer provided is important in light of concerns that incentive-based-interventions may lead to undesirable practices such as “teaching-to-the-test” and cheating. |
| JEL: | I0 I20 I21 J0 J1 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15722&r=lab |
| By: | Gonzalo Fernández-de-Córdoba (Universidad de Málaga); Jesús Vázquez (Universidad del País Vasco) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a new growth model by considering strategic behaviour in the supply of labour. Workers form a labour union with the aim of manipulating wages in their own benefit. We analyse the implications on labor market dynamics at business cycle frequencies of getting away from the price-taking assumption. A calibrated monetary version of the union model does quite a reasonable job in replicating the dynamic features of labour market variables observed in post-war U.S. data. |
| Keywords: | Labour union, productivity versus monetary shocks, business cycle |
| JEL: | E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2010–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehu:dfaeii:201002&r=lab |
| By: | Konings, Jozef (Catholic University of Leuven); Vanormelingen, Stijn (Catholic University of Leuven) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses firm level panel data of firm provided training to estimate its impact on productivity and wages. To this end the strategy proposed by Ackerberg, Caves and Frazer (2006) for estimating production functions to control for the endogeneity of input factors and training is applied. The productivity premium for a trained worker is estimated at 23%, while the wage premium of training is estimated at 12%. Our results give support to recent theories that explain work related training by imperfect competition in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | training, production functions, human capital |
| JEL: | J24 J31 L22 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4731&r=lab |
| By: | Danzer, Alexander M. (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| Abstract: | The retirement decision is under researched in developing and emerging countries, despite the topic's close relation to many development issues such as poverty reduction and social security, and despite the fact that population ageing will increasingly challenge the developing world. This paper uses a natural experiment from Ukraine to estimate the causal effect of a threefold increase in the legal minimum pension on labor supply and retirement behaviour at older ages. Applying difference-in-difference and regression discontinuity methods on two independent nationally representative data sets, the paper estimates a pure income effect that caused additional retirement of 30 to 47 percent. Additional evidence suggests that retirement incentives are stronger at the lower tail of the educational distribution and that the strict Labor Code curbed responses at the intensive labor supply margin. Although the substantial pension increase provided strong disincentives to work and put a heavy fiscal burden on Ukraine, it significantly reduced the propensity of falling into poverty for those in retirement. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, retirement, minimum pension, pure income effect, poverty, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | J26 I38 O15 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4726&r=lab |
| By: | Betsey Stevenson |
| Abstract: | Between 1972 and 1978 U.S. high schools rapidly increased their female athletic participation rates—to approximately the same level as their male athletic participation rates—in order to comply with Title IX, a policy change that provides a unique quasi-experiment in female athletic participation. This paper examines the causal implications of this expansion in female sports participation by using variation in the level of boys’ athletic participation across states before Title IX to instrument for the change in girls’ athletic participation. Analysis of differences in outcomes across states in changes between pre- and post-cohorts reveals that a 10-percentage point rise in state-level female sports participation generates a 1 percentage point increase in female college attendance and a 1 to 2 percentage point rise in female labor force participation. Furthermore, greater opportunities to play sports leads to greater female participation in previously male-dominated occupations, particularly in high-skill occupations. |
| JEL: | I2 I21 I28 J16 J18 J21 J22 J24 J44 K3 K36 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15728&r=lab |
| By: | Alison L Booth; Pamela Katic |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the elasticity of the labour supply to a firm, using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. Estimation of this elasticity is of particular interest because of its relevance to the debate about the competitiveness of labour markets. The essence of monopsonistically competitive labour markets is that labour supply to a firm is imperfectly elastic with respect to the wage rate. The intuition is that, where workers have heterogeneous preferences or face mobility costs, firms can offer lower wages without immediately losing their workforce. This is in contrast to the perfectly competitive extreme, in which the elasticity is infinite. Therefore a simple test of whether labour markets are perfectly or imperfectly competitive involves estimating the elasticity of the labour supply to a firm. We do this, following the modelling strategy of Manning (2003), and find that the Australian wage elasticity of labour supply to a firm is around 0.71, only slightly smaller than the figure of 0.75 reported for the UK. These estimates are so far from the perfectly competitive assumption of an infinite elasticity that it would be difficult to make a case that labour markets are perfectly competitive. |
| Keywords: | monopsony, imperfect competition, separation, labour supply elasticity |
| JEL: | J42 J21 J71 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:dpaper:626&r=lab |
