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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Andrés Erosa (IMDEA Ciencias Sociales); Luisa Fuster (IMDEA Ciencias Sociales); Diego Restuccia (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | This paper measures how much of the gender wage gap over the life cycle is due to the fact that working hours are lower for women than for men. We build a quantitative theory of fertility, labor supply, and human capital accumulation decisions to measure gender differences in human capital investments over the life cycle. We assume that there are no gender differences in the human capital technology and calibrate this technology using wage-age profiles of men. The calibration of females assumes that children involve a forced reduction in hours of work that falls on females rather thanon males and that there is an exogenous gender gap in hours of work. We find that our theory accounts for all of the increase in the gender wage gap over the life cycle in the NLSY79 data. The impact of children on the labor supply of females accounts for 56% and 45% of the increase in the gender wage gap over the life cycle among non-college and college individuals, while the rest is due to exogenous gender differences in hours ofwork. We also find that children play an important role in understanding the variationof the gender wage gap across recent cohorts of women and the slower wage growth faced by black women relative to non-black women in the U.S. economy. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap; employment; experience; fertility; human capital |
| JEL: | J2 J3 |
| Date: | 2010–03–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2010-04&r=lab |
| By: | Julie L. Hotchkiss; M. Melinda Pitts; Mary Beth Walker |
| Abstract: | During the late 1990s, the convergence of women's labor force participation rates to men's rates came to a halt. This paper explores the degree to which the role of education and marriage in women's labor supply decisions also changed over this time period. Specifically, this paper investigates women's decisions to exit the labor market upon the birth of a child. The results indicate that changing exit behavior among married, educated women at this period in their lives was not likely the driving force behind the aggregate changes seen in labor force participation. Rather, changes in exit rates among single women, particularly those less educated, are much more consistent with the changing pattern of aggregate female labor force participation. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:2010-02&r=lab |
| By: | Rickne, Johanna (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | This study compares average earnings and productivities for men and women employed in roughly 200,000 Chinese industrial enterprises. Women’s average wages lag behind men’s wages by 11%, and this result is robust to the inclusion of non-wage income in the form of social insurance payments. The gender-wage gap is wider among workers with more than 12 years of education (28%), mainly because of the higher relative wages received by skilled men in foreign-invested firms. Women’s average productivity falls behind men’s productivity by a larger margin than the gap in earnings, and the null-hypothesis of earnings discrimination is thereby rejected. Equal average wages between men and women are found among firms located in China’s Special Economic Zones, and also among some light industrial sectors with high shares of female employees. Market reform hence appears to have improved women’s relative incomes. |
| Keywords: | China; Gender Wage Gap; Non-wage Compensation |
| JEL: | I30 J16 J71 O10 |
| Date: | 2010–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0827&r=lab |
| By: | Jun Nie |
| Abstract: | Training programs are a major tool of labor market policies in OECD countries. I use a unique panel data set on the labor market experience of individual German workers between 2000 and 2002 to estimate a dynamic model of search and training, which allows me to quantify the impact of training programs and unemployment benefits on employment, unemployment, output, and the government expenditures. ; The model extends Ljungqvist and Sargent (JPE, 1998) by incorporating a training decision and a broader menu of unemployment benefits. Government-sponsored training programs feature a key trade-off with respect to unemployment insurance programs: they offer more generous unemployment benefits but require more time and effort from workers to generate higher skills. As a result, unemployed workers with different human capital and benefits make different decisions about training, search, and job acceptance. ; I use the model to quantitatively study the recent reforms implemented in Germany and run more counterfactual experiments. I simulate the transition path under back-to-back unexpected reforms in 2003-2006 and find the dynamics of the model's unemployment rates are close to the data. In a counterfactual experiment in which I model an economy with a German-like training system and a US-like unemployment benefit structure (roughly, benefits are lower), I find that employment and output rise substantially. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:rwp10-03&r=lab |
| By: | Carsten Ochsen |
| Abstract: | In this study, we examine how economic performance during the child-specific primary school phase, during which teachers make recommendations regarding secondary school level, affects the educational level achieved ultimately by these children. Using data for Germany, we find that an economic downturn, coupled with increased unemployment, affects children's education attainment negatively. In terms of monetary units, the average effect of the 1993 German recessionon children's educational attainment corresponds to a loss of average monthly household equivalence income of about 50%. A second important conclusion is that children who live in regions that experience poor economic performance over longer periods are, on average, less educated than children who live in more affluent regions. Since human capital is a determinant of economic growth, declining school performance ultimately hampers future growth potential. |
| Keywords: | educational attainment, educational tracking, macroeconomic uncertainty, family structure, intergenerational link, parental labor supply |
| JEL: | I21 E24 J10 J22 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp285&r=lab |
| By: | Kamil Galuščák (Czech National Bank, Na Příkopě 28, 115 03 Praha 1, Czech Republic.); Mary Keeney (Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, PO Box 559, Dame Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.); Daphne Nicolitsas (Bank of Greece, 21 E. Venizelos Avenue, GR 102 50 Athens, Greece.); Frank Smets (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Pawel Strzelecki (National Bank of Poland, ul. Świętokrzyska 11/21, 00-919 Warszawa, Poland.); Matija Vodopivec (Bank of Slovenia, Slovenska 35, 1505 Ljubljana, Slovenia.) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses information from a rich firm-level survey on wage and price-setting procedures, in around 15,000 firms in 15 European Union countries, to investigate the relative importance of internal versus external factors in the setting of wages of newly hired workers. The evidence suggests that external labour market conditions are less important than internal pay structures in determining hiring pay, with internal pay structures binding even more often when there is labour market slack. When explaining their choice firms allude to fairness considerations and the need to prevent a potential negative impact on effort. Despite the lower importance of external factors in all countries there is significant cross-country variation in this respect. Cross-country differences are found to depend on institutional factors (bargaining structures); countries in which collective agreements are more prevalent and collective agreement coverage is higher report to a greater extent internal pay structures as the main determinant of hiring pay. Within-country differences are found to depend on firm and workforce characteristics; there is a strong association between the use of external factors in hiring pay, on the one hand, and skills (positive) and tenure (negative) on the other. JEL Classification: J31, J41. |
