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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Huttunen, Kristiina (Labour Institute for Economic Research); Pirttilä, Jukka (Labour Institute for Economic Research); Uusitalo, Roope (VATT, Helsinki) |
| Abstract: | Low-wage subsidies are often proposed as a solution to the unemployment problem among the low skilled. Yet the empirical evidence on the effects of low-wage subsidies is surprisingly scarce. This paper examines the employment effects of a Finnish payroll tax subsidy scheme, which is targeted at the employers of older, full-time, low-wage workers. The system's clear eligibility criteria open up an opportunity for a reliable estimation of the causal impacts of the subsidy, using a difference-in-difference-in-differences approach. Our results indicate that the subsidy system had no effects on the employment rate. However, it appears to have increased the probability of part-time workers obtaining full-time employment. |
| Keywords: | low-wage subsidies, employment, social security contributions |
| JEL: | H24 J23 J68 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4931&r=lab |
| By: | Livanos, Ilias; Zangelidis, Alexandros |
| Abstract: | This study, using the EU-LFS, examines the determinants of sickness absence in 26 EU countries. The analysis highlights the importance of demographic and workplace characteristics and of institutional and societal conditions. Female workers aged 26-35 exhibit higher absenteeism, possibly reflecting the level of high household labour pressure. Increased job insecurity, captured by temporary contracts, and labour market uncertainty, reflected in higher unemployment rates, have a negative effect on absenteeism. Finally, individual sickness absence is lower in countries with higher proportion of dependent/out of the labour market individuals, probably because of the increasing pressure labour active people may experience. |
| Keywords: | Absenteeism; sickness; EU; Labour Force Survey |
| JEL: | J28 J32 J22 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:22627&r=lab |
| By: | Booth, Alison L. (University of Essex); Kee, Hiau Joo (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | The first Australian universities were established in the 1850s, well before the introduction of compulsory schooling. However it was not until the twentieth century that growing industrialisation, technological change and the development of the so-called 'knowledge industries' fed into an increased demand in Australia for better-educated workers. As the twentieth century progressed, technological change and industrial restructuring saw a shift from brawn to brain. From the middle of the twentieth century, the introduction of mass secondary school education and the expansion of the number of universities widened access. At the same time, subjects offered in higher education increased in scope, and explicit and implicit labour market discrimination began to be eroded. These factors, together with a series of supply-side changes, meant that women were more easily able to shift into investing in the skills in which labour demand was increasing. By 1987, Australian women were more likely than men to be enrolled at university. These aggregate figures disguise considerable heterogeneity across fields of study. |
| Keywords: | higher education, gender, Australia |
| JEL: | I23 J1 N3 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4916&r=lab |
| By: | Koskela, Erkki (University of Helsinki); König, Jan (Free University of Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of international outsourcing on income, if the domestic labor market is imperfect. We distinguish in our analysis between the case where the parties negotiate over the wage only and where they negotiate over both wage and profit share. We find that in the first case outsourcing will reduce (increase) workers' income, if the labor union’s bargaining power is sufficiently high (low) and outsourcing will increase workers' income in the second case. For the amount of optimal international outsourcing, we find that it is in a pure wage bargaining system positively (negatively) affected by a sufficiently high (low) labor union's bargaining power, while in a wage and profit share bargaining system, a higher union's bargaining power decreases the optimal amount of outsourcing. |
| Keywords: | strategic outsourcing, profit sharing, labor market imperfection |
| JEL: | E23 E24 J23 J33 J82 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4942&r=lab |
| By: | Gutierrez, Catalina; Paci, Pierella; Park, Beom S. |
| Abstract: | In this paper the authors use a search and matching model of multi-sector labor markets, to understand the channels through which economic shocks affect labor market outcomes in developing countries. In the model workers can be employed in agriculture, formal or informal urban jobs, or unemployed. Economic shocks are manifested as either increased turbulence in the formal/informal sectors or a decrease in overall sectoral productivity. By calibrating the model to Indonesia and Mexico, the authors are able to understand how the 1998 Indonesian crisis and the 2001 Mexican recession translated into labor market outcomes. They then venture to simulate how the current financial crisis might affect the allocation of labor and earnings across sectors, in these countries. The results suggest that in both countries past crises have increased the degree of turbulence of the formal sector, increasing job destruction. However, while in Indonesia the crisis affected the overall formal sector productivity, this was not the case in Mexico. This explains the larger blow to formal wages -- relative to the size of the shock- witnessed by Indonesian workers. The response of the informal sector was also different: In both countries the informal sector was able to act as a buffer, as relative earnings increased. However, while in Mexico it became much harder to find informal sector opportunities and easier to keep the job once found; in Indonesia turbulence in the informal sector increased substantially increasing the job destruction rate of informal jobs andlimiting the cushioning role that the informal sector might have played. The agricultural sector was spared from the shock in both countries. In Indonesia, it actually benefited from an unusual exogenous increase in the price of rise. The simulations show that if either the informal or agricultural sectors are spared from the shocks, large reallocations of labor might occur, and the overall effect of the shock is smaller. Instead, if these sectors can’t buffer the shock, the reallocation of labor is much smaller, but earnings in the formal sector drop substantially. The authors also explore the impact of alternative policies. They find that in relatively flexible markets where informality can be seen more as a choice rather than as queuing, unemployment benefits and informal employment subsidies may have paradoxical effects, by discouraging formal search. Instead, policies targeted at creating informal employment and boosting formal TFP growth have the desired effects. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Markets and Market Access,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2010–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5283&r=lab |
| By: | Silvia Helena Barcellos |
