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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Robalino, David A. (World Bank); Zylberstajn, Eduardo (Fundação Getúlio Vargas); Robalino, Juan David (Imperial College London) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of job search and use it to assess the effects that the Brazilian unemployment benefit system has on exit rates from unemployment. In our setup, unemployed workers receive job offers from the formal and informal sectors and decide whether to accept them or wait. Only jobs in the formal sector come with unemployment benefits. After incorporating the rules of the Brazilian unemployment benefit system we estimate the parameters of the model using its labor force survey (a rotating panel). Key parameters determining model dynamics are: the distribution of wage offers for each individual; the observed probabilities of separation from formal and informal jobs; and the unobserved job offers arrival rates. The results show that, in general, workers eligible for unemployment benefits also have higher offer rates – their unobserved characteristic are correlated with more job opportunities. Policy simulations ten suggest that the risk pooling and savings component of the unemployment benefit system have small effects on the probabilities of remaining unemployed. The main effect of both schemes is to reduce transitions into informal jobs. The effects are larger for unskilled workers, particularly women. The simulations also show that current effects are conditioned on the design of the system. More generous unemployment benefits, for instance, could substantially increase the share of workers who remain unemployed. In addition, asking workers to contribute to finance unemployment benefits would reduce formal employment. |
| Keywords: | labor market transitions, unemployment insurance, social protection, job-search models, structural estimations |
| JEL: | J63 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5476&r=lab |
| By: | Alan B. Krueger (Princeton University); Andreas Mueller (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents findings from a survey of 6,025 unemployed workers who were interviewed every week for up to 24 weeks in the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010. Our main findings are: (1) the amount of time devoted to job search declines sharply over the spell of unemployment; (2) the self-reported reservation wage predicts whether a job offer is accepted or rejected; (3) the reservation wage is remarkably stable over the course of unemployment for most workers, with the notable exception of workers who are over age 50 and those who had nontrivial savings at the start of the study; (4) many workers who seek full-time work will accept a part-time job that offers a wage below their reservation wage; and (5) the amount of time devoted to job search and the reservation wage help predict early exits from Unemployment Insurance (UI). |
| Keywords: | unemployment, wages, job search |
| JEL: | H31 J08 J29 J64 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:indrel:1283&r=lab |
| By: | Mueller, Barbara (Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (EHB)); Wolter, Stefan (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | When information about the true abilities of job-seekers and applicants are hard to get, statistical discrimination by employers can be an efficient strategy in the hiring and wage setting process. But statistical discrimination can induce costs, if labor relations cannot be terminated in the short term and wages are fixed over a certain period. In this paper we use a unique longitudinal survey that follows the PISA 2000 students in their educational and work-life career. We test whether deviance in the PISA test scores from what one would have predicted based on observable characteristics, influences the probability to succeed in the transition from compulsory school into a firm-based apprenticeship and whether it can explain differences of the individual performances during training. Our results suggest that hard-to-get information plays a significant role in the transition, but not always in a symmetric manner. |
| Keywords: | statistical discrimination, school-to-work transition, PISA |
| JEL: | I2 J24 J71 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5474&r=lab |
| By: | Barbara Mueller (EHB Schweiz); Stefan C. Wolter (Institute of Economics, University of Berne) |
| Abstract: | When information about the true abilities of job-seekers and applicants are hard to get, statistical discrimination by employers can be an efficient strategy in the hiring and wage setting process. But statistical discrimination can induce costs, if labor relations cannot be terminated in the short term and wages are fixed over a certain period. In this paper we use a unique longitudinal survey that follows the PISA 2000 students in their educational and work-life career. We test whether deviance in the PISA test scores from what one would have predicted based on observable characteristics, influences the probability to succeed in the transition from compulsory school into a firm-based apprenticeship and whether it can explain differences of the individual performances during training. Our results suggest that hard-to-get information plays a significant role in the transition, but not always in a symmetric manner. |
| Keywords: | Statistical discrimination, school-to-work transition, PISA |
| JEL: | I2 J24 J71 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0053&r=lab |
| By: | Pamela Lenton (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses levels of over-education and wage returns to education for males across eleven regions of the UK using Labour Force Survey data. Significant differences are found in the probability of being over-educated across regions; also, differences are found in the return to the ‘correct’ level of education in each region, in each case associated with flexibility of movement between and into particular regions, which determines the ease of job matching. Furthermore, evidence is found that, after controlling for the level of education acquired, there exists a premium to the ‘correct’ level of education, which varies across UK regions. |
| Keywords: | education, returns |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2011001&r=lab |
| By: | Tonin, Mirco (University of Southampton); Kolm, Ann-Sofie (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | In-work benefits are becoming an increasingly relevant labour market policy, gradually expanding in scope and geographical coverage. This paper investigates the equilibrium impact of in-work benefits and contrasts it with the traditional partial equilibrium analysis. We find under which conditions accounting for equilibrium wage adjustments amplifies the impact of in-work benefits on search intensity, participation, employment, and unemployment, compared to a framework in which wages are fixed. We also account for the financing of these benefits and determine the level of benefits necessary to achieve efficiency in a labour market characterized by search externalities. |
| Keywords: | in-work benefits, search, labour force participation, wage adjustment |
| JEL: | J21 J38 H24 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5473&r=lab |
| By: | Grund, Christian (University of Würzburg); Schmitt, Andreas (University of Würzburg) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of works councils on employees’ wages and job satisfaction in general and for subgroups with respect to sex and occupational status. Making use of a German representative sample of employees, we find that employees, who move to a firm with a works council, report increases in job satisfaction, but do not receive particular wage increases. Especially the job satisfaction of female employees is affected by a change in works council status. However, we do not find support for the hypothesis that the introduction of a works council itself increases wages or job satisfaction for the employees staying at the firm. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, wages, works councils |
| JEL: | M5 J30 J53 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5464&r=lab |
| By: | Alain de Crombrugghe (University of Namur, Department of Economics); Gregory de Walque (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department; University of Namur) |
| Abstract: | Most transition countries used tax-supported wage norms in the early 1990's, as a part of their market liberalization programs. This paper analyses how a firm-level tax (or subsidy) on deviations from a pre-set wage norm may promote employment by rotating the labor demand curve perceived by the workers' union around the value of the norm. We derive the conditions such that it yields a positive employment effect. We test the effect of the norm on the wages on a sample of Polish firms in 1990 and 1991. The data support the role of the wage norm on the position of the perceived labor demand and the role of the tax rate on its slope. |
| Keywords: | transition economies, labor market, unions, excess wage tax, employment |
| JEL: | H23 J23 J5 P31 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201101-209&r=lab |
| By: | Nelen Annemarie; Grip Andries de; Fouarge Didier (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether part-time employment is beneficial for firm productivity in the service sector. Using a unique dataset on the Dutch pharmacy sector that includes the work hours of all employees and a “hard” physical measure of firm productivity, we estimate a production function including heterogeneous employment shares based on work hours. We find that a larger part-time employment share leads to greater firm productivity. Additional data on the timing of labor demand show that part-time employment enables firms to allocate labor more efficiently. First, firms with part-time workers can bridge the gap between opening hours and a full-time work week. Second, we find that during opening hours part-time workers are scheduled differently than full-timers. For example, we find that part-time workers enable their full-time colleagues to take lunch breaks so that the firm can remain open during these times. |