| Keywords: | Wage rigidity, newly hired workers, internal pay structure, employee turnover, business cycle, survey data. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20101153&r=lab |
| By: | Schneider, Hilmar (IZA); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University) |
| Abstract: | This strategy paper by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) shows ways in which Germany once more can attain full employment in the coming decade. Much of what the previous government's "Agenda 2010" has put into motion has clearly steered labor market development in the right direction. The reforms are one of the main reasons why Germany has been more resistant to the recent financial and economic crisis than other countries. While these achievements should not be called into question, further action is necessary. The IZA concept includes the following elements: (1) Education reform: Early childhood education must be improved. Social background should no longer determine future career prospects. More independence and competition between schools and universities would improve the quality of education. Selection of students into different secondary school tracks should occur at a higher age. The dual system of apprenticeship training could be shortened. College tuition fees could be replaced by a graduate tax. (2) Welfare state reform: A consistent implementation of the principle of reciprocity would create additional employment incentives and make working for a living worthwhile again even for the low-skilled. Workfare is socially just and promotes independence rather than producing dependency. Child benefits should be granted primarily as vouchers. (3) Job placement reform: The problem groups of the labor market need one-stop support tailored to their individual needs as soon as they become unemployed. IZA proposes the creation of job centers that act independently from local and federal authorities in order to avoid the organizational maze of unclear responsibilities. (4) Immigration policy reform: Germany needs high-skilled immigrants to cope with demographic change and skilled labor shortages. A selection system for permanent immigrants and a market-based solution for temporary immigrants would substantially increase the economic benefits of immigration and create additional momentum for the realization of full employment. |
| Keywords: | labor market policy, Agenda 2010, Hartz reforms, workfare, job center, education, demography, migration policy |
| JEL: | J08 J18 J21 J24 J38 J61 J68 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp15&r=lab |
| By: | Longhi S (Institute for Social and Economic Research); Taylor M (Institute for Social and Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | The job search literature suggests that an increase in the proportion of job seekers who are employed reduces the probability of unemployed people finding a job. However, there is little evidence indicating that employed and unemployed job seekers have similar observed characteristics or that they apply for the same jobs. We use the British Labour Force Survey to compare employed and unemployed job seekers, and find differences in their individual characteristics, preferences over working hours, and job search strategies which do not vary with the business cycle. We conclude that unemployed people do not directly compete with employed job seekers. |
| Date: | 2010–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2010-09&r=lab |
| By: | Selahattin Imrohoroglu; Sagiri Kitao |
| Abstract: | We build a general equilibrium model of overlapping generations that incorporates endogenous saving, labor force participation, work hours, and Social Security benefit claims. Using this model, we study the impact of three Social Security reforms: 1) a reduction in benefits and payroll taxes; 2) an increase in the earliest retirement age, to sixty-four from sixty-two; and 3) an increase in the normal retirement age, to sixty-eight from sixty-six. We find that a 50 percent cut in the scope of the current system significantly raises asset holdings and the labor input, primarily through higher participation of older workers, and reduces the shortfall of the Social Security budget through a reduction in early claiming. Increasing the normal retirement age also raises saving and the labor supply, but the effects are smaller. Postponing the earliest retirement age has only a negligible effect. When the projected aging of the population is taken into account, the case for a reform that encourages labor force participation of the elderly appears to be much stronger. |
| Keywords: | Labor supply ; Social security ; Employee fringe benefits ; Retirement ; Saving and investment |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:436&r=lab |
| By: | Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University); Tasci, H. Mehmet (Balikesir University) |
| Abstract: | There is little evidence on unemployment duration and its determinants in developing countries. This study is on the duration aspect of unemployment in a developing country, Turkey. We analyze the determinants of the probability of leaving unemployment for employment or the hazard rate. The effects of the personal and household characteristics and the local labor market conditions are examined. The analyses are carried out for men and women separately. The results indicate that the nature of unemployment in Turkey exhibits similarities to the unemployment in both the developed and the developing countries. |
| Keywords: | unemployment duration, hazard analysis, gender, Turkey |
| JEL: | J64 C41 J16 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4844&r=lab |
| By: | Richard Dorsett; Silvia Lui; Martin Weale |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of lifelong learning on men’s employment and wages. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, a variant of the mover-stayer model is developed in which hourly wages are either taken from a stationary distribution (movers) or are closely related to the hourly wage one year earlier (stayers). Mover-stayer status is not observed and we therefore model wages using an endogenous switching regression, extended to take account of non random selection into employment. The model is estimated by maximum likelihood, using generalised residuals to correct for possible endogeneity of lifelong learning decisions. The results show modest effects significant at a 10% level for men who undertake life-long learning without upgrading their educational status and more powerful and significant effects for those who do upgrade their status. For the latter, the influence of lifelong learning on employment prospects is an important influence on the overall return. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:niesrd:352&r=lab |