| Abstract: | There is considerable debate in the literature about the effects of immigration on workers' labor market outcomes. This paper presents a new approach to the analysis of the relationship between immigration and wages based on a panel vector autoregression (VAR). The VAR analysis of a panel of US states shows that immigration does not have a significant effect on wages or internal migration. By contrast, wages do affect immigration: a 10 percent increase in wages causes up to a 20 percent increase in immigrant inflow. The effect is strongest for low-skill immigrants while it is small and insignificant for high-skill immigrants. |
| Keywords: | immigration, internal migration, wages, panel vector autoregression |
| JEL: | J01 J20 J30 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:755&r=lab |
| By: | Daniel Fernández-Kranz; Núria Rodríguez-Planas |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to examine the implications of switching to PT work for women's subsequent earnings trajectories, distinguishing by their type of contract: permanent or fixed- term. Using a rich longitudinal Spanish data set from Social Security records of over 76,000 prime-aged women strongly attached to the Spanish labor market, we find that PT work aggravates the segmentation of the labor market insofar there is a PT pay penalty and this penalty is larger and more persistent in the case of women with fixed-term contracts. The paper discusses problems arising in empirical estimation (including a problem not discussed in the literature up to now: the differential measurement error of the LHS variable by PT status), and how to address them. It concludes with policy implications relevant for Continental Europe and its dual structure of employment protection. |
| Keywords: | Fixed-term and permanent contract, hourly wage levels and growth, prime-aged women, fixed-effects estimator, differential measurement error of LHS variable, underlying channels. |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J21 J22 J31 J62 C23 |
| Date: | 2010–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aub:autbar:825.10&r=lab |
| By: | Sandra E Black (UCLA); Paul J Devereux (University College Dublin); Kjell G Salvanes (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A variety of public campaigns, including the “Just Say No” campaign of the 1980s and 1990s that encouraged teenagers to “Just Say No to Drugs”, are based on the premise that teenagers are very susceptible to peer influences. Despite this, very little is known about the effect of school peers on the long-run outcomes of teenagers. This is primarily due to two factors: the absence of information on peers merged with long-run outcomes of individuals and, equally important, the difficulty of separately identifying the role of peers. This paper uses data on the population of Norway and idiosyncratic variation in cohort composition within schools to examine the role of peer composition in 9th grade on longer-run outcomes such as IQ scores at age 18, teenage childbearing, postcompulsory schooling educational track, adult labor market status, and earnings. We find that outcomes are influenced by the proportion of females in the grade, and these effects differ for men and women. Other peer variables (average age, average mother’s education) have little impact on the outcomes of teenagers. |
| Keywords: | Peer Effects, Education |
| Date: | 2010–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201016&r=lab |
| By: | Mathis Wagner (CeRP - Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I provide estimates of the impact of immigration on native wage and employment levels (rather than on wage inequality which has been the focus of the literature). I use variation within 2-digit industries across regions using Austrian panel data from 1986 to 2004 for identification. Using an instrumental variable strategy I find large displacement effects in the service sector and large native employment increases in manufacturing due to immigration. This heterogeneous response is explained by large increases in output in manufacturing, due to a high elasticity of product demand, as immigration reduces the cost of production, while on average demand is far less elastic in service industries. Estimated substitution effects, for a given level of output, are large in both industries and in line with US estimates. The structural estimates imply that a 10% increase in the number of immigrants in all industries reduces average native wages by around 0.25% and results in 4% of the native labor force changing industry, primarily from services to manufacturing. Hence, the effect of immigration on worker relocation across industries is far larger than its impact on average native wages. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crp:wpaper:93&r=lab |
| By: | Antonio Di Paolo (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola), Spain. Institut d’Economia de Barcelona (IEB), Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Drawing on data contained in the 2005 EU-SILC, this paper investigates the disparities in educational opportunities in Italy and Spain. Its main objective is to analyse the predicted probabilities of successfully completing upper-secondary and tertiary education for individuals with different parental backgrounds, and the changes in these probabilities across birth cohorts extending from 1940 to 1980. The results suggest that the disparities in tertiary education opportunities in Italy tend to increase over time. By contrast, the gap in educational opportunity in Spain shows a marked decrease across the cohorts. Moreover, by using an intuitive decomposition strategy, the paper shows that a large part of the educational gap between individuals of different backgrounds is “composed” of the difference in the endowment of family characteristics. Specifically, it seems that more highly educated parents are more able to endow their children with a better composition of family characteristics, which accounts for a significant proportion of the disparities in educational opportunity. |
| Keywords: | Educational Opportunity, Family Background, Birth cohorts, Italy, Spain |
| JEL: | I21 J12 J62 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2010-5&r=lab |
| By: | H'madoun M. |
| Abstract: | This article offers an empirical study of the influence of religiosity on women’s labor force participation across 48 countries. Using the 2005-wave of the World Values Survey, I examine whether and how the labor force participation of women aged 18 to 55 is affected by the core dimensions of individual religiosity, i.e. religious affiliation, intensity of belief and participation in religious services. The analysis supports the hypothesis of a significant difference in the labor force participation of religious and non-religious women. The likelihood of employment decreases with a person’s intensity of belief, but increases with participation in religious activities. Adherents of the Hindu and Muslim faith are the least likely to have paid work. These results are found after controlling for the standard human capital and household characteristics that influence female labor supply. When taking into account country-fixed effects, most religiosity variables loose their significance. This suggests that a country’s institutions, economic structure and socio-political context matter for the way religiosity comes into play in women’s work decisions. |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2010007&r=lab |