| Keywords: | labour economics ; |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2011007&r=lab |
| By: | Polanec, Sašo; Ahčan, Aleš; Verbič, Miroslav |
| Abstract: | In this article, we analyse old-age retirement decisions of Slovenian men and women, eligible to retire in the period 1997-2003. In comparison to established market economies, we find relatively high hazard rates of retirement that decline with age. This unusual pattern can partly be attributed to weak incentives to work, inherent in the design of the pension system and reflected in predominantly negative values of accruals, and to transition-specific increase in wage inequality in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This is reflected in low wages and relatively high pensions of less productive (skilled) workers and vice versa. We find that the probability of retirement decreases with option value to work and net wages, although the response to the former, when controlling for the latter, is rather weak. Our results also imply that less educated individuals and individuals with greater personal wealth are more likely to retire. |
| Keywords: | option value; retirement decisions; transition |
| JEL: | H55 J26 J20 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28460&r=lab |
| By: | Andrés Fuentes |
| Abstract: | Almost all workers are educated at least to the upper secondary level and vocational education contributes to one of the most successful transition performances of youth to employment in the OECD. Higher education enjoys an excellent reputation, as reflected in one of the highest scientific publication rates relative to population in the OECD and high placements of Swiss universities in international rankings. Participation in continuous education is among the largest in the OECD. Results for children with low socio-economic background or immigration background do not fully measure up to the high standards of the education system. Improving early childhood education and availability of childcare facilities for very young children would raise subsequent educational attainment, especially for these groups of children. Accountability of schools for their education outcomes should be raised. In tertiary education, attainment rates among the young are modest for a high-income OECD country, reflecting the importance of the upper secondary vocational system. A larger supply of tertiary graduates could have benefits for productivity performance especially in the context of demographic ageing. Public spending per pupil on pre-primary education is low in international comparison whereas spending on tertiary academic education per graduate is among the highest in the OECD. |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:838-en&r=lab |
| By: | Gautier, Pieter (VU University Amsterdam); Teulings, Coen (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | We analyze a general search model with on-the-job search and sorting of heterogeneous workers into heterogeneous jobs. This model yields a simple relationship between (i) the unemployment rate, (ii) the value of non-market time, and (iii) the max-mean wage differential. The latter measure of wage dispersion is more robust than measures based on the reservation wage, due to the long left tail of the wage distribution. We estimate this wage differential using data on match quality and allow for measurement error. The estimated wage dispersion and mismatch for the US is consistent with an unemployment rate of 4-6%. We find that without search frictions, output would be between 7.5% and 18.5% higher, depending on whether or not firms can ex ante commit to wage payments. |
| Keywords: | search, sorting, wage dispersion, on-the-job search, unemployment |
| JEL: | E24 J62 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5477&r=lab |
| By: | Borghans Lex; Golsteyn Bart (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | Evidence about job mobility outside the U.S. is scarce and difficult to compare cross-nationally because of non-uniform data. We document job mobility patterns of college graduates in their first three years in the labor market, using unique uniform data covering 11 European countries and Japan. Using the NLSY, we replicate the information in this survey to compare the results to the U.S. We find that (1) U.S. graduates hold more jobs than European graduates. (2) Contrasting conventional wisdom, job mobility in Japan is only somewhat lower than the European average. (3) There are large differences in job mobility within Europe. |
| Keywords: | labour economics ; |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2011008&r=lab |
| By: | Geraint Johnes; Aradhna Aggarwal; Ricardo Freguglia; Gisele Spricigo |
| Abstract: | The effect of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using both survey and administrative data from The Brazilian PNAD and RAIS-MIGRA series, respectively. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach is particularly useful as a means of evaluating policy impacts over time. We find that policy to expand educational provision leads initially to an increased take-up of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment. |
| Keywords: | occupation, education, development |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:007203&r=lab |
| By: | HINDRIKS, Jean (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE & Department of Economics, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VERSCHELDE, Marijn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); RAYP, Glenn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); SCHOORS, Koen (CERISE, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows the value of school autonomy for educational performance. To fully capture the informational advantage of local actors, we define school autonomy as the operational empowerment of the principals and teachers. The Flemish secondary school system in Belgium is analyzed as it is has a long history of educational school autonomy, but considerable variation between schools in school staff empowerment. Combining detailed school level and pupil level data from the PISA 2006 study with a semiparametric hierarchical model, we find strong indications that operational school autonomy is associated with high educational performance if appropriate accountability systems are active. Sensitivity tests show that both low and high-performers benefit from this kind of school autonomy. |
| Keywords: | educational performance, PISA, school autonomy, educational production function, semiparametric |
| JEL: | I28 H52 |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010082&r=lab |
| By: | Marina Murat; Davide Ferrari; Patrizio Frederic; Giulia Pirani |
| Abstract: | Using data from PISA 2006, we examine the performance of immigrant students in different international educational environments. Our results show smaller immigrant gaps – differences in scores with respect to natives - where educational systems are more flexible and students’ mobility between courses and school programs is higher. Unlike previous studies, our analysis reveals no direct relation between these gaps and education models, be they comprehensive or tracking, adopted by countries |
| Keywords: | International migration; educational systems; PISA; |
| JEL: | F22 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0637&r=lab |
| By: | Jibum Kim; Jinkook Lee |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how educational attainment may affect the prevalence of disability among older Koreans, a population for whom the association between health and education has been little studied. It performs descriptive and logistic regression analysis on five nationally representative data sets, all collected between 2004 and 2006, regarding education and disability among Koreans at least 65 years of age. It finds the relationship between education and disability to be strongest between less than primary school graduates and primary school graduates. Beyond the primary school level, the educational gradient on disability is weak. |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:811&r=lab |
| By: | Robert Pollin; Jeannette Wicks-Lim |
| Abstract: | <p>Did the presence of immigrant workers in the United States labor market—including both documented and undocumented workers—significantly affect conditions for low-wage native workers during the Great Recession of 2008-09? Building from the methodology developed by Card (2005), our basic finding is straightforward: the presence of immigrants in the U.S. labor market <i>did not</i> contribute in any significant way to the severe labor market problems faced by native workers during the recession. We do emphasize that our conclusion remains provisional until a broader set of data are brought to bear in investigating the question.</p> |
| JEL: | J61 J31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uma:periwp:wp246&r=lab |
| By: | David Powell; Hui Shan |
| Abstract: | The link between taxes and occupational choices is central for understanding the welfare impacts of income taxes. Just as taxes distort the labor-leisure decision, they also distort the wage-amenity decision. Yet, there have been few studies on the full response along this margin. When tax rates increase, workers favor jobs with lower wages and more amenities. The authors introduce a two-step methodology which uses compensating differentials to characterize the tax elasticity of occupational choice. They estimate a significant compensated elasticity of 0.03, implying that a 10% increase in the net-of-tax rate causes workers to change to a 0.3% higher wage job. |
| Keywords: | income taxes, occupational choice, compensating differentials |
| JEL: | H24 H31 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:705-1&r=lab |