| By: | Anabela Carneiro (Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-464 Porto, Portugal and CETE.); Pedro Portugal (Banco de Portugal, Av. Almirante Reis 71, 6th Lisbon 1150-012, Portugal and Universidade Nova de Lisboa.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper a simultaneous-equations model of firm closing and wage determination is specified in order to analyse how wages adjust to unfavorable product demand shocks that raise the risk of displacement through firm closing, and to what extent an exogenous wage change affects the exit likelihood. Using a longitudinal matched worker-firm data set from Portugal, the estimation results suggest that, under the existence of noncompetitive rents, the fear of job loss leads workers to accept wage concessions, even though a compensating differential for the ex ante risk of displacement might exist. A novel result that emerges from this study is that firms with a higher incidence of minimum wage earners are more vulnerable to adverse shocks due to their inability to adjust wages downward. Indeed, minimum wage restrictions were seen to increase the failure rates. JEL Classification: J31, J65. |
| Keywords: | wages, displacement risk, concessions. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20101159&r=lab |
| By: | David Johnson (Wilfrid Laurier University) |
| Abstract: | This study compares student outcomes at Alberta elementary schools where students come from similar socio-economic backgrounds, thus revealing “good” schools where principals, teachers and staff are making a positive difference in student performance. The study screens out the influence of socio-economic factors on how a school’s students perform on Alberta’s Provincial Achievement Tests for grades 3, 6 and 9. This identifies those schools that perform better or worse than other schools with students of similar backgrounds. |
| Keywords: | Education Papers, Alberta elementary schools, Provincial Achievements Tests (PATs), socio-economic factors |
| JEL: | I21 L33 I28 H75 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:96&r=lab |
| By: | Giuseppe Bertola (Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Economia, via Po 53, 10124 Torino, Italy.); Aurelijus Dabusinskas (Eesti Pank, Estonia pst. 13, 15095 Tallinn, Estonia.); Marco Hoeberichts (De Nederlandsche Bank, P.O. Box 98, 1000 AB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.); Mario Izquierdo (Banco de España, C/ Alcalá 48, 28014 Madrid, Spain.); Claudia Kwapil (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Otto-Wagner-Platz 3, 1090 Vienna, Austria.); Jérémi Montornès (Banque de France, DGS-DSMF-SICOS, 37 rue du Louvre, 75002 Paris, France.); Daniel Radowski (Deutsche Bundesbank, Wilhelm-Epstein-Straße 14, 60431 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses information from survey data collected in the framework of the Eurosystem’s Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) on patterns of firm-level adjustment to shocks. We document that the relative intensity and the character of price vs. cost and wage vs. employment adjustments in response to cost-push shocks depend – in theoretically sensible ways – on the intensity of competition in firms’ product markets, on the importance of collective wage bargaining and on other structural and institutional features of firms and of their environment. Focusing on the passthrough of cost shocks to prices, our results suggest that the pass-through is lower in highly competitive firms. Furthermore, a high degree of employment protection and collective wage agreements tend to make this pass-through stronger. JEL Classification: J31, J38, P50. |
| Keywords: | Wage bargaining, Labour-market institutions, Survey data, European Union. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20101164&r=lab |
| By: | Antonczyk, Dirk (University of Freiburg); DeLeire, Thomas (University of Wisconsin-Madison); Fitzenberger, Bernd (University of Freiburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares trends in wage inequality in the U.S. and Germany using an approach developed by MaCurdy and Mroz (1995) to separate age, time, and cohort effects. Between 1979 and 2004, wage inequality increased strongly in both the U.S. and Germany but there were various country specific aspects of this increase. For the U.S., we find faster wage growth since the 1990s at the top (80% quantile) and the bottom (20% quantile) compared to the median of the wage distribution, which is evidence for polarization in the U.S. labor market. In contrast, we find little evidence for wage polarization in Germany. Moreover, we see a large role played by cohort effects in Germany, while we find only small cohort effects in the U.S. Employment trends in both countries are consistent with polarization since the 1990s. We conclude that although there is evidence in both the U.S. and Germany which is consistent with a technology-driven polarization of the labor market, the patterns of trends in wage inequality differ strongly enough that technology effects alone cannot explain the empirical findings. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, polarization, international comparison, cohort study, quantile regression |
| JEL: | J30 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4842&r=lab |
| By: | Powdthavee, Nattavudh (University of York) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the exogenous effect of schooling on reduced incidence of hypertension. Using the changes in the minimum school-leaving age law in the United Kingdom from age 14 to 15 in 1947, and from age 15 to 16 in 1973, as sources of exogenous variation in schooling, the regression discontinuity and IV-probit estimates imply that completing an extra year of schooling reduces the probability of developing subsequent hypertension by approximately 7-12% points; the result which holds only for men and not for women. The correct IV-probit estimates of the LATE for schooling indicate the presence of a large and negative bias in the probit estimates of schooling-hypertension relationship for the male subsample. |
| Keywords: | hypertension, compulsory schooling, biomarker, regression discontinuity, health |
| JEL: | H1 I1 I2 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4847&r=lab |
| By: | Oscar Marcenaro (Centro de Estudios Andaluces); Muriel Meunier (University of Applied Science. Switzerland); Augustin de Coulon (National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy, UK); Anna Vignoles (Centre for Economics of Education (CEE), UK) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we consider the relative academic achievement in primary school of second generation immigrant children in the UK. We use data for a cohort born in 1970 and find that children born to South Asian or Afro-Caribbean parents have significantly lower levels of cognitive achievement in both mathematics and language in primary school. We then investigated the progression of ethnic minority children in primary school i.e. between age 5 and 10 |
| Keywords: | Second-generation immigrants, educational disadvantage. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cea:doctra:e2010_02&r=lab |
| By: | Janett Neugebauer; Dennis Wesselbaum |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of staggered wages and sticky prices in explaining stylized labor market facts. We build on a partial equilibrium search and matching model and expand the model to a general equilibrium model with sticky prices and/or staggered wages. We show that the core model creates too much volatility in response to a technology shock. The sticky price model outperforms the staggered wage model in terms of matching volatilities, while the combination of both rigidities matches the data reasonably well |
| Keywords: | Search and Matching, Staggered Wages, Sticky Prices |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J64 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1608&r=lab |