| By: | Koolwal, Gayatri; van de Walle, Dominique |
| Abstract: | Poor rural women in the developing world spend considerable time collecting water. How then do they respond to improved access to water infrastructure? Does it increase their participation in income earning market-based activities? Does it improve the health and education outcomes of their children? To help address these questions, a new approach for dealing with the endogeneity of infrastructure placement in cross-sectional surveysis proposed and implemented using data for nine developing countries. The paper does not find that access to water comes with greater off-farm work for women, although in countries where substantial gender gaps in schooling exist, both boys'and girls'enrollments improve with better access to water. There are also some signs of impacts on child health as measured by anthropometric z-scores. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Water Supply and Sanitation,Rural Labor Markets,Rural Water Supply and Sanitation,Access&Equity in Basic Education,Early Child and Children's Health |
| Date: | 2010–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5302&r=lab |
| By: | Merkl, Christian (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Schmitz, Tom (HEC Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of different labor market institutions on inflation and output volatility. The eurozone offers an unprecedented experiment for this exercise: since 1999, no national monetary policies have been implemented that could account for volatility differences across member states, but labor market characteristics have remained very diverse. We use a New Keynesian model with unemployment to predict the effects of different labor market institutions on macroeconomic volatilities. In our subsequent empirical estimations, we find that higher labor turnover costs have a statistically significant negative effect on output volatility, while replacement rates have a positive effect, both of which are in line with theory. While labor market institutions have a large effect on output volatility, they do not seem to have much of an effect on inflation volatility, which can also be rationalized by our theoretical model. |
| Keywords: | labor market institutions, output and inflation volatility, labor turnover costs, unemployment benefits, unemployment, eurozone |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J20 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4924&r=lab |
| By: | Mavridis, Dimitris |
| Abstract: | This paper uses 16 waves of panel data from the British Household Panel Survey to evaluate the role of subjective well-being in determining labor market transitions. It confirms a previous finding in the literature: individuals report a fall in their happiness when they lose a job, but they report a smaller fall when they are surrounded by unemployed peers, an effect called the"social norm". The main results of interest are that job search effort and unemployment duration are affected by the utility differential between having a job and being unemployed. Since this differential is also affected by the social norm, it implies that when unemployment increases, the unemployed are happier and they reduce their search effort. These results indicate that unemployment hysteresis has labor supply causes. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Population Policies,Youth and Governance,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2010–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5293&r=lab |
| By: | Ciaian, Pavel; Dries, Liesbeth; Kancs, dâArtis |
| Abstract: | This is the first paper to study job creation and destruction in EU agriculture. We disaggregate employment patterns and job flows into detailed intra-sectoral labour adjustment dynamics based on farm level panel observations from 1989-2006. We find that: (1) job creation and destruction rates in EU agriculture are high compared to other sectors; (2) there are important differences in job creation and destruction rates between different member states; (3) this can be attributed to differing initial farm structures: member states with small average farm sizes display higher job creation and destruction rates than those with larger average farm sizes. |
| Keywords: | Job creation, job destruction, FADN, EU, agricultural labour adjustment, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61351&r=lab |
| By: | Rana Hendy (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CREST-INSEE - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique); Catherine Sofer (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the intrahousehold ressource allocation in Egyptian married couples and its impact on females labor supply. Using data from the Egyptian Labor market and Panel Survey of 2006, we estimate a discrete-choice model for female labor supply within a collective framework. The economic model incorporates the possibility of non-participation for females which represents the working situation of more than 70 percent of Egyptian married women. The originality of this paper consists on testing new distribution factors, i.e., a set of exogenous variables which influence the intrahousehold allocation of resources without affecting preferences or the budget constraint. The latter are variables related to the marriage market, gender attitudes, domestic violence, direct access to the household income and participation in household decision making. Indentification of the model relies on the assumption that only some parameters of the utility function are identical for single and married females. We find significant relations between females bargaining power and labor supply decisions. This study's results has important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Collective model, labour supply, distribution factors, maximum simulated likelihood, Egypt. |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00482492_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | An emerging economic literature over the past decade has made use of international tests of educational achievement to analyze the determinants and impacts of cognitive skills. The cross-country comparative approach provides a number of unique advantages over national studies: It can exploit institutional variation that does not exist within countries; draw on much larger variation than usually available within any country; reveal whether any result is country-specific or more general; test whether effects are systematically heterogeneous in different settings; circumvent selection issues that plague within-country identification by using system-level aggregated measures; and uncover general-equilibrium effects that often elude studies in a single country. The advantages come at the price of concerns about the limited number of country observations, the cross-sectional character of most available achievement data, and possible bias from unobserved country factors like culture. This chapter reviews the economic literature on international differences in educational achievement, restricting itself to comparative analyses that are not possible within single countries and placing particular emphasis on studies trying to address key issues of empirical identification. While quantitative input measures show little impact, several measures of institutional structures and of the quality of the teaching force can account for significant portions of the large international differences in the level and equity of student achievement. Variations in skills measured by the international tests are in turn strongly related to individual labor-market outcomes and, perhaps more importantly, to cross-country variations in economic growth. |