| By: | Kahanec, Martin (IZA); Shields, Michael P. (Central Michigan University) |
| Abstract: | Migration is often viewed as an investment decision. Temporary migrants can be expected to invest less in accumulating human capital specific to the host country. Instead, they work more hours in order to accumulate savings and invest in financial capital that can be transferred back to their country of origin upon return. In this paper, using German panel data, we explore how temporary migrants differ from permanent migrants in their labor supply decisions and behavior. Upon correcting for endogeneity bias, temporary migrants are found to work more hours than permanent ones. This result supports the human capital theory and a household production model of migration where migrants may be temporary by choice and not because of legal restrictions or even a bad experience in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | migration, temporary migrants, labor supply, Germany |
| JEL: | J22 J61 F22 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4735&r=lab |
| By: | Johannes P. Jütting; Angela Luci; Christian Morrison |
| Abstract: | There is an increasing concern in the development community about the increase in the ‘feminisation of bad jobs’ of many developing countries. Indeed, recent analysis shows a growing proportion of women are in jobs with poor working conditions and low pay. But what is driving this phenomenon? This paper addresses this issue by looking at the role of social institutions, i.e. traditions, social norms and informal laws, in shaping labour market outcomes. By applying the newly established Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) of the OECD on 44 developing countries, the paper finds that social institutions influence to a great extent activity patterns and job quality for women. Our results suggest that addressing discriminating social institutions is crucial for advancing gender equality.<BR>On se préoccupe de plus en plus de la « féminisation » des mauvais emplois dans les pays en développement. Les analyses récentes montrent qu’il y a un pourcentage croissant de femmes qui ont des emplois caractérisés par de mauvaises conditions de travail et un faible salaire. Quelle est la cause de ce phénomène ? Ce document traite ce sujet en étudiant le rôle des institutions sociales, c’est-à-dire des traditions, des normes sociales et des lois informelles, dans la détermination des résultats qu’obtiennent les femmes sur le marché du travail. En appliquant le nouvel indicateur de l’OCDE en usage SIGI (social institutions and gender index) à 44 pays en développement, nous trouvons que les institutions sociales influencent dans une large mesure les genres d’activité et la qualité des emplois pour les femmes. Nos résultats suggèrent qu’il est crucial de traiter le problème de la discrimination sociale envers les femmes pour améliorer leurs chances d’accès à un bon emploi dans les pays en développement. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, labour market, social institutions, SIGI, gender inequality, job quality, marché du travail, agriculture, institutions sociales, égalité homme-femme, qualité de l’emploi, SIGI |
| JEL: | D63 F16 H1 J16 J21 J43 J8 |
| Date: | 2010–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:devaaa:287-en&r=lab |
| By: | Billger, Sherrilyn M. (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: | In our current challenging budgetary environment, school closures remain a potentially attractive choice. With a large panel of Illinois schools from 1991 to 2005, I investigate which factors contribute to school closures. Among elementary schools, declining enrolments and rural locations coincide with closures. However, schools with higher per-pupil spending are ceteris paribus less likely to close. Furthermore, better test scores also yield lower probabilities. High expenditures contribute to junior high closure, but the most significant predictors are the proportions of black and low income students. Administrators may claim that low enrolments and high spending motivate school closures, but in Illinois, that is not the whole story. |
| Keywords: | education finance, education administration, school closures, tax policy |
| JEL: | I22 I28 H75 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4739&r=lab |
| By: | Vegard Iversen (School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich); Kunal Sen (IDPM, University of Manchester); Arjan Verschoor (School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich); Amaresh Dubey (CSRD, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi`) |
| Abstract: | Economists have focused on job search and supply-side explanations for network effects in labour transactions. This paper develops and tests an alternative explanation for the high prevalence of network-based labour market entry in developing countries. In our theoretical framework, employers use employee networks as screening and incentive mechanisms to improve the quality of recruitment. Our framework suggests a negative relationship between network use and the skill intensity of jobs, a positive association between economic activity and network use and a negative relationship between network use and pro-labour legislation. Furthermore, social identity effects are expected to intensify compared to information-sharing and other network mechanisms. Using data from an all-India Employment Survey we implement a novel empirical strategy to test these relationships and find support for our demand-side explanation. |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:isipdp:09-01&r=lab |
| By: | Balaji Pandey |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to examine the policy debates on women's education and highlight some of the basic issues affecting the progress of women's education since the introduction of planned development in the country. [CWDS]. |