| By: | Giovanni Mastrobuoni |
| Abstract: | In 1995, the Social Security Administration started sending out the annual Social Security Statement. It contains information about the worker's estimated benefits at the ages 62, 65, and 70. I use this unique natural experiment to analyze the retirement and claiming decision making. First, I find that, despite the previous availability of information, the Statement has a significant impact on workers' knowledge about their benefits. These findings are consistent with a model where workers need to gather costly information in order to improve their retirement decision. Second, I use this exogenous variation in knowledge to analyze the optimality of workers' decisions. Several findings suggest that workers do not change their retirement behavior: i) Workers do not change their expected age of retirement after receiving the Statement; ii) monthly claiming patterns do not show any change after the introduction of the Social Security Statement; iii) workers do not become more sensitive to Social Security incentives after receiving the Statement. More research is needed to establish whether workers are already behaving optimally or they are not, but the information contained in the Statement is not sufficient to improve their retirement behavior. |
| Keywords: | social security statements; retirement expectations; retirement behavior; social security incentives |
| JEL: | H55 J26 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:139&r=lab |
| By: | J.E. Boscá; R. Doménech; J. Ferri |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of introducing typical Keynesian features, namely rule-of-thumb consumers and consumption habits, into a standard labour market search model. It is a well-known fact that labour market matching with Nash-wage bargaining improves the ability of the standard real business cycle model to replicate some of the cyclical properties featuring the labour market. However, when habits and rule-of-thumb consumers are taken into account, the labour market search model gains extra power to reproduce some of the stylised facts characterising the US labour market, as well as other business cycle facts concerning aggregate consumption and investment behaviour. |
| Keywords: | general equilibrium, labour market search, habits, rule-of-thumb consumers |
| JEL: | E24 E32 E62 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:0912&r=lab |
| By: | Alex Bryson; Addison, J.T.,Teixeira,P.,Pahnke, A. and Bellmann, L. |
| Abstract: | Industrial relations are in flux in many nations, perhaps most notably in Germany and Britain. That said, comparatively little is known in any detail of the changing pattern of the institutions of collective bargaining and worker representation in Germany and still less in both countries about firm transitions between these institutions over time. The present paper maps changes in the importance of the key institutions, 1998-2004, and explores the correlates of two-way transitions, using successive waves of the German IAB Establishment Panel and both cross-sectional and panel components of the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey. We identify the workplace correlates of the demise of collective bargaining in Britain and the erosion of sectoral bargaining in Germany, and identify the respective roles of behavioral and compositional change. |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:niesrd:341&r=lab |
| By: | Postiglione, Gerard (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the capacity of colleges and universities to serve poor and vulnerable populations during past and present economic shocks. The main argument is that the environment of the global recession-an Asia far more economically integrated than during past economic shocks, with more unified aspirations to be globally competitive and socially responsible-need not delay reforms in higher education. In fact, the global recession is an opportune time for higher education in the Asia and Pacific region to continue reforming governance and administration, access and equity, internal and external efficiency, and regional collaboration. This paper proposes a series of measures to increase the resilience of higher education systems in serving poor and vulnerable populations during the economic recession. These measures include: (i) tuition assistance, subsidies, and loans; (ii) information and guidance for first-generation college students on choosing appropriate programs of study; (iii) community-based vocational and technical higher education that provides jobs in a rapidly changing labor market; (iv) innovative forms of cost sharing between public and private institutions of higher education; (v) resource decisions made on the basis of performance-based objectives; (vi) intensification of philanthropic culture that provides scholarships for poor students; (vii) upgrading of research about problems confronting poor communities; and (viii) regional strategies across the Asia and Pacific region for closer instructional program collaboration among colleges and universities |
| Keywords: | colleges universities serve poor; education vulnerable economic shocks; education impact study |
| JEL: | I20 I20 I21 I22 I23 I28 I29 |
| Date: | 2010–03–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0208&r=lab |
| By: | Bauernschuster, Stefan; Duersch, Peter; Oechssler, Jörg; Vadovic, Radovan |
| Abstract: | Sick-pay is a common provision in labor contracts. It insures workers against a sudden loss of income due to unexpected absences and helps them smooth consumption. Therefore, many governments find sick-pay socially desirable and choose to mandate its provision. But sick-pay is not without its problems. Not only it suffers from moral hazard but more importantly it is subject to a potentially serious adverse selection problem (higher sick-pay attracts sicker workers). In this paper we report results of an experiment which inquires to the extend and the severity of the adverse selection when sick-pay is voluntary versus when it is mandatory. Theoretically, mandating sick-pay may be effective in diminishing adverse selection. However, our data provide clean evidence that counteracting effects are more salient. Mandatory sick pay exacerbates moral hazard problems by changing fairness perceptions and, as a consequence, increases sick pay provision far above the mandatory levels. |
| Keywords: | sick pay; sick leave; experiment; gift exchange. |
| JEL: | C9 C7 J3 |
| Date: | 2010–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0498&r=lab |
| By: | J.E. Boscá; R. Doménech; J. Ferri |
| Abstract: | This paper uses REMS, a Rational Expectations Model of the Spanish economy designed by Boscá et al (2007) to analyse the effects of lowering the overall tax edge to the level prevailing in the US. Our results partially confirm previous findings in the literature: a reduction in the overall tax wedge of 19.5 points, in order to reach the US levels, has a positive effect in the long run, increasing total hours by about 7 per cent and GDP by about 8 percentage points. In terms of GDP per adult, these results account for ¼ of the gap with respect to the US, but imply a reduction of only one percentage point in the labour productivity gap. The rise in total hours per adult is explained by a similar increase in both hours per employee and the employment rate of about 3.5 percentage points, allowing hours per adult to converge to levels only slightly lower than those in the US. |
| Keywords: | General equilibrium, tax wedge, tax reforms, fiscal policy, labour market. |