| Keywords: | human capital, cognitive skills, international student achievement tests, education production function |
| JEL: | I20 O40 O15 H40 H52 J24 J31 P50 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4925&r=lab |
| By: | Müller, Kai-Uwe (DIW Berlin); Steiner, Viktor (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | In view of rising wage and income inequality, the introduction of a legal minimum wage has recently become an important policy issue in Germany. We analyze the distributional effects of a nationwide legal minimum wage of 7.50 € per hour on the basis of a microsimulation model which accounts for the complex interactions between individual wages, the tax-benefit system and net household incomes, also taking into account potential employment effects as well as indirect effects on consumption. Simulation results show that the minimum wage would be rather ineffective in raising net household incomes and reducing income inequality, even if it led to a substantial increase in hourly wages at the bottom of the wage distribution. The ineffectiveness of a minimum wage in Germany is mainly due to the existing system of means-tested income support and the position of minimum wage earners in the income distribution. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage, wage distribution, employment effects, income distribution, inequality, microsimulation |
| JEL: | I32 H31 J32 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4929&r=lab |
| By: | Berardi, Nicoletta |
| Abstract: | We develop a theoretical framework that considers the role played by moral hazard and the diversity of networks and cultures in the choice of hiring channel. Our model explains why either informal or formal hiring channels are preferred and either positive or negative wage differentials emerge for workers hired through informal channels, depending on circumstances. We show that, conditional on being employed, in favoritism contexts social networks are likely to be adopted as hiring channels for unskilled jobs and to result in wage penalties and the more so the stronger the ties, while otherwise the opposite happens. We then estimate an endogenous switching model for the case of Senegal's manufacturing formal sector and we find, consistently with our theoretical predictions in case of favoritism, that informal hiring channels are preferred to full unskilled vacancies and are associated with a wage penalty. Moreover, the probability of having been hired through a social network and the absolute value of wage penalties are increasing with the strength of ties. |
| Keywords: | social networks, hiring channel, wage differential |
| JEL: | J31 O12 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:22252&r=lab |
| By: | Eileen Trzcinski; Elke Holst |
| Abstract: | This study used data from the German Socio-economic Panel to examine gender differences in the extent to which self-reported subjective well-being was associated with occupying a high-level managerial position in the labour market, compared with employment in nonleadership, non-high-level managerial positions, unemployment, and non-labour market participation. Our results indicated that a clear hierarchy exists for men in term of how status within the labour market was associated with subjective life satisfaction. Unemployed men were the least satisfied, followed by men who were not in the labour market, while men in leadership positions reported the highest level of subjective life satisfaction. For women, no statistically significant differences were observed among women in high-level managerial positions, women who worked in non-high-level positions, and women who specialized in household production, with no market work. Only women who were unemployed reported lower levels of life satisfaction, compared with women in other labour-market statuses. Our results lend evidence to the contention that men can “have it all”, but women must still choose between career and family in Germany. We argue that interventions need to address how the non-pecuniary rewards associated with high-level managerial and leadership positions can be increased for women. Such policies would also likely serve to mitigate the “pipeline” problem concerning the number of women who are available to move into high positions in the private sector. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Management Positions, Subjective Well-Being, Career/Family Orientation |
| JEL: | J15 J16 J71 M12 M14 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp299&r=lab |
| By: | Pinoli, Sara (Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that expectations are an important element that needs to be included into the analysis of the effects of the minimum wage on employment. We show in a standard matching model that the observed employment effect is higher the lower is the likelihood associated with the minimum wage variation. On the other side, there is a significant anticipation effect, ignored in the literature. This property is able to explain the controversial results found in the empirical studies. When the policy is anticipated, the effect at the time of the actual variation is small and potentially hard to identify. The model is tested on Spanish data, taking advantage of the unexpected change in the minimum wage following the election of Zapatero in 2004. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage, expectations, heterogeneous matches |
| JEL: | D21 J23 J38 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4933&r=lab |
| By: | Meng, Xin (Australian National University); Shen, Kailing (Xiamen University); Xue, Sen (Xiamen University) |
| Abstract: | In the past 20 years the average real earnings of Chinese urban male workers have increased by 350 per cent. Accompanying this unprecedented growth is a considerable increase in earnings inequality. Between 1988 and 2007 the variance of log earnings increased from 0.27 to 0.48, a 78 per cent increase. Using a unique set of repeated cross-sectional data this paper examines the causes of this increase in earnings inequality. We find that the major changes occurred in the 1990s when the labour market moved from a centrally planned system to a market oriented system. The decomposition exercise conducted in the paper identifies the factor that drives the significant increase in the earnings variance in the 1990s to be an increase in the within-education-experience cell residual variances. Such an increase may be explained mainly by the increase in the price of unobserved skills. When an economy shifts from an administratively determined wage system to a market-oriented one, rewards to both observed and unobserved skills increase. The turn of the century saw a slowing down of the reward to both the observed and unobserved skills, due largely to the college expansion program that occurred at the end of the 1990s. |
| Keywords: | earnings inequality, China |
| JEL: | J31 P2 P3 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4919&r=lab |
| By: | Carson, Richard T.; Koundouri, Phoebe; Nauges, Céline |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:22206&r=lab |