| Keywords: | women's, disability, Indian, opportiinity, girls, science, technology, cultivation, moral values, health, employment, post-independence, boys, girl's, education, development, policy debates, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2413&r=lab |
| By: | Chiara Del Bo (Università degli Studi); Massimo Florio (University of Milan); Carlo Fiorio (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | The shadow wage is the social opportunity cost of labor. After reviewing earlier theoretical and empirical literature, we define four labor market conditions: fairly socially efficient (FSE), quasi-Keynesian unemployment (QKU), urban labor dualism (ULD) and rural labor dualism (RLD). We offer, for the first time to date, an empirical estimation of the shadow wages for the EU at regional (NUTS2) level. Our estimated values are in the form of conversion factors that translate actual observed real wages into shadow wages, as required by social cost-benefit analysis of investment projects under the Structural Funds of the EU. Our results are obtained with an empirical strategy that is easy to implement with aggregate data, differently from micro-data based approaches that are costly, project specific, and often difficult to be applied because of lack of data. We find that the conversion factor for the shadow wage rate is 0.998 in 29 FSE regions (mostly capital cities); 0.943 in 135 ULD regions (mostly in rich areas); 0.8005 in 74 QKU regions, and just 0.519 in 32 RLD regions. These findings point to high variability of labor markets in the EU and have important applications for project evaluation. |
| Keywords: | Shadow wage, project evaluation, EU regions, |
| Date: | 2009–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:unimip:1090&r=lab |
| By: | Kimberly Burnett (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization); Sumner La Croix (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa) |
| Abstract: | Hawaii is one of 27 states that do not require testing of public high school students regarding their understanding of economics. We report results for the first economics test administered to a large sample of students in Hawaii public high schools during the Spring 2004 semester. Our analysis focuses on evaluating the impact of a semester-long course in economics on student scores on a 20-question, multiple-choice economics test. We specify and estimate a regression analysis of exam scores that controls for other factors that could influence student performance on the exam. While student scores on the economics exam are relatively low, completion of an economics course and participation in a stock market simulation game each add about one point to student scores. |
| Keywords: | economic education, high school economics, stock market simulation |
| JEL: | A20 A21 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:201001&r=lab |
| By: | Joshua D. Angrist; Susan M. Dynarski; Thomas J. Kane; Parag A. Pathak; Christopher R. Walters |
| Abstract: | Charter schools affiliated with the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) are emblematic of the No Excuses approach to public education. These schools feature a long school day, an extended school year, selective teacher hiring, strict behavior norms and a focus on traditional reading and math skills. We use applicant lotteries to evaluate the impact of KIPP Academy Lynn, a KIPP charter school that is mostly Hispanic and has a high concentration of limited English proficiency (LEP) and special-need students, groups that charter critics have argued are typically under-served. The results show overall gains of 0.35 standard deviations in math and 0.12 standard deviations in reading for each year spent at KIPP Lynn. LEP students, special education students, and those with low baseline scores benefit more from time spent at KIPP than do other students, with reading gains coming almost entirely from the LEP group. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15740&r=lab |
| By: | Michele Santoni (Università degli Studi di Milano) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of product market integration on wage-bargaining institutions. It first shows evidence of a negative correlation between the level of wage bargaining and proxy measures of integration, such as the degree of openness and import penetration, for a macro-panel of 17 OECD countries over the 1975-2000 period. It then develops a theoretical model of an import-competing unionised Cournot-Nash oligopoly. The model shows that a reduction in trade barriers, by lowering the sharable surplus between home firms and labour when the final goods are substitutes, gives unions incentives to choose more decentralised wage-bargaining institutions. This industry-level mechanism, however, works in the opposite direction with either complements or two-way trade and homogeneous goods. In these cases, cutting trade barriers raises the sharable surplus and encourages domestic wage-setters to choose more centralised institutions. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous wage bargaining institutions, Unionised oligopolies, Trade integration, |
| Date: | 2009–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:unimip:1091&r=lab |
| By: | Marek Gora; Oleksandr Rohozynsky; Irina Sinitsina; Mateusz Walewski |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper was to analyse possible directions and magnitudes of the relationship between the social security driven tax wedge, employment and shadow employment in Russia and Ukraine. Previous results suggest a limited positive relationship between the size of the tax wedge and shadow employment and in recent years both analysed countries undertook serious steps in order to reform and to simplify their payroll tax system and consequently to reduce shadow employment. Our result suggest that the unskilled persons engaged in unregistered jobs in Ukraine and Russia are not "rewarded" with higher net earnings. It seems that, in their case, shadow employment is the way to escape unemployment and resulting poverty, rather than to evade taxes. Hence, it seems that, in this case, broadening of general employment opportunities for this group would result in a decrease in shadow employment. We also found that the effect of the SSN benefits on shadow employment was rather low in both countries. One of the explanations is the fact that SSN benefits remain largely universal, and are not sufficiently tied to former employment history and social security contribution paid. |