| By: | Goulart, Pedro (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Bedi, Arjun S. (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | Notwithstanding increased educational expenditure, Portugal continues to record poor educational outcomes. Underlining the weak expenditure-educational success link, a large body of work in educational economics displays that there is a tenuous relationship between a range of school inputs and cognitive achievement. Among others, the inability to establish a clear link between inputs and success has been attributed to the difficulty of controlling for unobserved attributes such as ability, motivation and interest. Against this background, and inspired by a large body of work in educational psychology which explicitly measures constructs such as educational motivation and interest, this paper examines whether a child’s interest in school has any bearing on educational success after controlling for the kinds of variables typically used in educational economics analyses. We rely on two data sets collected in Portugal in 1998 and 2001 and examine the interest-educational success link using both cross-section and panel data. Our estimates suggest that after controlling for time-invariant unobservable traits and for the simultaneous determination of interest and achievement, there is little support for the idea that prior interest in school has a bearing on future educational success. |
| Keywords: | schooling, Portugal, educational outcomes, interest in school |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5462&r=lab |
| By: | Martin Binder; Alex Coad |
| Abstract: | Despite lower incomes, the self-employed consistently report higher satisfaction with their jobs. But are self-employed individuals also happier, more satisfied with their lives as a whole? High job satisfaction might cause them to neglect other important domains of life, such that the fulfilling job crowds out other pleasures, leaving the individual on the whole not happier than others. Moreover, self-employment is often chosen to escape unemployment, not for the associated autonomy that seems to account for the high job satisfaction. We apply matching estimators that allow us to better take into account the above-mentioned considerations and construct an appropriate control group. Using the BHPS data set that comprises a large nationally representative sample of the British populace, we find that individuals who move from regular employment into self-employment experience an increase in life satisfaction (up to two years later), while individuals moving from unemployment to self-employment are not more satisfied than their counterparts moving from unemployment to regular employment. We argue that these groups correspond to "opportunity" and "necessity" entrepreneurship, respectively. These findings are robust with regard to different measures of subjective well-being as well as choice of matching variables, and also robustness exercises involving "simulated confounders". |
| Keywords: | self-employment, happiness, matching estimators, unemployment, BHPS, necessity entrepreneurship Length 26 pages |
| JEL: | C21 J24 J28 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2010-20&r=lab |
| By: | Zafar Nazarov |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses whether the results of child achievement tests affect maternal employment and the child-care choices of mothers with prekindergarten children. To test this hypothesis, it first incorporates into Bernal and Keane's (2010) model the mother's imperfect knowledge of the child's cognitive ability endowment and possible mechanisms through which the mother may learn the child's endowment. Then it uses a quasi-structural approach to form approximations to the mother's employment and child-care decision rules and jointly estimate them with the child cognitive development production function and wage equation. Using a sample of single mothers from the NLSY79, it finds evidence that maternal employment and child-care decisions are sensitive to past achievement scores. In particular, a mother whose child has taken the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test before entering kindergarten and whose child's standardized test score is above a certain threshold intends to use child care more and work more part-time hours immediately after observing the child's performance on the achievement test. |
| JEL: | C23 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:813&r=lab |
| By: | Benjamin Elsner (Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics and the Institute for International Integration Studies) |
| Abstract: | The eastern enlargement of the European Union in 2004 triggered a large flow of migrant workers from the new member states to the UK and Ireland. This paper analyzes the impact of this migration wave on the real wages in the source countries. I consider the case of Lithuania, which had the highest share of emigrants relative to its workforce among all ten new member states. Using data from the Lithuanian Household Budget Survey and the Irish Census, I find that emigration had a significant positive effect on the wages of men who stayed in the country, but no such effect is visible for women. A percentage point increase in the emigration rate increases the real wage of men on average by 1%. Several robustness checks confirm this result. |
| Keywords: | Emigration, Labor Mobility, EU Enlargement |
| JEL: | F22 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.151&r=lab |
| By: | MAULEON, Ana (Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis, CEREC, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium and Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VANNETELBOSCH, Vincent (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VERGARI, Cecilia (Department of Economic Sciences, University of Bologna, I-40125 Bologna, Italy) |
| Abstract: | We consider a model of wage determination with private information in a duopoly. We investigate the effects of unions having relative concerns on the negotiated wage and the strike activity. We show that an increase of unions' relative concerns has an ambiguous effect on the strike activity. |
| Keywords: | relative position, wage bargaining, private information, strike activity |
| JEL: | C70 J50 D60 |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010076&r=lab |
| By: | B. DEFLOOR; L. VAN OOTEGEM; E. VERHOFSTADT |
| Abstract: | Two conventional approaches to study the school-to-work transition are the duration period to the first job and the satisfaction in (or for some specific characteristics of) the first job. This paper compares these two approaches with an analysis of the efficiency of school-leavers‟ first job achievement. The transformation of resources, when leaving school, into achieved first job characteristics is analysed using a multi-input multi-output stochastic distance function approach. This allows to assess the efficiency of this conversion process. Inter-individual differences in transformation efficiency are important, especially when policy makers want to focus on reasons for resource-inefficiency that are beyond the control of the individual.<br> The empirical analysis is based on the 1978 birth cohort of the Flemish SONAR data. The variation in efficiency is explained in terms of individual-specific conversion factors that influence job efficiency: the social (family) background, the motivation to work, the number of search channels used and the sector of employment. The most important positive factor is education (a higher number of successful school years). The results are compared with the average duration to the first job and average job satisfaction. The efficiency analysis provides additional information. Most attention is attracted to the role of the social background, more specifically having a non-Belgian background, for the school-to-work transition. |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:10/682&r=lab |
| By: | Docquier, Frederic; Ozden, Caglar; Peri, Giovanni |
| Abstract: | Immigrants in Rome or Paris are more visible to the public eye than the Italian or French engineers in Silicon Valley, especially when it comes to the debate on the effects of immigration on the employment and wages of natives in high-income countries. This paper argues that such public fears, especially in European countries are misplaced; instead, more concern should be directed towards emigration. Using a new dataset on migration flows by education levels for the period 1990-2000, the results show the following: First, immigration had zero to small positive long-run effect on the average wages of natives, ranging from zero in Italy to +1.7 percent in Australia. Second, emigration had a mild to significant negative long-run effect ranging from zero for the US to -0.8 percent in the UK. Third, over the period 1990-2000, immigration generally improved the income distribution of European countries while emigration worsened it by increasing the wage gap between the high and low skilled natives. These patterns hold true using a range of parameters for the simulations, accounting for the estimates of undocumented immigrants, and correcting for the quality of schooling and/or labor-market downgrading of skills. All results go counter to the popular beliefs about migration, but they are due to the higher skill intensity of both emigration and immigration relative to non-migrants. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Human Migrations&Resettlements,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement,International Migration,Labor Markets |
| Date: | 2011–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5556&r=lab |
| By: | Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University); Fatma Bircan (Karaelmas University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the male wage inequality and its evolution over the 1994- 2002 period in Turkey by estimating Mincerian wage equations using OLS and quantile regression techniques. Male wage inequality is high in Turkey. While it declined at the lower end of the wage distribution it increased at the top end of wage distribution. Education contributed to higher wage inequality through both within and between dimensions. The within-groups inequality increased and between-groups inequality decreased over the study period. The latter factor may have dominated the former contributing to the observed decline in the male wage inequality over the 1994-2002. Further results are provided for the wage effects of experience, public sector employment, geographic location, firm size, industry of employment and their contribution to wage inequality. Recent increases in FDI inflows, openness to trade and global technological developments are discussed as contributing factors to the recent rising within-groups wage inequality. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, returns to education, quantile regression, Turkey |