| By: | Macdonald, Kevin; Patrinos, Harry Anthony |
| Abstract: | The 2003 PISA Korea sample is used to examine the association between within-school ability tracking and mathematics achievement. Estimates of a variety of econometric models reveal that tracking is positively associated with mathematics achievement among females and that this association declines for higher achieving females. Noevidence of an association between males and tracking is detected. While this association for females cannot be interpreted as a causal effect, the presence of a measurable association indicates the need for further research on tracking in Korea with a particular focus on gender differences. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education,Secondary Education,Teaching and Learning,Education For All,Educational Sciences |
| Date: | 2010–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5266&r=lab |
| By: | Lisi, Gaetano |
| Abstract: | Relying on the non-negligible role played by the underground economy in the labour market fluctuations, this paper extends the standard matching model à la Mortensen-Pissarides by introducing an underground sector along with an endogenous sector choice for both entrepreneurs and workers. These modifications improve the quantitative properties of the standard matching model, thus providing a possible explanation for the unemployment volatility puzzle. |
| Keywords: | unemployment and vacancies volatility; productivity and job destruction shocks; underground economy; shadow economy; hidden economy; matching models. |
| JEL: | E32 J63 J64 J24 E26 L26 J23 |
| Date: | 2010–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:22689&r=lab |
| By: | Rana Hendy (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CREST-INSEE - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique) |
| Abstract: | The present research explores for the first time to our best knowledge the extremely biased division of labor within Egyptian households. Time activities in respect of paid and unpaid work are an important aspect of this study. The classical dichotomy of "work in the market" versus "leisure" may serve as a good approximation of the role the male plays in the production activity of the household but does gross injustice to the female since it overlooks the whole time she spends, outside the market, on domestic activities. And, studying the females' invisible unpaid work is crucial since it remains the female's main occupation. Time use profiles are constructed using the Egyptian time use data available, only for females, in the Egyptian Labor Market and Panel Surveys of 1998 and 2006. The empirical exercise consists in, on the one hand-analyzing the main features of Egyptian females' time allocation relying on both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. On the other hand, we estimate a Propensity Score Matching model in order to evaluate the effect of marriage on females market and domestic labor supplies. |
| Keywords: | Time Allocation, domestic production, descriptive analysis, propensity score matching, Egypt. |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00482486_v1&r=lab |
| By: | Pierre Koning; Karen van der Wiel |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether information on high school quality published by a national newspaper affects school choice in the Netherlands. For this purpose, we use both school level and individual student level data. First, we study the causal effect of quality scores on the influx of new high school students using a longitudinal school dataset. We find that negative (positive) school quality scores decrease (increase) the number of students choosing a school after the year of publication. The positive effects are particularly large for the academic school track. An academic school track receiving the most positive score sees its inflow of students rise by 15 to 20 students. Second, we study individual school choice behavior to address the relative importance of the quality scores, as well as potential differences in the quality response between socio-economic groups. Although the probability of attending a school is affected by its quality score, it is mainly driven by the traveling distance. Students are only willing to travel about 200 meters more in order to attend a well-performing rather than an average school. In contrast to equity concerns that are often raised, we cannot find differences in information responses between socio-economic groups. |
| Keywords: | School quality; school choice; information; media |
| JEL: | I20 D10 D83 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:150&r=lab |
| By: | Silvia Helena Barcellos; Leandro Carvalho; Adriana Lleras-Muney |
| Abstract: | There is considerable debate in the literature as to whether boys and girls are treated differently in India. But son-biased stopping rules imply that previous estimates are likely to be biased. The authors propose a novel identification strategy to properly identify the effects of child gender on parental investments. Using data from a time use survey they document gender differences in childcare time which have not been studied before in developing countries. They find that boys receive on average 10% more time than girls. They are also more likely to be breastfed for longer, given vaccinations and vitamin supplementation. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:756&r=lab |
| By: | Juan D. Barón; Deborah Cobb-Clark |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the link between young people's sense (locus) of control over their lives and their investments in education. We find that young people with a more internal locus of control have a higher probability of finishing secondary school and, conditional on completion, meeting the requirements to obtain a university entrance rank. Moreover, those with an internal locus of control who obtain a university entrance rank achieve somewhat higher rankings than do their peers who have a more external locus of control. Not surprisingly, there is a negative relationship between growing up in disadvantage and educational outcomes. However, this effect does not appear to operate indirectly by increasing the likelihood of having a more external locus of control. In particular, we find no significant relationship between family welfare history and young people's locus of control. |
| Date: | 2010–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:006978&r=lab |
| By: | David E. Bloom (Harvard School of Public Health); David Canning (Harvard School of Public Health); Gunther Fink (Harvard School of Public Health); Jocelyn Finlay (Harvard School of Public Health) |
| Abstract: | We analyze panel data for 40 countries over the period 1970-2000 to examine the effect of social security reforms on the labor supply of older men. The data show a trend towards earlier retirement that can be explained by rising income levels. We find that the average retirement age rises significantly when the normal, or early, social security eligibility age rises, the pension benefits for postponing retirement are increased, or the system shifts from defined benefits to defined contributions. A package of social security reforms is capable of substantially increasing the labor supply of older men. |