| Keywords: | tax wedge, employment, shadow employment, transition economies |
| JEL: | E24 J3 H21 O17 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0398&r=lab |
| By: | Adam Isen; Betsey Stevenson |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how marital and fertility patterns have changed along racial and educational lines for men and women. Historically, women with more education have been the least likely to marry and have children, but this marriage gap has eroded as the returns to marriage have changed. Marriage and remarriage rates have risen for women with a college degree relative to women with fewer years of education. However, the patterns of, and reasons for, marriage have changed. College educated women marry later, have fewer children, are less likely to view marriage as “financial security”, are happier in their marriages and with their family life, and are not only the least likely to divorce, but have had the biggest decrease in divorce since the 1970s compared to women without a college degree. In contrast, there have been fewer changes in marital patterns by education for men. |
| JEL: | I20 J1 J11 J12 J13 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15725&r=lab |
| By: | Richard Herd; Vincent Koen; Anders Reutersward |
| Abstract: | Over the past decade, the share of jobs not controlled by the state has increased considerably, whilst employment in agriculture has declined, against the backdrop of ongoing urbanisation. Over 200 million people have been drawn into urban areas through official or unofficial migration, despite various obstacles to labour mobility, including the registration system and the associated restrictions to social service access. New labour laws were introduced in 2008 to better protect employees in a market now dominated by private-sector employers, notably via more systematic use of and adherence to written labour contracts, in particular of indefinite duration ones. To what extent the new legislation and implementing regulations will be enforced remains to be seen. For the time being, de facto employment protection is far less than de jure, with an enduring preponderance of fixed-term contracts, involving few restrictions. Minimum wages are set locally and have not kept up with average wages, nor are they effectively enforced. During the recent slowdown, average wages adjusted rapidly and employment was soon on the rise again. However, this episode also highlighted the need to integrate migrants better, not least by relaxing registration rules.<P>Le marché du travail chinois en transition : création d’emplois, migrations et régulation<BR>Au cours des dix dernières années, la proportion d’emplois non contrôlés par l’État a augmenté considérablement, tandis que les possibilités de travail dans le secteur de l’agriculture s’amenuisaient sur fond d’urbanisation ininterrompue. Plus de 200 millions de personnes ont migré – officiellement ou non – vers des zones urbaines, en dépit des nombreux obstacles qui freinent la mobilité de la main-d’oeuvre, notamment le système d’enregistrement et les contraintes qu’il impose en matière d’accès aux services sociaux. Depuis 2008, le marché du travail est soumis à de nouvelles réglementations, visant à assurer aux employés une meilleure protection sur un marché aujourd’hui dominé par les employeurs du secteur privé : on soulignera le recours plus systématique au contrat de travail écrit, et en particulier au contrat de durée indéterminée. On ignore encore dans quelle mesure seront respectées la nouvelle législation et les modalités d’application. Pour l’heure, la protection réelle des employés est très inférieure à ce que prévoit le droit, et les contrats les plus répandus restent les contrats de durée déterminée qui offrent peu de protection. Le montant du salaire minimum est fixé au niveau local, sans référence au salaire moyen, et n’est d’ailleurs pas effectivement respecté. Dans la récente période de ralentissement économique, les salaires moyens ont été ajustés rapidement et l’emploi a connu une embellie. Toutefois, cet épisode a également mis en lumière la nécessité d’une meilleure intégration des migrants, notamment par un assouplissement des modalités d’enregistrement. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, employment, social services, China, minimum wage, labour market, access, hukou, contracts, urbanisation, chômage, marché du travail, emploi, salaire minimum, Chine, hukou, contrats, urbanisation, accès aux services sociaux |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J23 J24 J31 J41 J42 J61 J63 J65 J71 J82 J83 K31 O53 P23 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:749-en&r=lab |
| By: | Jean-Pierre de Raad (New Zealand Institute of Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Over the next year another 50,000 people will become unemployed. The number of unemployed will surpass that of the last recession of 1997-98. To address the unemployment challenge New Zealand needs to supplement existing job search assistance with investment in training and business capital to push long term productivity growth. Subsidies to prop up jobs and firms should be avoided. The April 2009 QSBO found that a net 36% of firms intend to cut staff numbers in the next three months. Unemployment will be the worst we have faced since the 1991 global recession. With the peak in unemployment approaching, attention needs to shift now to the challenge of getting the unemployed into work. The temptation will be to artificially protect jobs. But this is short-sighted. The economic imperative should be to ensure New Zealand has the right human capital to prosper when the economy picks up. At first glance, recent initiatives (temporary top-up support for those made redundant and the 9 day fortnight) appear sensible. But they have downsides and should be removed after the crisis has passed. Also, because they are tightly targeted they will have little impact, and do not cater well for many of the 50,000 or so extra unemployed. These will be new entrants to the labour market or those employed by small firms. This policy gap needs to be filled to avoid high and long-term unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Recession, unemployment, New Zealand, labour economics |