| JEL: | J31 J23 J24 I21 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2011/1&r=lab |
| By: | Luc Behaghel (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - INRA, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Didier Blanchet (INSEE-D3E - Département des études économiques d'ensemble - INSEE); Thierry Debrand (IRDES - Institut de recherche et documentation en économie de la santé - IRDES); Muriel Roger (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - INRA, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, INSEE-D3E - Département des études économiques d'ensemble - INSEE) |
| Abstract: | The French pattern of early transitions out of employment is basically explained by the low age at “normal” retirement and by the importance of transitions through unemployment insurance and early-retirement schemes before access to normal retirement. These routes have exempted French workers from massively relying on disability motives for early exits, contrarily to the situation that prevails in some other countries where normal ages are high, unemployment benefits low and early-retirement schemes almost non-existent. Yet the role of disability remains interesting to examine in the French case, at least for prospective reasons in a context of decreasing generosity of other programs. The study of the past reforms of the pension system underlines that disability routes have often acted as a substitute to other retirement routes. Changes in the claiming of invalidity benefits seem to match changes in pension schemes or controls more than changes in such health indicators as the mortality rates. However, our results suggest that increases in average health levels over the past two decades have come along with increased disparities. In that context, less generous pensions may induce an increase in the claiming of invalidity benefits partly because of substitution effects, but also because the share of people with poor health increases. |
| Keywords: | Pensions ; Social Security ; Disability ; Early Retirement ; Unemployment ; Senior |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00556722&r=lab |
| By: | Yongsung Chang (University of Rochester); Sun-Bin Kim (Department of Economics, Korea University); Kyooho Kwon (University of Rochester); Richard Rogerson (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | We construct a family model of labor supply that features adjustment along both the intensive and extensive margin. Intensive margin adjustment is restricted to two values: full time work and part-time work. Using simulated data from the steady state of the calibrated model, we examine whether standard labor supply regressions can uncover the true value of the intertemporal elasticity of labor supply parameter. We find positive estimated elasticities that are larger for women and that are highly significant, but they bear virtually no relationship to the underlying preference parameters. |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:roc:rocher:560&r=lab |
| By: | MANZI, Jorge (Measurement Center MIDE UC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile); SAN MARTIN, Ernesto (Measurement Center MIDE UC & Dep. Of Statistics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile); VAN BELLEGEM, Sébastien (Toulouse School of Economics, France; Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | Value-added analysis is a common tool in analysing school performances. In this paper, we analyse the SIMCE panel data which provides individual scores of about 200,000 students in Chile, and whose aim is to rank schools according to their educational achievement. Based on the data collection procedure and on empirical evidences, we argue that the exogeneity of some covariates is questionable. This means that a nonvanishing correlation appears between the school-specific effect and some covariates. We show the impact of this phenomenon on the calculation of the value-added and on the ranking, and provide an estimation method that is based on instrumental variables in order to correct the bias of endogeneity. Revisiting the definition of the value-added, we propose a new calculation robust to endogeneity that we illustrate on the SIMCE data. |
| Keywords: | value-added, school effectiveness, multilevel model, endogeneity, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | C33 C51 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010046&r=lab |
| By: | Bonikowska, Aneta; Hou, Feng |
| Abstract: | Current knowledge about the favourable socioeconomic attainment (in education and earnings) among children of immigrants is based on the experiences of those individuals whose immigrant parents came to Canada before the 1970s. Since then, successive cohorts of adult immigrants have experienced deteriorating entry earnings. This has raised questions about whether the outcomes of their children have changed over time. This study shows that successive cohorts of childhood immigrants who arrived in Canada at age 12 or younger during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s had increasingly higher educational attainment (as measured by the share with university degrees) than their Canadian-born peers by age 25 to 34. Conditional on education and other background characteristics, male childhood immigrants who arrived in the 1960s earned less than the Canadian-born comparison group, but the two subsequent cohorts had similar earnings as the comparison group. Female childhood immigrants earned as much as the Canadian-born comparison group, except for the 1980s cohort, which earned more. |
| Keywords: | Education, training and learning, Children and youth, Ethnic diversity and immigration, Educational attainment, Immigrant children and youth, Ethnic groups and generations in Canada, Immigrants and non-permanent residents, Outcomes of education |
| Date: | 2011–01–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2011330e&r=lab |
| By: | Tanika Chakraborty |
| Abstract: | We construct a new, direct measure of female autonomy in household decision-making by creating an index from the principal components of a variety of household variables on which mother of a child takes decision. We then examine its impacts on her child's secondary education in Mexico and find that the children of Mexican mothers with greater autonomy in domestic decision making have higher enrolment in and lower probability of dropping out of secondary school. We use the relative proximity of spousal parents as instruments for relative autonomy to ameliorate the potential endogeneity between autonomy and welfare outcomes. We argue that omitted variables that may drive education and autonomy are likely to be uncorrelated with the ones driving location choice of families given the migration patterns in Mexico. However, the positive autonomy effect is weaker and non-existent for older children and for girls suggesting that gender-directed conditional cash transfer policies may not necessarily hasten educational and gender transition in the process of development. |
| Keywords: | Female Empowerment, Principal Component, Education, Instrumental Variable |
| JEL: | D1 I2 J1 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1102&r=lab |
| By: | John Richards (Simon Fraser University) |
| Abstract: | While Canada has made progress in the past two decades in terms of lowering high-school dropout rates, those rates remain unacceptably high for boys and certain groups limited by poverty or other factors. In this paper, the author warns that the male share of the dropout population continues to rise, with five males now dropping out for every three females. As well, some groups of immigrants, those living in rural areas and Aboriginals also exhibit a worrisome lack of educational achievement compared with the Canadian average. The author recommends strategies to target groups who are falling between the cracks. Among them: education authorities should collect and use reliable data on student performance in core subjects, and should experiment aggressively on initiatives targeted to improve education outcomes for vulnerable groups of Canadians. |
| Keywords: | Education Papers, Canadian education, school dropouts, dropout rates, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:109&r=lab |
| By: | Ray, Jhilam; Majumder, Rajarshi |
| Abstract: | Educational and Occupational Mobility is a cherished dream for all groups of people, more so for those who are at the bottom rungs of society. However, it is often seen that upward mobility is concentrated among the socially well-offs leading to divergence in educational attainment and occupational levels. Such divergence is reflected in earning capabilities as well, thereby aggravating the problems of economic and social inequality. The present paper examines the extent of intergenerational mobility in both educational and occupational attainments for diverse social groups in India to understand the inertia of inequality. A regional dimension is also explored to examine whether patterns are similar or otherwise across the country. Results indicate strong intergenerational stickiness in both educational achievement and occupational distribution among the backward social groups. Occupational mobility is lower than educational mobility indicating that educational progress is not being transformed to occupational improvement and brings up the possibility of discrimination in the labour market. Regional disparities in mobility levels indicate that states in India have had different social processes in force. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Mobility; Education; Occupational Choice; Social Disparity; India; |