| Keywords: | Social security reform, retirement, high and middle income countries |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdm:wpaper:4809&r=lab |
| By: | Vanzetti, David |
| Abstract: | Discussions within the World Trade Organization on the temporary movement of labour across borders have met with limited success, in spite of the potential benefits to both home and destination countries. Developed countries have been reluctant to allow increased immigration because of concerns about the social and economic impacts of integrating foreign workers. Recently available bilateral data on current migration flows, differences in wages and remittances makes it possible to estimate the potential impacts of temporary migration on wages and national income. Using a general equilibrium model that separates skilled and unskilled labour, we show that a three per cent increase in the labour force due to increased migration would increase national income in Australia and New Zealand by an estimated US$5 billion annually. Remittances sent abroad would amount to an additional US$750 million. Most developing country regions would benefit. More specifically, allowing in 10,000 temporary unskilled workers to work in the agricultural sector in Australia generates estimated welfare gains of US$100 million. |
| Keywords: | Migration, trade, GATS mode 4, International Development, F13, Q17, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59174&r=lab |
| By: | Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| 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. |
| Keywords: | sample selection, international student achievement tests, economic growth, educational production |
| JEL: | H4 I20 O40 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4926&r=lab |
| By: | Todo, Yasuyuki (Asian Development Bank Institute); Zhang, Weiying (Asian Development Bank Institute); Zhou, Li-An (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a firm-level panel data set for a high-tech cluster in the People's Republic of China to examine knowledge spillovers from multinational enterprises (MNEs) to domestic firms, focusing on the role of MNEs' employment of educated workers. We find that knowledge within MNEs spills over to domestic firms in the same industry through MNEs' employment of workers with graduate-level or overseas education. We also find that Japanese MNEs contribute less to knowledge spillovers than United States MNEs. This is most likely due to the fact that Japanese MNEs in the People's Republic of China do not employ as much educated labor. |
| Keywords: | knowledge spillovers; foreign direct investment; educated labor; the peoples republic of china |
| JEL: | F23 O12 O30 |
| Date: | 2009–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0174&r=lab |
| By: | Dupuy Arnaud (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that the gender world record ratio in four disciplines, i.e. marathon, triple jump, pole vault and 800 meters, follows a S-shape over time. It is argued that this pattern is initiated by a sudden drop in the social barrier for women to participate in these disciplines. This drop in social barrier materializes –later- by the authorization for women to participate at major events, such as the Olympic Games, in these disciplines. The paper builds a simple economic model of sector self-selection and human capital accumulation with intrinsic disutility (social barriers) to participate in some sectors. As social barriers are removed in a sector, the Gender Performance Ratio is shown to follow a S-shape over time under very basic assumptions and calibrations. Ability self-selection, measured as the difference between mean ability of women in that sector and population mean, becomes more positive after removal of the social barrier. |
| Keywords: | microeconomics ; |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2010021&r=lab |
| By: | Sebastian Galiani (Washington University in St. Louis); Martín A. Rossi (Universidad de San Andrés); Ernesto Schargrodsky (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the causal effect of mandatory participation in the military service on the involvement in criminal activities. We exploit the random assignment of young men to military service in Argentina through a draft lottery to identify this causal effect. Using a unique set of administrative data that includes draft eligibility, participation in the military service, and criminal records, we find that participation in the military service increases the likelihood of developing a criminal record in adulthood. The effects are not only significant for the cohorts that performed military service during war times, but also for those that provided service at peace times. We also find that military service has detrimental effects on future performance in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Military Service, Violent behavior, Crime |
| JEL: | K42 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.55&r=lab |
| By: | Pierre Koning; Karen van der Wiel |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the response of secondary schools to changes in quality ratings. In doing this, we contribute to the literature in two respects. First, the current analysis is the first to address the impact of quality scores that have been published by a newspaper (Trouw), rather than public interventions that aim to track and improve failing schools. Second, our research design exploits the substantial lags in the registration and publication of the Trouw scores and that takes into account all possible outcomes of the ratings, instead of the lowest category only. Overall, we find evidence that school quality performance does respond to Trouw quality scores. Both average grades increase and the number of diplomas go up after receiving a negative score. These responses cannot be attributed to gaming activities of the school board as an improvement is also observed in the gaming-proof quality indicators. For schools that receive the most negative ranking, the short-term effects (one year after a change in the ranking of schools) of quality transparency on final exam grades equal 10% to 30% of a standard deviation compared to the average of this variable. The estimated long run impacts are roughly equal to the short-term effects that are measured. |
| Keywords: | school quality; school accountability |
| JEL: | H75 I20 D83 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:149&r=lab |
| By: | McCoy, Selina; Byrne, Delma |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:rb2010/1/5&r=lab |
| By: | Adama Zerbo (GED, Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV) |
| Abstract: | Ce travail s’est fixé pour objectif de formuler des fondements théoriques des politiques actives du marché du travail en Afrique. En s’appuyant sur la théorie des trajectoires notionnelles, un modèle dynamique de l’emploi a été développé. L’analyse du modèle montre que lorsque la population active adopte des stratégies évolutives d’offre de travail, la dynamique de l’emploi est positive, par contre lorsqu’elle adopte des stratégies de subsistance sur le marché du travail, la dynamique de l’emploi est négative ; l’économie s’installe dans un cercle vicieux de sous-emploi. Dans une telle situation, la mise en œuvre de politiques actives du marché du travail est nécessaire pour rompre le cercle vicieux ou inverser la tendance négative de l’emploi. This paper aimed to formulate theoretical analysis framework of actives labour market policies in Africa. Based on the theory of notional trajectories, a dynamic model of employment has been developed. Analysis of this model shows that when labour force adopts progressive strategies of labour supply, dynamics of employment is positive. By cons when labour force adopts subsistence strategies on the labour market, dynamics of employment is negative, therefore national economy moves into vicious circle of underemployment. In such situation, implementation of actives labour market policies is needed to break the vicious circle or reverse negative trend of employment.(Full text in french) |