| JEL: | J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:laborw:2145&r=lab |
| By: | Thomas Barré (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I) |
| Abstract: | Focusing on individual labor market positions, this article proposes a new approach to elicit and measure constraints faced by rural households. Under market imperfections, individuals fail to equalize their hourly income to their shadow wage and become over- or underemployed. We estimate and explain this gap in a stochastic frontier framework for rural Vietnam. Both employees and farmers are found to fail in equalizing their hourly income to their shadow wage. Constraints faced by farmers are found to be stronger than that of employees: farmers' marginal revenue of labor is 3 times higher than their shadow wage while market wages earned by employees are 1.5 times higher than their shadow wages. Price risk is found to be the most important constraint faced by Vietnamese rural farmers while employees would benefit from the development of the road network. |
| Keywords: | Market imperfections ; Shadow wages ; Allocative efficiency ; Vietnam |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00452809_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Vincent Boucher; Yann Bramoullé; Habiba Djebbari; Bernard Fortin |
| Abstract: | We provide the first empirical application of a new approach proposed by Lee (2007) to estimate peer effects in a linear-in-means model. This approach allows to control for group-level unobservables and to solve the reflection problem. We investigate peer effects in student achievement in Mathematics, Science, French and History in Quebec secondary schools. We estimate the model using maximum likelihood and instrumental variables methods. We find evidence of peer effects. The endogenous peer effect is positive, when significant, and some contextual peer effects matter. Using calibrated Monte Carlo simulations, we find that high dispersion in group sizes helps with potential issues of weak identification. <P>Nous présentons une première application empirique d’une nouvelle approche développée par Lee (2007) pour estimer les effets de pairs dans un modèle linéaire-en-moyenne. Cette méthode permet de tenir compte des variables non-observées au niveau du groupe et de solutionner le problème de réflexion. Nous estimons les effets de pairs sur la performance scolaire (mesurée par les résultats aux épreuves du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport) en Mathématiques, en Science, en Français et en Histoire dans les écoles secondaires du Québec. À cette fin, nous utilisons des méthodes de maximum de vraisemblance et de variables instrumentales. Nos résultats corroborent la présence d’effets de pairs. L’effet de pair endogène est positif, lorsqu’il est significatif. En particulier, une hausse d’un point dans la note moyenne de ses pairs accroît la note de l’élève de 0,5 en Français, de 0,65 en Histoire et 0,83 en Math (514). En outre, certains effets contextuels ont de l’importance. À partir de simulations Monte Carlo, nous trouvons qu’une grande variabilité dans la taille des groupes peut réduire les problèmes d’identification faible. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, student achievement, reflection problem, effets de pairs, performance scolaire, problème de réflexion |
| JEL: | C31 I20 Z13 |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2010s-08&r=lab |
| By: | Jonathan Berk; Johan Walden |
| Abstract: | The non-tradability of human capital is often cited for the failure of traditional asset pricing theory to explain agents' portfolio holdings. In this paper we argue that the opposite might be true --- traditional models might not be able to explain agent portfolio holdings because they do not explicitly account for the fact that human capital does trade (in the form of labor contracts). We derive wages endogenously as part of a dynamic equilibrium in a production economy. Risk is shared in labor markets because firms write bilateral labor contracts that insure workers, allowing agents to achieve a Pareto optimal allocation even when the span of asset markets is restricted to just stocks and bonds. Capital markets facilitate this risk sharing because it is there that firms offload the labor market risk they assumed from workers. In effect, by investing in capital markets investors provide insurance to wage earners who then optimally choose not to participate in capital markets. The model can produce some of the most important stylized facts in asset pricing: (1) limited asset market participation, (2) the seemingly high equity risk premium, (3) the very large disparity in the volatility of consumption and the volatility of asset prices, and (4) the time dependent correlation between consumption growth and asset returns. |
| JEL: | G11 G12 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15709&r=lab |
| By: | Barrett, Alan (ESRI, Dublin); Goggin, Jean (ESRI, Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Using data from a large-scale survey of employees in Ireland, we estimate the extent to which people who have emigrated from Ireland and returned earn more relative to comparable people who have never lived abroad. In so doing, we are testing the hypothesis that migration can be part of a process of human capital formation. We find through OLS estimation that returners earn 7 percent more than comparable stayers. We test for the presence of self-selection bias in this estimate but the tests suggest that the premium is related to returner status. The premium holds for both genders, is higher for people with post-graduate degrees and for people who migrated beyond the EU to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The results show how emigration can be positive for a source country when viewed in a longer term context. |