| JEL: | E32 E62 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:0910&r=lab |
| By: | Renaud Bourlès (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille III - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR6579); Gilbert Cette (BDF - banque de france - Banque de France, DEFI - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II); Anastasia Cozarenco (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille III - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR6579) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of changes in the employment rate on labour productivity per hour, taking an empirical approach. By splitting the workforce into three qualification categories, this study allows us to distinguish the effects of changes in the employment rate structure from those of changes in the qualification structure. With the results obtained, we are then able to emphasise the mechanical effect on GDP, for each country in our panel, of a catch-up with the best practice with respect to employment rate structure and qualification level. It appears that the two effects are more or less of the same magnitude. Moreover, this methodology allows us to rank the countries in our panel depending on the gains they could expect from adopting the best practices in each of the two areas. |
| Keywords: | Productivity; Growth; Employment; Education |
| Date: | 2010–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00467107_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Hasan, Amer |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the effects of a gender-targeted conditional cash transfer program for girls in classes 6 to 8. It finds that the program is successful in increasing the enrollment of girls in classes 6 to 8 as intended. It also finds evidence to suggest that the program generated positive spillover effects on the enrollment of boys. This success does, however, appear to be poised to come at a cost. The student-teacher ratio in treated districts is also climbing. This suggests that in the absence of active steps to address these increasing student-teacher ratios, instructional quality is likely to suffer. The success of the program appears to be driven by enrollment increases in urban schools. This suggests the need for a reassessment of the targeting criteria in rural schools. |
| Keywords: | Primary Education,Tertiary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning,Education Reform and Management |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5257&r=lab |
| By: | Faia, Ester (Goethe University Frankfurt); Lechthaler, Wolfgang (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Merkl, Christian (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) |
| Abstract: | Several contributions have recently assessed the size of fiscal multipliers both in RBC models and New Keynesian models. None of the studies considers a model with frictional labour markets which is a crucial element, particularly at times in which much of the fiscal stimulus has been directed toward labour market measures. We use an open economy model (more specifically, a currency area calibrated to the European Monetary Union) with labour market frictions in the form of labour turnover costs and workers’ heterogeneity to measure fiscal multipliers. We compute short and long run multipliers and open economy spillovers for five types of fiscal packages: pure demand stimuli and consumption tax cuts return very small multipliers; income tax cuts and hiring subsidies deliver larger multipliers, as they reduce distortions in sclerotic labour markets; short-time work (German "Kurzarbeit") returns negative short-run multipliers, but stabilises employment. Our model highlights a novel dimension through which multipliers operate, namely the labour demand stimulus which occurs in a model with non-walrasian labour markets. |
| Keywords: | fiscal multipliers, fiscal packages, labour market frictions |
| JEL: | E62 H30 J20 H20 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4849&r=lab |
| By: | Steven Raphael |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the employment prospects of former prison inmates and reviews recent evaluations of reentry programs that either aim to improve employment among the formerly incarcerated or aim to reduce recidivism through treatment interventions centered on employment. I present an empirical portrait of the U.S. prison population and prison releases using nationally representative survey data. I characterize the personal traits of state and federal prison inmates, including their level of educational attainment and age as well as the health and mental health issues that occur with high frequency among this population. I then turn to the demand side of this particular segment of the U.S. labor market. Using a 2003 survey of California establishments, I characterize employers’ preferences with regards to hiring convicted felons into non-managerial, non-professional jobs, the degree to which employers check criminal history records, and the incidence of legal prohibitions against hiring convicted felons. I conduct multivariate analyses of the impact of checking criminal backgrounds on the likelihood of hiring workers of difference race/gender combinations, using legal prohibition against hiring felons as an instrument for checking. Finally, I review the research evidence evaluating programmatic efforts to improve employment prospects and reduce recidivism among former prison inmates. |
| JEL: | J15 J7 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15874&r=lab |
| By: | Smith, Nina (University of Aarhus); Smith, Valdemar (Aarhus School of Business); Verner, Mette (Aarhus School of Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the gender gap in compensation for CEOs, Vice-Directors, and potential top executives in the 2000 largest Danish private companies based on a panel data set of employer-employees data covering the period 1996-2005. During the period, the overall gender gap in compensation for top executives and potential top executives decreased from 35 percent to 31 percent. However, contrary to many other studies, we do not find that the gender gap for Danish top executives disappears when controlling for observed individual and firm characteristics and unobserved individual heterogeneity. For CEOs, the raw compensation gap is 28 percent during the period while the estimated compensation gap after controlling for observed and unobserved characteristics increases to 30 percent. For executives below the CEO level, the estimated compensation gap is lower, ranging from 15 to 20 percent. Thus, we find evidence of both glass ceilings and sticky floors in Danish private firms. |
| Keywords: | CEO compensation, gender gap, glass ceiling |
| JEL: | J33 M52 J16 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4848&r=lab |
| By: | Alex Bryson |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first comparative analysis of the decline in collective bargaining in two European countries where that decline has been most pronounced. Using workplace-level data and a common model, we present decompositions of changes in collective bargaining and worker representation in the private sector in Germany and Britain over the period 1998-2004. In both countries within-effects dominate compositional changes as the source of the recent decline in unionism. Overall, the decline in collective bargaining is more pronounced in Britain than in Germany, thus continuing a trend apparent since the 1980s. Although workplace characteristics differ markedly across the two countries, assuming counterfactual values of these characteristics makes little difference to unionization levels. Expressed differently, the German dummy looms large. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:niesrd:350&r=lab |