| JEL: | J13 J62 N35 J71 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28539&r=lab |
| By: | Sanjay R, Sanjay |
| Abstract: | Production in the garment unit is depending on technology, efficiency and skills of workers. If the labors are young and more educated then they adjust with flexible production methods. The garment export units are following global standard methods of production and they provide the various production related facilities to workers. In Mumbai metropolitan region, export related units are more competitive as compare to the domestic garment units. The monthly incomes of the women workers are higher in export units. The medical allowances, maternal benefits are also more in such units. The multinomial logit regression model shows that the age of the women workers is higher and statistically significant in domestic and both type of units. The women workers work over time in the both and domestic garment units. The women workers do not have technological knowledge in domestic garment units. The decent work facilities are not provided to the women workers in domestic and both type of units. Technical up-gradation, work facilities and on job training will improve employment of women in domestic garment units in Mumbai metropolitan region. |
| Keywords: | Global production system; Garment units; Decent Work; Export units |
| JEL: | J08 J0 |
| Date: | 2010–12–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28536&r=lab |
| By: | Badi H. Baltagi (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1020); Uwe Blien and Katja Wolf (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), D-90327 Nuremberg, Germany-0049-911-1793035 and Otto-Friedrich-University of Bamberg (Blien)) |
| Abstract: | A wave curve is a decreasing function of wages on the regional unemployment rate. Most empirical studies on the wave curve ignore possible spatial interaction effects between the regions which are the primary units of research. This paper reconsiders the western German wage curve with a special focus on the geography of labour markets. Spillovers between regions are taken into account. The paper tests whether the unemployment rate in the larger surrounding region also affects wages. In addition, agglomeration effects and effects of local monopsony are assessed. The main data base is a random sample of 974,179 employees observed over the period 1980-2004 and covering 326 NUTS3 units (districts). This rich data set is used to estimate a dynamic wage curve according to the two-step approach of Bell et al. (2002). In the first step one controls for individual heterogeneity and in the second step one allows for spatial effects of unemployment across regions on wages. We check the sensitivity of this wage elasticity to various spatial weight matrices as well as allowing for the endogeneity of unemployment. We also estimate the wage elasticity for various population groups. |
| Keywords: | Seemingly unrelated regressions, panel data, spatial dependence, heterogeneity, forecasting. |
| JEL: | J30 C23 R10 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprwps:126&r=lab |
| By: | CREMER, Helmuth (Toulouse School of Economics ( University or Toulouse and Institut Universitaire de France), F-3000 Toulouse, France); GAHVARI, Firouz (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Economics, IL, USA); PESTIEAU, Pierre (CREPP, University of Liege, B-4000 Liège, Belgium; Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a unified treatment of externalities associated with fertility and human capital accumulation within pas-as-you-go pension systems. It considers an overlapping generations model in which every generation consists of high earners and low earners with the proportion of types being determined endogenously. The number of children is deterministically chosen but the children’s future ability is in part stochastic, in part determined by the family background, and in part through education. In addition to the customary externality source associated with a change in average fertility rate, this setup highlights another externality source. This is due to the effect of a parent’s choice of number and educational attainment of his children on the proportion of high- ability individuals in the steady state. Our other results include: (i) Investments in education of high- and low-ability parents must be subsidized; (ii) direct child subsidies to one or both parent types can be negative; i.e., they can be taxes; (iii) net subsidies to children (direct child subsidies plus education subsidies) to at least one type of parents must be positive; (iv) parents who have a higher number of children should invest less in their education. |
| Keywords: | pay-as-you-go social security, endogenous fertility, education, endogenous ratio of high to low ability types, three externality sources, education subsidies, child subsidies |
| JEL: | H2 H5 |
| Date: | 2010–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010054&r=lab |
| By: | David Powell |
| Abstract: | Income taxes distort the relationship between wages and non-taxable amenities. When the marginal tax rate increases, amenities become more valuable as the compensating differential for low-amenity jobs is taxed away. While there is evidence that the provision of amenities responds to taxes, the literature has ignored the consequences for job characteristics which cannot fully-adjust. This paper compares the wage response of dangerous jobs to the wage response of safe jobs. When tax rates increase, we should see the pre-tax compensating differential for on-the-job risk increase. Empirically, this paper finds large differences in the wage response of jobs based on their riskiness. |
| Keywords: | income taxes, value of a statistical life, tax incidence, compensating differentials |
| JEL: | H22 H24 J17 J28 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:706-1&r=lab |
| By: | Martina Mysíková (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences, Prague) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the income distribution within couples in the Czech Republic and ten European countries using the EU-SILC 2005 database. Data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) database supplement the analysis with previous period (1986–2000). Women, on average, contribute less to a couple’s income than men. Among the included countries, within-couple income inequality tends to be lower in the new EU member states than in the old ones, with the Czech Republic being the exception. Within-couple income inequality has two crucial factors: employment of female partners and, subsequently, their wages. In the context of the first, the inter-generational transmission of the traditional model of the family proved to have a significant negative impact on the female employment decision mainly in the old EU member states. Finally, gender wage gaps between men and women who live in a couple were examined and compared with the gender wage gaps for single individuals. The gender wage gap proved to be higher for cohabiting individuals than for singles even after adjusting for gender differences in individual and job characteristics. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, traditional family model, within-couple inequalities |
| JEL: | D19 J31 J79 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2011_04&r=lab |
| By: | HINDRIKS, Jean (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE & Department of Economics, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VERSCHELDE, Marijn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); RAYP, Glenn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); SCHOORS, Koen (CERISE, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | Educational tracking is a very controversial issue in education. The tracking debate is about the virtues of uniformity and vertical differentiation in the curriculum and teaching. The pro-tracking group claims that curriculum and teaching better aimed at children's varied interest and skills will foster learning efficacy. The anti-tracking group claims that tracking systems are inefficient and unfair because they hinder learning and distribute learning inequitably. In this paper we provide a detailed within-country analysis of a specific educational system with a long history of early educational tracking between schools, namely the Flemish secondary school system in Belgium. This is interesting place to look because it provides a remarkable mix of excellence and inequality. Indeed the Flemish school system is repeatedly one of the best performer in the international harmonized PISA tests in math, science and reading; whereas it produces some of the most unequal distributions of learning between schools and students. Combining evidence from the PISA 2006 data set at the student and school level with recent statistical methods, we show first the dramatic impact of tracking on social segregation; and then, the impact of social segregation on equality of educational opportunity (adequately measured). It is shown that tracking, via social segregation, has a major effect on inequality of opportunity. Children of different economic classes will have different access to knowledge. |
| Keywords: | tracking, ability grouping, educational performance, social segregation, inequality, PISA |
| JEL: | I28 H52 D63 |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010081&r=lab |