| Keywords: | return migration, Ireland, brain drain, brain circulation |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4736&r=lab |
| By: | Dorothee Schneider |
| Abstract: | In this paper I analyze the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on compensation shares of high-, medium-, and low-skilled workers. Com- pared to other studies, I investigate this question using a considerably richer data set with respect to the length of time series, set of countries and industries, and information on ICT. Next to investigating the influence of ICT in 14 countries, I concentrate on the analysis in 23 separate industries. The results I find show that the skill-biased technological change hypothesis is rejected if single countries are analyzed with an industry panel, while I find that technological change is a cause of changes in the relative compensation shares in single industries. Here there is a positive influence of ICT on high-skilled workers' relative compensation for the time before 1995, while ICT investments drive the medium- and low-skilled com- pensation shares together for a substantial amount of industries, especially since 1995. |
| Keywords: | ICT, Skill, Income Inequality, Labor Demand |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2010-017&r=lab |
| By: | Zhou, H.; Dekker, R.; Kleinknecht, A. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University) |
| Abstract: | Firms with high shares of workers on fixed-term contracts have significantly higher sales of imitative new products but perform significantly worse on sales of inno¬va¬tive new products (“first on the marketâ€). High functional flexibility in “insider-outsider†la¬bor markets enhances a firm’s new product sales, as do training efforts and highly edu¬ca¬¬ted personnel. We find weak evidence that larger and older firms have higher new pro¬duct sales than do younger and smaller firms. Our findings should be food for thought to eco-nomists making unqualified pleas for the deregulation of labor markets. |
| Keywords: | J5;M5;O15;O31;innovation performance;new product sales;numerical flexibility;OSA longitudinal dataset;SMEs |
| Date: | 2010–01–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765018037&r=lab |
| By: | J. Trent Alexander; Michael Davern; Betsey Stevenson |
| Abstract: | We discover and document errors in public use microdata samples ("PUMS files") of the 2000 Census, the 2003-2006 American Community Survey, and the 2004-2009 Current Population Survey. For women and men ages 65 and older, age- and sex-specific population estimates generated from the PUMS files differ by as much as 15% from counts in published data tables. Moreover, an analysis of labor force participation and marriage rates suggests the PUMS samples are not representative of the population at individual ages for those ages 65 and over. PUMS files substantially underestimate labor force participation of those near retirement ages and overestimate labor force participation rates of those at older ages. These problems were an unintentional by-product of the misapplication of a newer generation of disclosure avoidance procedures carried out on the data. The resulting errors in the public use data could significantly impact studies of people ages 65 and older, particularly analyses of variables that are expected to change by age. |
| JEL: | C42 C8 J0 J1 J12 J14 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15703&r=lab |
| By: | Flavio Cunha; James Heckman; Susanne Schennach |
| Abstract: | This paper formulates and estimates multistage production functions for childrens' cognitive and noncognitive skills. Skills are determined by parental environments and investments at different stages of childhood. We estimate the elasticity of substitution between investments in one period and stocks of skills in that period to assess the benefits of early investment in children compared to later remediation. We establish nonparametric identification of a general class of production technologies based on nonlinear factor models with endogenous inputs. A by-product of our approach is a framework for evaluating childhood and schooling interventions that does not rely on arbitrarily scaled test scores as outputs and recognizes the differential effects of the same bundle of skills in different tasks. Using the estimated technology, we determine optimal targeting of interventions to children with different parental and personal birth endowments. Substitutability decreases in later stages of the life cycle in the production of cognitive skills. It increases slightly in later stages of the life cycle in the production of noncognitive skills. This finding has important implications for the design of policies that target the disadvantaged. For some configurations of disadvantage and for some outcomes, the return to investments in the later stages of childhood may exceed that to investments in the early stage. |
| JEL: | C31 J13 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15664&r=lab |
| By: | Xin Xu; Robert Kaestner |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we take a structural approach to investigate the effects of wages and working hours on health behaviors of low-educated persons using variation in wages and hours caused by changes in economic activity. We find that increases in hours are associated with an increase in cigarette smoking, a reduction in physical activity, and fewer visits to physicians. More importantly, we find that most of the effects associated with changes in hours can be attributed to the changes in the extensive margin of employment. Increases in wages are associated with greater consumption of cigarettes. |