| JEL: | J21 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mon:ceddtr:154&r=lab |
| By: | Moussaly, Karim |
| Abstract: | Amidst the financial crisis and changes in the labour market, retirement savings plans are subject to greater scrutiny. The retirement income system in Canada stands on both public and private retirement savings plans. This article describes the coverage of Canadian workers by private retirement savings plans. Using cross-sectional tax data from the T1 Family File, we describe the coverage of Canadian employed tax filers aged 15 or more by employer-sponsored pension plans (EPPs) and whether or not they contributed to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The share of employed tax filers participating in either type of plan declined from 54% in 1997 to 50% in 2008 and this is mainly driven by a decreasing share of employed tax filers contributing to a RRSP. The share of employed tax filers participating in an EPP remained fairly stable over the period. |
| Keywords: | income;retirement;savings |
| JEL: | J26 E21 |
| Date: | 2010–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:22711&r=lab |
| By: | Störmer, Susi (University of Hamburg); Fahr, René (University of Paderborn) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the influence of personality as measured by the Big Five personality scale on absenteeism using representative data for Germany. In particular, the 2005 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel provides detailed information on socio-economic background characteristics along with a Big Five personality scale. Estimates of a Logit model and of count data regression are used to analyze an empirical model based on the theory of hedonic labour market outcomes. These estimates allow us to test hypotheses on the influence of the Big Five personality traits on work attendance. We find clear negative correlations between the probability to be absent and Conscientiousness as well as Agreeableness. We find a strong positive impact of Neuroticism on work attendance decisions in general and clues for a positive impact of Extraversion among men. When looking at the length of absence occurrences the personality dimensions of Neuroticism and Agreeableness are found to significantly influence male absenteeism. Implications of our results are discussed. |
| Keywords: | absenteeism, Five Factor Model, personality, count data model |
| JEL: | J20 M12 M51 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4927&r=lab |
| By: | Dupraz, Pierre; Latruffe, Laure; Mann, Stefan |
| Abstract: | The objective of this article is to analyse the trends in on-farm labour use, including own family labour, hired labour and contract work, and to assess the factors driving their evolution in France and in Switzerland during 1990-2007. A particular attention is given to agricultural policies, namely the level and type of support. Results indicate that crop area payments discourage the different labour demands in both countries, while environment and investment payments favour contract and hired labour in France. Contract labour and family labour are substitute and hired labour and family labour are complement in France. |
| Keywords: | farm labour, hired labour, contract work, policies, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61352&r=lab |
| By: | Charness, Gary (University of California, Santa Barbara); Kuhn, Peter J. (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: | This paper surveys the contributions of laboratory experiments to labor economics. We begin with a discussion of methodological issues: why (and when) is a lab experiment the best approach; how do laboratory experiments compare to field experiments; and what are the main design issues? We then summarize the substantive contributions of laboratory experiments to our understanding of principal-agent interactions, social preferences, union-firm bargaining, arbitration, gender differentials, discrimination, job search, and labor markets more generally. |
| Keywords: | labor economics, laboratory experiments, principal-agent theory, personnel economics |
| JEL: | C9 J0 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4941&r=lab |
| By: | Casamatta, Georges; Gondim, Joao Luis |
| Abstract: | We assess the political support for parametric reforms of the Pay-As-You-Go pension system following a downward fertility shock. Using a continuous time overlapping generations model, we argue that reforms that consist in cutting pension benefits or increasing the retirement age are likely to receive a strong political support. An increase in the contribution rate has, on the contrary, fewer chances to be approved by the majority of the voters. This framework also allows to identify the costs and benefits of postponing each type of reform and to determine how the timing of the dierent reforms affects their political support. |
| Keywords: | Pay-As-You-Go, parametric reforms, fertility shock |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:22204&r=lab |
| By: | Dany Brouillette; Guy Lacroix |
| Abstract: | The Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) is a research and demonstration project that offered a generous time-limited income supplement to randomly selected welfare applicants under two conditions. The first, the eligibility condition, required that they remain on welfare for at least twelve months. The second, the qualification condition, required that they find a full-time job within twelve months after establishing eligibility. In this paper, we focus on a neglected and important feature of the program, namely that the financial reward for becoming qualified is inversely related to the expected wage rate. Under very simple assumptions we show that those who have a low expected wage rate have a clear incentive to establish eligibility. Empirical non-parametric evidence strongly suggests that individuals self-select into eligibility. We jointly estimate a participation equation and a wage equation that are correlated through individual random effects. Our results show that the omission of selfselectivity into qualification translates into slightly underestimated treatment effects. <P>Le Projet d’autosuffisance (PAS) est une initiative de recherche et de démonstration destinée à offrir un généreux supplément de revenu temporaire aux demandeurs de l’aide sociale recrutés au hasard, moyennant deux conditions. La première, soit l’admissibilité, exigeait que les personnes retenues touchent l’aide sociale pendant une période minimale de 12 mois. La seconde, c’est-à-dire la qualification, exigeait qu’elles trouvent un emploi à temps plein dans les 12 mois suivant l’établissement de leur admissibilité. Dans le présent document, nous mettons l’accent sur une caractéristique du programme, à la fois importante et négligée, à savoir que la récompense financière associée au fait de se qualifier est inversement liée au taux de rémunération espéré. Sur la base d’hypothèses très simples, nous montrons que les personnes dont le taux de rémunération espéré est faible sont clairement incitées à établir leur admissibilité. L’évidence empirique non paramétrique laisse fortement à penser que les personnes s’autosélectionnent dans la démarche d’admissibilité. Nous évaluons conjointement une équation de participation et une équation de rémunération, corrélées par des effets aléatoires individuels. Nos résultats indiquent que l’omission du facteur d’autosélection lié à la qualification se traduit par des effets légèrement sous-estimés sur le traitement. |