| By: | Yamamura, Eiji |
| Abstract: | Using individual level data (the Japanese General Social Survey), this paper aims to explore how interaction between genders contributes to the cessation of smoking in Japan, where females are distinctly less inclined to smoke than males. Controlling for various socioeconomic factors and selection bias, I find through a Heckman-type selection estimation that proportions of female employees in workplaces are negatively associated with male smoking but not with female smoking. Furthermore, married males are less likely to smoke than single males, whereas there is no difference in smoking rates between married and single females. These results suggest that smokers are more inclined to cease smoking when they are more likely to have contact with opposite sex nonsmokers. Overall, this empirical study provides evidence that the psychological effect of the presence of people in one’s surroundings has a direct significant effect upon smoking behavior; however, this effect is observed only among males and not females. |
| Keywords: | social pressure; female labor participation; marital status; smoking behavior |
| JEL: | D12 I12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2010–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21789&r=lab |
| By: | Jordi Galí |
| Abstract: | Much recent research has focused on the development and analysis of extensions of the New Keynesian framework that model labor market frictions and unemployment explicitly. The present paper describes some of the essential ingredients and properties of those models, and their implications for monetary policy. |
| JEL: | E32 E52 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15871&r=lab |
| By: | Tomoko Hashino (Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the process of the institutionalizing technical education in modern Japan. In particular, this research attempts to elucidate why people in local weaving districts needed such educational institutions and how it is related with the introduction of western technology. This process is found to be much different from the government-led introduction of modern industries through establishment of technical high schools and universities to nurture engineers. In the case of traditional Japanese weaving districts, it was trade associations that voluntarily and actively established institutes for training, which were later supported by prefectural governments and the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and finally institutionalized as public technical schools by the Ministry of Education. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koe:wpaper:0924&r=lab |
| By: | Jasjit Singh; Ajay K. Agrawal |
| Abstract: | When firms recruit inventors, they acquire not only the use of their skills but also enhanced access to their stock of ideas. But do hiring firms actually increase their use of the new recruits’ prior inventions? Our estimates suggest they do, quite significantly in fact, by approximately 202% on average. However, this does not necessarily reflect widespread “learning-by-hiring.” In fact, we estimate that a recruit’s exploitation of her own prior ideas accounts for almost half of the above effect. Furthermore, although one might expect the recruit’s role to diminish rapidly as her tacit knowledge diffuses across her new firm, our estimates indicate that her importance is surprisingly persistent over time. We base these findings on an empirical strategy that exploits the variation over time in hiring firms’ citations to the recruits’ pre-move patents. Specifically, we employ a difference-in-differences approach to compare pre-move versus post-move citation rates for the recruits’ prior patents and the corresponding matched-pair control patents. Our methodology has three benefits compared to previous studies that also examine the link between labor mobility and knowledge flow: 1) it does not suffer from the upward bias inherent in the conventional cross-sectional comparison, 2) it generates results that are robust to a more stringently matched control sample, and 3) it enables a temporal examination of knowledge flow patterns. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15869&r=lab |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Ludger Woessmann |
| Abstract: | Critics of international student comparisons argue that results may be influenced by differences in the extent to which countries adequately sample their entire student populations. In this research note, we show that larger exclusion and non-response rates are related to better country average scores on international tests, as are larger enrollment rates for the relevant age group. However, accounting for sample selectivity does not alter existing research findings that tested academic achievement can account for a majority of international differences in economic growth and that institutional features of school systems have important effects on international differences in student achievement. |
| JEL: | H4 I20 O40 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15867&r=lab |
| By: | ODAKI Kazuhiko; KODAMA Naomi |
| Abstract: | Theories of economic institutions predict that complementarity exists between the nature of corporate governance of a firm and the nature of its human capital investment. The complementarity theory insists that the commitment of a firm and its employees to invest in firm-specific human capital will be reinforced by the commitment of the firm to adopt stakeholder-oriented corporate governance. Using employer-employee matched data from the headquarters of large Japanese firms, this paper investigates the relationship between the wage-tenure profile of a firm and the nature of its corporate governance. Analysis of the wage-tenure profiles shows that firms with stakeholder-oriented corporate governance invest in firm-specific human capital more heavily than those with shareholder-oriented corporate governance. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:10014&r=lab |
| By: | Driouchi, Ahmed; Zouag, Nada |
| Abstract: | Abstract: An economic model is introduced to discuss the impacts of rural migration on skills in source and destination localities and regions. Two versions of the model are used without and with risks. In this context, the model considers that rural migration is determined by the demand for education and urban rural wage differences. The optimal decision rules attained are tested against available aggregate data for series of developing countries. The preliminary empirical results show the existence of country variations of rural emigration with varied impacts on education with likely losses in localities of emigration. Economic and social policies are to account for these impacts mainly when emphasis is placed on regional and local development programs. |
| Keywords: | Rural migration; bias; education; skilled labor; local development |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2010–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21799&r=lab |
| By: | Dooley, Martin D.; Payne, A. Abigail; Robb, A. Leslie |
| Abstract: | Tuition levels at Ontario universities have risen along with the value of merit-based entry scholarships provided by the nineteen institutions in this relatively closed system. We use data on entering students from 1994 through 2005 and find that merit awards have at most a small effect on a university’s share of academically strong registrants. Such aid, however, is strongly associated with an increase in the ratio of students from low-income neighborhoods to students from high-income neighborhoods. Finally, although more advantaged students are more likely to attend university, merit aid is not strongly skewed towards the more advantaged conditional upon registration. |