| JEL: | I12 J22 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15737&r=lab |
| By: | Arcidiacono, Peter (Duke University); Hotz, V. Joseph (Duke University); Kang, Songman (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | The choice of a college major plays a critical role in determining the future earnings of college graduates. Students make their college major decisions in part due to the future earnings streams associated with the different majors. We survey students about what their expected earnings would be both in the major they have chosen and in counterfactual majors. We also elicit students' subjective assessments of their abilities in chosen and counterfactual majors. We estimate a model of college major choice that incorporates these subjective expectations and assessments. We show that both expected earnings and students' abilities in the different majors are important determinants of student's choice of a college major. We also show that students' forecast errors with respect to expected earnings in different majors is potentially important, with our estimates suggesting that 7.5% of students would switch majors if they made no forecast errors. |
| Keywords: | choice of college major, subjective expectations |
| JEL: | I2 C81 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4738&r=lab |
| By: | Ken Yamada (School of Economics, Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | The consumption-leisure choice model implies that an exogenous change in tax rates will bring about a change in labor supply. This implication is expected to be important to labor supplied by secondary earners under a progressive tax system when spousal income alters effective marginal tax rates. This paper examines labor supply responses to the income tax changes associated with Japanese tax reforms during the 1990s. Empirical specications are presented in a way that is consistent with a life-cycle model of consumption and labor supply. A simple solution is applied to the sample-selection problem in panel data models with endogenous regressors. The results indicate that the hours-of-work elasticity with respect to the net-of-tax rate is 0.8 for married women. |
| Keywords: | Labor Supply Elasticity, Intertemporal Labor Supply Model, Sample-Selection Correction Model, Quasi-Experiment, Tax Reforms |
| Date: | 2004–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:siu:wpaper:12-2009&r=lab |
| By: | Peter Arcidiacono; V. Joseph Hotz; Songman Kang |
| Abstract: | The choice of a college major plays a critical role in determining the future earnings of college graduates. Students make their college major decisions in part due to the future earnings streams associated with the different majors. We survey students about what their expected earnings would be both in the major they have chosen and in counterfactual majors. We also elicit students’ subjective assessments of their abilities in chosen and counterfactual majors. We estimate a model of college major choice that incorporates these subjective expectations and assessments. We show that both expected earnings and students’ abilities in the different majors are important determinants of student’s choice of a college major. We also show that students’ forecast errors with respect to expected earnings in different majors is potentially important, with our estimates suggesting that 7.5% of students would switch majors if they made no forecast errors. |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15729&r=lab |
| By: | Bogliacino, Francesco (Universidad EAFIT); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | In this study we use a unique database covering 25 manufacturing and service sectors for 16 European countries over the period 1996-2005, for a total of 2,295 observations, and apply GMM-SYS panel estimations of a demand-for-labour equation augmented with technology. We find that R&D expenditures have a job-creating effect, in accordance with the previous theoretical and empirical literature discussed in the paper. Interestingly enough, the labour-friendly nature of R&D emerges in both the flow and the stock specifications. These findings provide further justification for the European Lisbon-Barcelona targets. |
| Keywords: | technological change, corporate R&D, employment, product innovation, GMM-SYS |
| JEL: | O33 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4728&r=lab |
| By: | Haizhen Lin (Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact that minimum staffing requirements have on the United States nursing home market using a unique national panel that spans the period between 1996 to 2005. It highlights the importance of controlling for unobserved heterogeneity in examining policy impacts. I find that, given an increase of 0.5 hours of minimum staffing requirements for licensed nurses, the quality of patient care increases by 15 percent. I also find that this quality-increasing effect is mainly driven by low quality nursing homes increasing their quality of care to meet the new standards. By contrast, minimum staffing requirements for direct care nurses do not have any significant impact on quality. A detailed explanation for this lack of impact is also provided in this paper. |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iuk:wpaper:2010-01&r=lab |
| By: | Dalia Marin |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of globalisation in the rise of executive pay in Austria and Germany. According to Dalia Marin, firms more exposed to international competition engage in talent fairs to search and attract skilled workers. She also finds that seniority related pay varies for different levels of foreign competition suggesting that firms increase CEO pay when faced with the threat of losing their senior executives, while seniority in office itself does not lead to higher pay. These findings support the idea of a 'war for talent' that is triggered by international trade. |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:wpaper:246&r=lab |
| By: | Maya P.; Sörensen K.; Goos P. |