| By: | Grady, Patrick |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the performance of the children of immigrants (2nd generation immigrants) to Canada using data from the 2006 Census. As the composition of immigration inflows has shifted after 1980 from the traditional European source countries to the Third World, the analysis focuses on the labour market performance of 2nd generation visible minority immigrants of whom there were 398 thousand aged15 and over who reported employment income in the Census. An encouraging fact revealed by the data is that 2nd generation visible minority immigrants are becoming more highly educated than 2nd generation non-visible minority immigrants and than non-immigrants – 46.2 per cent of 2nd generation visible minority between 25 and 44 earning employment had earned university certificates or degrees compared to 31 per cent of non-visible minority 2nd generation immigrants and 24 per cent of non-immigrants in the same age groups. But, while 2nd generation visible minority immigrants obtained more education than 2nd generation non-visible minority immigrants and non-immigrants, their performance as a group did not measure up in the labour market. In the 25 to 44 age group, accounting for the largest number of 2nd generation visible minority immigrants, they only earned on average $39,814, whereas 2nd generation non-visible minority immigrants earned $45,352 and non-immigrants 40,358. The labour market performance varies significantly among different visible minority groups. 2nd generation Chinese immigrants in the 25 to 44 age group actually earned $48,098, which was actually more than 2nd generation non-visible minority immigrants and non-immigrants. Because of the large number of Chinese included as 2nd generation immigrants, this buoyed up the overall average and masked the unfortunate fact that many other visible minority groups are doing much worse than average overall and falling short of non-immigrants. A troubling aspect of the performance of 2nd generation immigrants, except for Chinese and Japanese, is the extent to which they earn substantially less than non-immigrants and especially non-visible minority immigrants for any given level of education. The paper thus provides no grounds for complacency that the children of the recent, particularly non-Asian visible minority, immigrants who are performing so poorly in Canada’s labour market will catch up with non-immigrant groups, particularly given that their parents are currently performing much worse than earlier visible minority immigrants in the labour market. And it is unlikely that 2nd generation visible minority immigrants as a group will earn enough to make up for the current earnings shortfall experienced by their parents in recent cohorts of underperforming immigrants. Furthermore, the lower earnings of many visible minority groups for any given level of education are likely to continue be used as justification for more affirmative action programs. This will adversely affect the non-visible minority and non-immigrant population, and could become a source of increasing social tension. |
| Keywords: | wages; 2nd generation immigrants to Canada; immigration policy; human capital |
| JEL: | J61 J24 J23 |
| Date: | 2011–01–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28503&r=lab |
| By: | Traag Tanja; Marie Olivier; Velden Rolf van der (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate how successful social bonding theory is at predicting juvenile delinquency and school dropout behaviour. We adopt a simple dynamic approach which assumes that past involvement in risky behaviour reduces individual restraints for future participation in risky behaviour. We use a ten years education panel following Dutch adolescents who participated in a survey in their first year of high school in 1999. This information was matched to annual information on police arrests based on registry data. Our results show that school performance (as measured by test scores) is the key social bond element preventing young people from engaging in risk behaviour. We also find that involvement in past risky behaviour increases the likelihood of future missteps and that the protective influence of school performance is mitigated. |
| Keywords: | labour economics ; |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2011006&r=lab |
| By: | Pirttälä, Jukka (University of Tampere and the Labour Institute for Economic Research); Selin, Håkan (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the literature on optimal taxation of labour income and the empirical work on labour supply and the elasticity of taxable income in Sweden. It also presents an overview of Swedish taxation of labour income, offers calculations on the development in effective marginal tax rates and participation tax rates, and estimates, using the difference-in-differences method, the impact of tax incentives on employment rates of elderly workers. After this background, we ponder possibilities for reforming the Swedish tax system to improve its labour market impacts. We suggest better targeting the earned income tax credit at families and low-income workers, lowering the top marginal tax rates, and maintaining the tax incentives for older workers. |
| Keywords: | Optimal taxation; labour income taxation; labour supply; taxable income; Swedish tax system. |
| JEL: | H21 H24 J22 |
| Date: | 2011–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uufswp:2011_002&r=lab |
| By: | Bichaka Fayissa; Shah Danyal; J.S. Butler |
| Abstract: | Using the NLSY79 panel data set from 1979-2006 for a cross-section of 12,686 individuals, this paper investigates the effect of educational attainment on the health status of an individual as measured by “the inability to work for health reasons.” The present study bridges the gap in the literature by using the fixed-effects model, random-effects model, between-effects, and the Arellano-Bond dynamic model to analyze the impact of education on health status. We use these alternative models to control unobserved heterogeneity. Educational attainment has a statistically significant and positive effect on the quality of an individual’s health status. |
| Keywords: | Education, Health Status, Fixed-Effects, Random-Effects, Between-Effects, Arellano-Bond Model |
| JEL: | I12 I20 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mts:wpaper:201101&r=lab |
| By: | Kampelmann, Stephan (University of Lille 1); Rycx, Francois (Free University of Brussels) |
| Abstract: | Different empirical studies suggest that the structure of employment in the U.S. and Great Britain tends to polarise into "good" and "bad" jobs. We provide updated evidence that polarisation also occurred in Germany since the mid-1980s until 2008. Using representative panel data, we show that this trend corresponds to a task bias in employment changes: routine jobs have lost relative employment, especially in predominantly manual occupations. We further provide the first direct test for whether task-biased technological change affects employment and remuneration in the same direction and conclude that there is no consistent task bias in the evolution of pay rules. By contrast, compositional changes like the proportion of union members are clearly associated with long-term changes in the remuneration of occupations. |
| Keywords: | polarisation, technological change, pay rules, occupations, inequality, tasks |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5470&r=lab |
| By: | Charles M. Tolbert; Troy C. Blanchard |
| Abstract: | We analyze the earnings determination process of more than 400,000 rural manufacturing workers in 12 selected U.S. states. Our theoretical motivation stems from an ongoing interest in the benefits of locally oriented business establishments. In this case, we distinguish manufacturing concerns that are single establishments in one rural place from branch plants that are part of larger multi-establishment enterprises. Our data permit us to introduce attributes of both workers and their employing firms into earnings determination models. For manufacturing workers in “micropolitan” rural counties, we find that working for a local (single) establishment has a positive impact on annual earnings. However, tenure with a firm returns more earnings for workers in non-local manufacturing facilities. Conversely, for manufacturing workers in “noncore” or rural areas without urban cores, we find that working for a local establishment has a negative effect on earnings. But, job tenure pays off more when working for a local establishment. |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:11-01&r=lab |
| By: | Hugh Gravelle; Arne Risa Hole; Rita Santos |
| Abstract: | In 2008 the income of female GPs was 70%, and their wages (income per hour) were 89%, of those of male GPs. We estimate Oaxaca decompositions using OLS models of wages (income/hours) and 2SLS models of income. The elasticity of income with respect to hours is 0.91 for female GPs and 0.29 for male GPs, so that log wage models are misspecified. The conventional discrimination measure (the unexplained difference in mean log income) is sensitive to the counterfactual (30% using male returns vs 11% using female returns), to the use of OLS vs. 2SLS (19% vs 11%, female counterfactual), but not to dropping insignificant female interactions. The unexplained pro-male difference arises because the pro male difference in regression constants offsets the pro-female difference in the effect of hours on income. We propose a set of new direct tests for within workplace gender discrimination based on a comparison of the differences in income of female and male GPs in practices with varying proportions of female GPs and with female or male senior partners. The direct tests produce mixed results. An indirect test, comparing GPs actual income with the income they report as an acceptable reward for their job, shows that female GPs are not more likely than male GPs to report that their actual income is less than acceptable income, whereas GPs from ethnic minorities and overseas qualified GPs are significantly more likely to do so. |
| Keywords: | Gender discrimination. Family doctors. General practitioners. Income. Wages. |
| JEL: | J16 J44 J71 I11 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:11/05&r=lab |
| By: | Winters, John V |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the effects of the local human capital level and the presence of higher education institutions on the quality of life in U.S. metropolitan areas. The local human capital level is measured by the share of adults with a college degree, and the relative importance of higher education institutions is measured by the share of the population enrolled in college. This paper finds that quality of life is positively affected by both the local human capital level and the relative importance of higher education institutions. Furthermore, these effects persist when these two measures are considered simultaneously, even though the two are highly correlated. That is the human capital stock and higher education institutions have a shared effect and also separate effects on quality of life. |