| Keywords: | University, Merit Scholarship |
| JEL: | I1 I2 I3 |
| Date: | 2010–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2010-10&r=lab |
| By: | Isabelle Darmon (University of Manchester); Coralie Perez (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Sharon Wright (University of Stirling) |
| Abstract: | Labour market and career advice and guidance have received considerable recent research and policy attention and have been heralded as part of the new institutional resources required in reformed, active, welfare states. We seek to understand the meaning of such policy enthusiasm by proposing an analysis of guidance as a "governmental technology" particularly suited for new conceptions of social protection and mobilisation for work. We bring in the results of a three years comparative study of guidance services in France, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, particularly in the form of a cross-national typology. Our review of the conceptions of the user and of the governance mechanisms in place, from target related funding to "softer" staff monitoring, show how they combine to shape staff strategies and user conduct into a limited range of stereotypical attitudes, testifying to the dissemination of a norm of adaptation to the labour market. |
| Keywords: | Labour market and career guidance, activation, governmental technology, comparison, conduct. |
| JEL: | J08 J68 I38 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:10015&r=lab |
| By: | Ivan Jaccard (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.) |
| Abstract: | This article studies the asset pricing and the business cycle implications of habit formation in a production economy with capital adjustment costs and endogenous labor supply. A specification of internal habit in the mix of consumption and leisure which minimizes the wealth effect on labor supply is introduced into an otherwise standard real business cycle model. This mechanism enhances the model’s ability to explain asset pricing puzzles. JEL Classification: G12, E32, J22. |
| Keywords: | Equity Premium Puzzle, Labor Supply, Adjustment Costs. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20101163&r=lab |
| By: | Andreia Tolciu (Hamburg Institute of International Economics); Ulrich Zierahn (Economics Department, University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Against the background of the current economic research which concentrates particularly on individual and structural factors, this paper examines if and to what extent social norms (in terms of attitudes towards gender roles and work commitment) can make a complementary statement in explaining women's employment status. The impact is presumed to be enhanced through norms shared by people belonging to the same households, peer groups, and by residents of the same region. The analysis relies on a rich German dataset and employs a zero infl ated negative binomial model. The results highlight the importance of `relevant others' in explaining women's employment status. |
| Keywords: | women's employment status, households and families, social norms, zero in ated negative binominal model |
| JEL: | A13 C35 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201009&r=lab |
| By: | Alexander Plekhanov (European Bank of Reconstruction and Development); Lev Freinkman (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | The paper provides empirical analysis of the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and the quality of public services in the Russian regions. The analysis suggests that fiscal decentralisation has no significant effect on the key inputs into secondary education, such as schools, computers, or availability of pre-schooling, but has a significant positive effect on average examination results, controlling for key observable inputs and regional government spending on education. Decentralisation also has a positive impact on the quality of municipal utilities provision. Both effects can be attributed to strengthened fiscal incentives rather than to superior productive efficiency of municipal governments. |
| Keywords: | decentralisation, education, utilities, public services, Russian regions |
| JEL: | H72 H73 H75 H77 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebd:wpaper:111&r=lab |
| By: | Baird, Sarah; Mcintosh, Craig; Ozler, Berk |
| Abstract: | Are the large enrollment effects of conditional cash transfer programs a result of the conditions or simply the cash? This paper presents the first experimental evidence on the effectiveness of conditionality in cash transfer programs for schooling. Using data from an intervention in Malawi that featured randomized conditional and unconditional treatment arms, the authors find that the program reduced the dropout rate by more than 40 percent and substantially increased regular school attendance among the target population of adolescent girls. However, they do not detect a higher impact in the conditional treatment group. This finding contrasts with previous non-experimental studies of conditional cash transfer programs, which found negligible"income"effects and strong"price"effects on schooling. The authors argue that their findings are consistent with the very low level of incomes and the high prevalence of teen marriage in the region. The results indicate that relatively small, unconditional cash transfers can be cost-effective in boosting school enrollment among adolescent girls in similar settings. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Population Policies,Primary Education,Tertiary Education,Adolescent Health |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5259&r=lab |
| By: | Hunt, Gary L.; Mueller, Richard E. |
| Abstract: | Higher after-tax returns to skill in U.S. states compared to Canadian provinces have raised the issue that higher skilled Canadian workers especially will find migration to the U.S. economically attractive, and especially so after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), provisions of which facilitate such cross-country migration through special visas. In this study we develop, estimate, and simulate a nested logit model of migration among 59 Canadian and U.S. sub-national areas using over 70,000 microdata observations on workers across all deciles of the skill distribution obtained from the U.S. and Canadian censuses of 2000/2001 Combining microdata on individual workers with area data, including estimates of after-tax returns by skill decile based on standardized wage distributions and large scale microsimulation tax models for Canadian provinces and U.S. states, we are able to consider the effects of tax policy differences across countries on worker migration. Our ability to identify highly skilled individuals using these data enables us to simulate the effects of changes to taxes (under balanced budget conditions) on the migration propensities of individuals as well as the magnitude of the aggregate migration streams. Simulations suggest that increasing Canadian after-tax returns to skill and implementing fiscal equalization (reducing the average Canadian tax rate to the average U.S. level with offsetting expenditure reductions to maintain budget neutrality) would effectively reduce southward migration and especially so amongst highly skilled workers. The required reductions in tax rates and public expenditures are relatively large however and therefore would be expected to raise other substantial public policy concerns. |