| Abstract: | The Flemish Ministry of Education promotes the integrated education of disabled children by providing educational opportunities in common schools. In the current system, disabled children receive ambulant help from a teaching assistant (TA) employed at an institute for extra-ordinary education. The compensation that the TAs receive for driving to visit the students is a major cost factor for the institute that provides the assistance, therefore its management desires a schedule that minimizes the accumulated distance traveled by all TAs combined. We call this optimization problem the teaching assistants assignment routing problem (TAARP). It involves three decisions that have to be taken simultaneously: (1) pupils have to be assigned to TAs; (2) pupils assigned to a given TA have to be spread over the TA's dierent working days; and (3) the order in which to visit the pupils on each day has to be determined. We propose a solution strategy based on an auction algorithm and a variable neighborhood search which exhibit an excellent performance both in simulated and real instances. The total distance traveled in the solution obtained for the real data set improves the current solution by about 22% which represents a saving of around 9% on the annual budget of the institute. |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2009011&r=lab |
| By: | Simona Comi (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on cross-country comparison of intergenerational mobility using the eight waves of the European Community Household Panel. I estimate intergeneration earnings elasticity for sons and daughters father pairs in seven European countries. Data comparability across countries allows me to rank European countries according to their degree of intergenerational income mobility. When I consider intergenerational transmission of earnings towards daughters, it turns out that that Italy is the most immobile country in Europe. When considering sons, all the Mediterranean countries result to be more immobile than Germany. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | J62 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie4:ieil0057&r=lab |
| By: | Pouliakas, Konstantinos (University of Aberdeen); Theodossiou, Ioannis (University of Aberdeen) |
| Abstract: | This paper engages in an interdisciplinary survey of the current state of knowledge related to the theory, determinants and consequences of occupational safety and health (OSH). First, it synthesizes the available theoretical frameworks used by economists and psychologists to understand the issues related to the optimal provision of OSH in the labour market. Second, it reviews the academic literature investigating the correlates of a comprehensive set of OSH indicators, which portray the state of OSH infrastructure (social security expenditure, prevention, regulations), inputs (chemical and physical agents, ergonomics, working time, violence) and outcomes (injuries, illnesses, absenteeism, job satisfaction) within workplaces. Third, it explores the implications of the lack of OSH in terms of the economic and social costs that are entailed. Finally, the survey identifies areas of future research interests and suggests priorities for policy initiatives that can improve the health and safety of workers. |
| Keywords: | health, safety, indicators, accidents, diseases, absenteeism |
| JEL: | J17 J28 J81 K32 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4734&r=lab |
| By: | Ekberg, Jan (Centre for Labour Market Policy Research (CAFO)) |
| Abstract: | Sweden and many other Western countries are facing a demographic development with an ageing population which will burden their public finances. Already today, the sum of yearly public expenditures in Sweden is about 50 percent of gross national product (GNP). Will future immigration alleviate the burden on the welfare system? Immigrants usually have a low proportion of old people and a high proportion of people of working age. Calculations for Sweden up to the year 2050 show, however, that the positive net fiscal contribution of immigrants is small even if they are well integrated on the labour market. The reason is that future immigration will increase the size of the population and thereby raise not only tax receipts but also public expenses. The fiscal impact is sensitive to immigrants’ integration into the labour market. If, for example, the rate of labour force participation of future immigrants will be the same as that of foreign born now living in Sweden, the fiscal consequences would be negative, but small also in that case. For most years up to 2050, the calculated positive/negative net contribution effect is less than one percent of GNP. The same positive net contribution could be achieved through a better integration of immigrants already living in Sweden. |
| Keywords: | Demography; Forecasting; Immigration |
| JEL: | J11 |
| Date: | 2010–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vxcafo:2010_001&r=lab |
| By: | Joshua Graff Zivin; Matthew J. Neidell |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the impacts of climate change on the allocation of time using econometric models that exploit plausibly exogenous variation in daily temperature over time within counties. We find large reductions in U.S. labor supply in industries with high exposure to climate and similarly large decreases in time allocated to outdoor leisure. We also find suggestive evidence of short-run adaptation through temporal substitutions and acclimatization. Given the industrial composition of the US, the net impacts on total employment are likely to be small, but significant changes in leisure time as well as large scale redistributions of income may be consequential. In developing countries, where the industrial base is more typically concentrated in climate-exposed industries and baseline temperatures are already warmer, employment impacts may be considerably larger. |
| JEL: | J22 Q54 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15717&r=lab |