| Keywords: | human capital; higher education; college towns; quality of life; amenities |
| JEL: | R13 J31 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28484&r=lab |
| By: | Stephan K. S. Kampelmann; François Rycx |
| Abstract: | Different empirical studies suggest that the structure of employment in the U.S. and Great Britain tends to polarise into "good" and "bad" jobs. We provide updated evidence that polarisation also occurred in Germany since the mid-1980s until 2008. Using representative panel data, we show that this trend corresponds to a task bias in employment changes: routine jobs have lost relative employment, especially in predominantly manual occupations. We further provide the first direct test for whether task-biased technological change affects employment and remuneration in the same direction and conclude that there is no consistent task bias in the evolution of pay rules. By contrast, compositional changes like the proportion of union members are clearly associated with long-term changes in the remuneration of occupations. |
| Keywords: | Polarisation; Technological change; Pay rules; Occupations; Inequality; Tasks |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/74821&r=lab |
| By: | Dimitris Korobilis (Université Catholique de Louvain); Michelle Gilmartin (University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the determinants of regional disparities in unemployment rates for the UK regions at NUTS-II level. We use a mixture panel data model to describe unemployment differentials between heterogeneous groups of regions. The results indicate the existence of two clusters of regions in the UK economy, characterised by high and low unemployment rates respectively. A major source of heterogeneity seems to be caused by the varying (between the two clusters) effect of the share of employment in the services sector, and we trace its origin to the fact that the “high unemployment” cluster is characterised by a higher degree of urbanization. |
| Keywords: | distribution dynamics, regional labour markets, unemployment differentials |
| JEL: | C23 J08 J64 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:13_11&r=lab |
| By: | Pratham Pratham |
| Abstract: | Since 2005, every year the ASER report presents estimates of enrollment and basic reading and arithmetic learning outcomes for every district in rural India. Every year the core set of questions regarding schooling status and basic learning levels remains the same. However a set of new questions is added for exploring different dimensions of schooling and learning in the elementary stage. ASER 2010 brings together elements from various previous ASERs. From 2009, questions on paid tuition, parents’ education, household and village characteristics are retained. In addition, this year ASER tests mothers on their numeracy skills. For the first time, ASER 2010 introduces questions on critical thinking for children in Std. 5 and above. These questions are based on simple mathematical operations that appear in Std. V textbooks. |
| Keywords: | ASER, rural, mothers, tests, numeracy skills, children, schooling, learning, elementary, critical thinking, mathematical operations, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3546&r=lab |
| By: | Phillip Toner |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an account of the main approaches, debates and evidence in the literature on the role of workforce skills in the innovation process in developed economies. It draws on multiple sources including the innovation studies discipline, neoclassical Human Capital theory, institutionalist labour market studies and the work organisation discipline. Extensive use is also made of official survey data to describe and quantify the diversity of skills and occupations involved in specific types of innovation activities. |
| Date: | 2011–01–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:55-en&r=lab |
| By: | Korobilis, Dimitris; Gilmartin, Michelle |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the determinants of regional disparities in unemployment rates for the UK regions at NUTS-II level. We use a mixture panel data model to describe unemployment differentials between heterogeneous groups of regions. The results indicate the existence of two clusters of regions in the UK economy, characterised by high and low unemployment rates respectively. A major source of heterogeneity seems to be caused by the varying (between the two clusters) effect of the share of employment in the services sector, and we trace its origin to the fact that the "high unemployment" cluster is characterised by a higher degree of urbanization. |
| Keywords: | distribution dynamics; regional labour markets; unemployment differentials |
| JEL: | J08 C23 J64 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28542&r=lab |
| By: | Kathleen A. Carroll (UMBC); Lisa M. Dickson (UMBC); Jane E. Ruseski (University of Alberta) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops models of decision making in a university setting with and without faculty participation. The models predict values for the level of services or programs offered and the quality of those services in a university setting for either private nonprofit or public universities. These predictions indicate conditions under which outcomes are similar or differ with faculty participation in the decision process. The model predicts that without shared governance that universities may overinvest in non-academic quality (e.g. athletics, recreational activities). This would be exacerbated in for-profit forms of higher education. Notably, nonprofit and/or public institutions are not inefficient relative to for-profit institutions, which questions the rationale for subsidies to for-profit institutions. If academic quality provides positive externalities as has been suggested in the literature, then shared governance may be socially preferred to university decision making without faculty involvement. |
| Keywords: | higher education, faculty governance, university decision making, incentives, nonprofit organization, public organization, organizational behavior |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umb:econwp:11129&r=lab |
| By: | Mazhar MUGHAL; Natalia VECHIU |
| Abstract: | The role of Foreign Direct Investment in higher education in the developing countries (Does FDI promote education?) |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tac:wpaper:2010-2011_10&r=lab |
| By: | Raphael Auer (Swiss National Bank and Prince); Kathrin Degen (University of Lausanne); Andreas Fischer (Swiss National Bank and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | What is the impact of import competition from low-wage countries (LWCs) on inflationary pressure in Europe? This paper examines whether labor- intensive exports from emerging Europe, Asia, and other global regions have a uniform impact on producer prices in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In a panel covering 110 (4-digit) NACE industries from 1995 to 2008, instrumental variable estimations predict that LWC im- port competition is associated with strong price effects. More specifically, when LWC exporters capture 1% of European market share, producer prices decrease by about 3%. In contrast, no effect is present for import competition from low-wage countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Decomposing the mechanisms that underlie the LWC price effect on European industry, we show that import competition has a pronounced effect on average productivity with only a muted effect on wages or margins. Owing to the exit of firms and the increase in productivity, LWC import competition is shown to have substantially reduced employment in the European manufacturing sector. |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:szg:worpap:1102&r=lab |
| By: | Mellizo, Philip (College of Wooster); Carpenter, Jeffrey P. (Middlebury College); Matthews, Peter Hans (Middlebury College) |
| Abstract: | While intuition suggests that empowering workers to have some say in the control of the firm is likely to have beneficial incentive effects, empirical evidence of such an effect is hard to come by because of numerous confounding factors in the naturally occurring data. We report evidence from a real-effort experiment confirming that worker performance is sensitive to the process used to select the compensation contract. Groups of workers that voted to determine their compensation scheme provided significantly more effort than groups that had no say in how they would be compensated. This effect is robust to controls for the compensation scheme implemented and worker characteristics (i.e., ability and gender). |
| Keywords: | real-effort experiment, workplace democracy, decision control rights |
| JEL: | C92 J33 J54 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5460&r=lab |
| By: | Morefield, G. Brant (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Ribar, David (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Ruhm, Christopher (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | We use longitudinal data from the 1984 through 2007 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine how occupational status is related to the health transitions of 30 to 59 year-old U.S. males. A recent history of blue-collar employment predicts a substantial increase in the probability of transitioning from very good into bad self-assessed health, relative to white-collar employment, but with no evidence of occupational differences in movements from bad to very good health. These findings are robust to a series of sensitivity analyses. The results suggest that blue-collar workers “wear out” faster with age because they are more likely, than their white-collar counterparts, to experience negative health shocks. This partly reflects differences in the physical demands of blue-collar and white-collar jobs. |