| Keywords: | International migration, Returns to skill, Taxes, Regional integration |
| JEL: | F22 H24 H71 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2010-11&r=lab |
| By: | Jeffrey Brown; Stephen G. Dimmock; Jun-Koo Kang; Scott Weisbenner |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, endowments have become an increasingly important component of the typical university's resource base. We examine how U.S. doctoral institutions' endowment payout policies and spending decisions are affected by financial market shocks to endowments. While most endowments have formal payout policies intended to smooth payouts over time, we find that universities are more likely to deviate from these policies following negative (but not positive) shocks. These negative shocks have important economic effects on university activities. Specifically, we find that universities with larger negative endowment shocks are relatively more likely to: (1) reduce support staff (e.g., secretaries) and maintenance, but not administrators; (2) among less selective institutions, reduce expenditures on tenure-system faculty while increasing the average salary of adjuncts/lecturers; (3) make larger cuts to tenure-system faculty and secretarial support when their endowment portfolio is less liquid (i.e. higher allocations to alternative assets such as hedge funds); and (4) among more selective universities, reduce financial aid for students the following Fall and enroll fewer freshmen. We also find that universities increase hiring when there are negative endowment shocks to their peers. Thus, financial shocks have real effects on university operations, but with cross-sectional variation in how universities respond. |
| JEL: | G11 I22 L3 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15861&r=lab |
| By: | Hasan, Amer |
| Abstract: | Conditional cash transfers are being heralded as effective tools against the intergenerational transmission of poverty. There is substantial evidence on the positive effects of these transfers. Analysts are only now beginning to investigate the indirect effects these programs generate. This paper examines the effect of a gender-targeted conditional cash transfer program on the time allocation of mothers in rural program-eligible households. Using a fixed effects difference-in-differences estimator, the author finds that program eligibility is associated with an increase of 120 minutes of housework per typical school day by mothers of eligible children in the stipend district when compared with mothers of eligible children in the non-stipend district. There is a 100-minute reduction in the amount of time mothers report spending on children’s needs. The intent-to-treat effect of the program suggests no change in the amount of time spent on paid work or sleep. |
| Keywords: | Primary Education,Education For All,Anthropology,Adolescent Health,Youth and Governance |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5256&r=lab |
| By: | Michaela Kreyenfeld (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Anne Hornung (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Karolin Kubisch (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Ina Jaschinski (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper validates the fertility and union histories of the German Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). One major result from this validation is that the fertility of the older GGS-cohorts is too low, while it is too high for the younger cohorts. For partnership histories, we find a similar bias. In sum, the GGS gives wrong cohort fertility and marriage trends for Germany. We speculate on various sources for this bias in the data. However, we were unable to find a remedy to cure it. |
| Keywords: | Germany, fertility |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2010-023&r=lab |
| By: | Becchetti Leonardo; Giachin Elena; Pelloni Alessandra |
| Abstract: | Social leisure is generally found to be positively correlated with life satisfaction in the empirical literature. We ask if this association captures a genuine causal effect of this good on subjective wellbeing by using panel data from the GSOEP. Fixed effect estimation techniques take care of some but not all of the endogeneity issues involved: we then have recourse to instrumental variables estimation. Our identification strategy exploits the change in social leisure brought about by retirement: more specifically we instrument social leisure with the ratio of retired in the sample by year and geographic location (East vs West Germany). Our results show a gendered difference in the impact of this ratio on social life. Our final message is that social leisure has a positive causal effect on life satisfaction, a finding with potentially important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction, social leisure, retirement |
| JEL: | I30 D61 A11 A13 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:0063&r=lab |
| By: | Robert DeYoung; Emma Y. Peng; Meng Yan |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether and how the terms of CEO compensation contracts at large commercial banks between 1994 and 2006 influenced, or were influenced by, the risky business policy decisions made by these firms. We find strong evidence that bank CEOs responded to contractual risk-taking incentives by taking more risk; bank boards altered CEO compensation to encourage executives to exploit new growth opportunities; and bank boards set CEO incentives in a manner designed to moderate excessive risk-taking. These relationships are strongest during the second half of our sample, after deregulation and technological change had expanded banks' capacities for risk-taking. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:rwp10-02&r=lab |
| By: | Antonio Caparrós Ruiz (Universidad de Málaga) |
| Abstract: | Los efectos positivos del autoempleo sobre el crecimiento económico y la creación de empleo han sido contrastados ampliamente en la literatura económica. Recientemente, el fenómeno del autoempleo se ha analizado desde una perspectiva longitudinal, centrándose en las transiciones y permanencia en dicho estado laboral. Este trabajo sigue esta línea de investigación, ofreciendo evidencia empírica sobre la elección entre el empleo autónomo o asalariado que realizan los individuos al iniciar su vida laboral, y la duración que presentan en ambas situaciones laborales. |
| Keywords: | Autoempleo, empleo asalariado, transiciones, nacionalidad |
| JEL: | J15 J41 J44 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cea:doctra:e2010_03&r=lab |
| By: | Rafael Doménech; Angel Melguizo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we suggest a set of indicators about the future performance of the Spanish public pension system and a suitable method of representing their uncertainty, in order to improve the communication to the public opinion about its main future challenges. Spain seems a particularly interesting case in Europe to illustrate our proposals, since the social security system has been in surplus for nine consecutive years, in sharp contrast to the projections made just a decade ago, but, at the same time, most projections foresee for Spain one of the highest increases in public expenditure among EU countries due to ageing. We argue that simple, transparent, credible, public and periodic indicators, which take explicitly into account the uncertainty about future demographic, economic and institutional developments, may contribute to improve the debate on the policies needed to strengthen the pension system. |
| Keywords: | Pensions, projections, communication, uncertainty. |
| JEL: | E17 H55 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:0911&r=lab |