| Keywords: | SSP Applicant Study, heterogeneous treatment, self-selection, Étude sur les candidats du PAS, traitement hétérogène, autosélection |
| JEL: | I38 J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2010–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2010s-24&r=lab |
| By: | Anzelika Zaiceva; Klaus F. Zimmermann |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of ethnicity on time spent on overlapped household production, work and leisure activities employing the 2000-2001 UK Time Use Survey. We find that, unconditionally, white females manage to "stretch" their time the most by an additional 233 minutes per day and non-white men "stretch" their time the least. The three secondary activities that are most often combined with other (primary) activities in terms of time spent on them are social activities including resting, passive leisure and childcare. Regression results indicate that non-white ethnic minorities engage less in multitasking than whites, with Pakistani and Bangladeshi males spending the least time. The gap is present for both ethnic minority males and females, although females in general engage more in multitasking. The effect is also heterogeneous across different sub-groups. We then discuss several potential interpretations and investigate whether these differences in behavior may also relate to opportunity costs of non-market time, different preferences and tastes of ethnic minorities, integration experience, family composition, household productivity and other. |
| Keywords: | Time use, multitasking, ethnic minorities, UK |
| JEL: | J22 J15 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp999&r=lab |
| By: | Koning, Pierre (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Webbink, Dinand (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Vujić, Sunčica (London School of Economics); Martin, Nicholas G. (Queensland Institute of Medical Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the longer-term effects of childhood conduct disorder on human capital accumulation and violent and criminal behaviour later in life using data of Australian twins. We measure conduct disorder with a rich set of indicators based on diagnostic criteria from psychiatry. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) and twin fixed effects (FE) estimation approaches, we find that early (pre-18) conduct disorder problems significantly affect both human capital accumulation and violent and criminal behaviour over the life course. In addition, we find that conduct disorder is more deleterious if these behaviours occur earlier in life. |
| Keywords: | conduct disorder, human capital, twins |
| JEL: | I1 I2 K42 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4940&r=lab |
| By: | Abrevaya, Jason (University of Texas at Austin); Hamermesh, Daniel S. (University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: | Using a very large sample of matched author-referee pairs, we examine how the gender of referees and authors affects the former's recommendations. Relying on changing matches of authors and referees, we find no evidence of gender differences among referees in charitableness toward authors; nor do we find any effect of the interaction between the referees’ and authors' gender. With substantial research showing gender differences in fairness, the results suggest that an ethos of objectivity can overcome tendencies toward same-group favoritism/opposite-group discrimination. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, gender, academe |
| JEL: | J71 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4921&r=lab |
| By: | Natalia Zinovyeva; Manuel F. Bagues |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether academic promotions are affected by the gender of evaluators and candidates. The identification strategy exploits the random assignment mechanism that was used in Spain between 2002 and 2006 in order to select the members of promotion committees. Results are mixed. In competitions to associate professor positions, female applicants are significantly less likely to be promoted when they are assigned to a committee with a relatively larger share of female evaluators. On the contrary, in competitions to full professor positions the opposite is true. Information from publications data suggests that female candidates are discriminated by female evaluators when they apply to associate professor positions and by male evaluators when they apply to full professor positions. The evidence indicates that the source of these biases is preference-based. |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2010-15&r=lab |
| By: | Orley C. Ashenfelter (Princeton University); Henry Farber (Princeton University); Michael R. Ransom (Brigham Young University) |
| Abstract: | There has been a renewed interest in monopsony in labor markets in recent years that includes both the traditional static approach to monopsony, ably reviewed by Boal and Ransom (1997) and the new'' approach to monopsony with more attention paid to dynamic issues, developed in detail by Manning (2003). The papers presented in this supplement highlight both approaches and illustrate the range of labor market settings in which the exercise of monopsony power may be important. |
| Keywords: | monopsony, labor markets |
| JEL: | J01 J20 J42 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:indrel:1223&r=lab |
| By: | Terance J. Rephann (Center for Economic and Policy Studies); John Knapp (Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service); William Shobe (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effect of the public higher education sector on Virginia’s economy. The study consists of three distinct parts. The first part consists of a full accounting of the current flow of economic activity in Virginia that can be directly tied to the expenditures and activities of publicly supported institutions of higher education. The second part is a forecast of the additional economic impact of a policy initiative to increase the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees by Virginia public institutions by 70,000 over the period 2010 to 2020. The third part is an evaluation of a broader set of economic and social benefits generated by the public higher education sector, including enhancements to graduates’ life circumstances such as improved health, community benefits such as reduced crime, and economic benefits that stem from industrial attraction, entrepreneurial activity, innovation, and workforce development. |
| Keywords: | higher education, Virginia, colleges, universities |
| JEL: | I21 R11 |
| Date: | 2010–04–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vac:report:rpt10-01&r=lab |