| Keywords: | occupations; physical demands; health; PSID |
| JEL: | I12 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2011_004&r=lab |
| By: | S. BRACKE; K. SCHOORS; G. VERSCHELDEN |
| Abstract: | Couples filing for divorce in Belgium have the option to either opt for a no-fault divorce trajectory or a consensual trajectory. We analyse the determinants of divorce trajectory choice and of the resulting post-divorce transfers. The no-fault trajectory is more likely, if spouses are more specialised in either domestic or labour market production. This is consistent with a theory of divorce as rent extraction. Child support payments depend neither on the divorce trajectory nor on alimony transfers or relative incomes, but are driven by the payer's wage and the child(ren)'s residence. Partner alimony transfers are higher for no-fault unilateral divorces with pronounced self sacrifice. |
| Keywords: | Divorce, Bargaining, Law and Legislation |
| JEL: | K36 D14 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:10/681&r=lab |
| By: | Patricia Crifo (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X, University Paris X - (-), CIRANO - Montréal); Hind Sami (COACTIS - Université Lumière - Lyon II : EA4161 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a model to analyze the dynamic relations between incentive contracts and analysts' effort in providing accurate research when both ethical and reputational concerns matter. First, we show that reputation picks up ability and thus serves as a sorting device: when analysts have a relatively low reputation for providing research quality (below a threshold level) banks find it more profitable to offer a mix of monetary and non monetary (ethic based) incentives and rely on the analyst's work ethic in ordre to provide research quality. Alternatively, when analysts have a high reputation, full financial (performance based) incentives contracts offer a substantial reward for their contribution to the firm's profits. Second, we find that the design of compensation contracts, in the presence of reputational concerns and work ethic, may lead to incentive problems: full financial incentives contracts may exacerbate conflicts of interest by giving analysts extrinsic rewards on reporting, thereby inducing them to prefer high short term benefits to the detriment of long term research and coverage effort. On the contrary, a mix of monetary and non monetary rewards based on the analyst's work ethic may allow them to resist pressures from conflicts of interest and induces a high research effort thus enhancing long-run reputation. |
| Keywords: | Motivation, Reputation, Reporting, Investment analysts. |
| Date: | 2011–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00561929&r=lab |
| By: | Freguglia, Ricardo S.; Menezes, Naercio A. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibm:ibmecp:wpe_222&r=lab |
| By: | Dirk Van Damme; Kiira Karkkainen |
| Abstract: | The OECD Directorate for Education surveyed the impact of the economic recession on education for the first time in June 2009. Responses were received from seventeen OECD member countries, the Flemish Community of Belgian and two Canadian provinces. The results of the survey reflect the observations of officials in education ministries and public agencies in member countries regarding various aspects of the impact of the economic recession and fiscal crisis on education. |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:56-en&r=lab |
| By: | Aldieri, Luigi; Vinci, Concetto Paolo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we have investigated the impact of the level of education on the number of children in Italy. We have selected 1,490 families from the 1997- 2005 Longitudinal Investigation on Italian Families (ILFI) dataset. Our dependent variable is represented by the number of children ever born to each respondent (and to his partner). Since the number of children ever born (CEB) is a count variable, we have implemented three empirical models: Poisson, Zero-Truncated Poisson and an Instrumental Variable Poisson, where grandparents’ education is exerted as an instrument of parents’ education. In particular, we have considered two stages for each model: in the first stage, we have estimated the impact of female’s education on her number of children, and in the second one, we have used also partner’s education to identify the previous effect. From the empirical results, we may observe a significant negative effect of the level of education on the number of children. |
| Keywords: | Fertility; Human Capital; Education |
| JEL: | J13 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28534&r=lab |
| By: | Parra Osorio, Juan Carlos; Wodon, Quentin |
| Abstract: | Higher incomes for women can have significant beneficial impacts for poverty reduction both in the short run by providing more resources to households and in the long run by increasing investments in the human capital of children. Substantial research has been done using microeconomic household survey data on gender disparities in labor incomes in developing countries in recent years. The first contribution of this paper is to summarize some of that research as applied to Guinea. However, microeconomic studies may not necessarily provide insights on how broad structural shifts in an economy could affect differently opportunities for work and income generation for men and women. In the second part of the paper, we use a recent Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Guinea to assess how growth in various sectors of the economy could affect the incomes of women and men both directly and indirectly through multiplier effects. We find that an expansion of sectors oriented primarily towards domestic consumption could have a larger positive impact on the labor income share of women than an expansion of export-oriented sectors. |
| Keywords: | Gender; Labor income; Social Accounting Matrix; Guinea |
| JEL: | J31 D57 J22 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28465&r=lab |
| By: | Nina Guyon (Paris School of Economics (PSE)); Eric Maurin (Paris School of Economics (PSE)); Sandra McNally (Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The tracking of pupils by ability into elite and non-elite schools represents a controversial policy in many countries. There is no consensus on how large the elite track should be and little agreement on the effects of any further increase in its size. This paper presents a natural experiment where the increase in the size of the elite track was followed by a significant improvement in average educational outcomes. This experiment provides a rare opportunity to isolate the overall effect of allowing entry to the elite track for a group that was previously only at the margin of being admitted. |
| Keywords: | Education, Tracking, Selection |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.152&r=lab |
| By: | Gary Charness; David Masclet; Marie-Claire Villeval |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate individuals’ investment in status in an environment where no monetary return can possibly be derived from reaching a better relative position. We use a real-effort experiment in which we permit individuals to learn and potentially improve their relative position in terms of performance. We find that people express a taste for status. People increase their effort when they are informed about their relative performance, and some individuals pay to sabotage others’ output or to artificially increase their own performance although they are paid a flat wage. Introducing the opportunity to sabotage others’ output exerts a negative effect on performance. Such effects can be alleviated by inducing group identity that favors positive rivalry but discourages sabotage among peers. <P>Dans cet article, nous étudions la recherche de statut par les agents économiques dans un environnement où un meilleur statut ne procure pas nécessairement un avantage monétaire. Pour cela, nous avons réalisé une expérience en effort réel dans laquelle les agents sont amenés à fournir un niveau d’effort et sont informés de la performance de leurs collègues de travail. Nous observons que la plupart des gens ont un goût élevé pour la compétition et la recherche de statut au sein de leur groupe. Les individus augmentent leur niveau d’effort dès lors qu’ils sont informés de l’effort des autres. Certains sont même disposés à saboter l’effort des autres ou à accroitre artificiellement leur propre effort afin d’accroitre artificiellement leur statut. |
| Keywords: | Status seeking, rank, competitive preferences, experiment , recherche de statut, classement, préférences compétitives, expérience |
| JEL: | C91 C92 M54 D63 J28 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2011s-07&r=lab |
| By: | Cremer, Helmuth (Toulouse School of Economics); Goulão, Catarina (Toulouse School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A wide variety of social protection systems coexist within the EU. Some member states provide social insurance that is of Beveridgean inspiration (with universal and more or less flat benefits), while others offer a system that is mainly Bismarckian (with benefits related to past contributions). Labor mobility raises concerns about the sustainability of the most generous and redistributive (Beveridgean) insurance systems. We address this issue in a two-country setting, where individuals differ in mobility cost (attachment to their native country). A Bismarckian insurance system is not affected by migration while a Beveridgean one is. Our results suggest that the race-to-the-bottom affecting tax rates may be more important under Beveridge-Beveridge competition than under Beveridge-Bismarck competition. Finally, we study the strategic choice of the type of social protection. We show that Bismarckian governments may find it beneficial to adopt a Beveridgean insurance system. |
| JEL: | H23 H70 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ide:wpaper:24004&r=lab |