|
on Labour Economics |
| By: | MORIKAWA Masayuki |
| Abstract: | In advanced countries, including Japan, the number of workers with postgraduate degrees is increasing. These highly educated workers are important contributors to innovation. This paper, using published data from the Employment Status Survey, estimates standard wage functions to investigate the effects of postgraduate degree on productivity and the rate of return on postgraduate education. According to the analysis, wage premium for postgraduates relative to undergraduates is about 20% in Japan, which is comparable to the figures found in the United States and the United Kingdom. The premium is larger for female employees. Wage reduction after age 60 is smaller, and retirement age is higher for workers with postgraduate education. Considering the trend toward advanced technology and the growing demand for human capital, postgraduate education is becoming important to vitalize the Japanese economy. At the same time, expansion of postgraduate education may contribute to narrowing the wage gap between male and female workers and increasing labor force participation of elderly people. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:12009&r=lab |
| By: | Chevalier, Arnaud (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| Abstract: | Policy makers generally advocate that to remain competitive countries need to train more scientists. Employers regularly complain of qualified scientist shortages blaming the higher wages in other occupations for luring graduates out of scientific occupations. Using a survey of recent British graduates from Higher Education we report that fewer than 50% of science graduates work in a scientific occupation three years after graduation. The wage premium observed for science graduates stems from occupational choice rather than a science degree. Accounting for selection into subject and occupation, the returns to working in a scientific occupation reaches 18% and there is no return to a science degree outside scientific occupations. Finally, scientists working in a scientific occupation are more satisfied with their educational and career choices, which suggests that those not working in these occupations have been pushed out of careers in science. |
| Keywords: | science, graduate, labour market |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J44 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6353&r=lab |
| By: | Fredriksson, Peter (Stockholm University); Öckert, Björn (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); OOsterbeek, Hessel (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the long-term effects of class size in primary school. We use rich administrative data from Sweden and exploit variation in class size created by a maximum class size rule. Smaller classes in the last three years of primary school (age 10 to 13) are not only beneficial for cognitive test scores at age 13 but also for non-cognitive scores at that age, for cognitive test scores at ages 16 and 18, and for completed education and wages at age 27 to 42. The estimated effect on wages is much larger than any indirect (imputed) estimate of the wage effect, and is large enough to pass a cost-benefit test. |
| Keywords: | Class size; regression discontinuity; cognitive skills; non-cognitive skills; educational attainment; earnings |
| JEL: | C31 I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2012_005&r=lab |
| By: | Ossi Korkeamäki |
| Abstract: | In this paper I evaluate the effects of a regional experiment that reduced payroll taxes by 3?6 percentage points of the firms? wage sum in northern and eastern Finland. I estimate the effect of the payroll tax reduction on firms? employment levels, wage sum and profits, and on workers? hourly pay and monthly hours worked, by comparing the changes in employment and wages before and after the start of the experiment to a control region. My results indicate that the reduction in payroll taxes did not lead to any unequivocal aggregate effects in the target region. |
| Keywords: | Payroll-tax, labour demand, tax incidence |
| JEL: | J18 J58 J38 J68 J23 J65 |
| Date: | 2011–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:22&r=lab |
| By: | Brixiova, Zuzana (United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Swaziland); Égert, Balázs (OECD) |
| Abstract: | The unemployment rate in Estonia rose sharply in 2010 to one of the highest levels in the EU, after the country entered a severe recession in 2008. While the rate declined relatively rapidly in 2011, it remained high especially for the less educated. In 2009, the Employment Contract Law relaxed employment protection legislation and sought to raise income protection of the unemployed to facilitate transition from less to more productive jobs while mitigating social costs. Utilizing a search model, this paper shows that increasing further labour market flexibility through reducing the tax wedge on labour would facilitate the structural transformation and reduce the long-term unemployment rate. Linking increases in unemployment benefits to participation in job search or training programmes would improve the unemployed workers' incentives to search for jobs or retrain and the medium term labour market outcomes. Social protection schemes for the unemployed should be also strengthened as initially intended to give the unemployed sufficient time to search for adequate jobs or retrain for new opportunities. |
| Keywords: | labour market reforms, search model, Estonia, OECD countries |
| JEL: | J08 J64 E24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6336&r=lab |
| By: | Jean-Olivier Hairault (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor); François Langot (IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor, GAINS-TEPP - Université du Mans, CEPREMAP - Centre pour la recherche économique et ses applications); Sébastien Ménard (GAINS - Université du Maine); Thepthida Sopraseuth (CEPREMAP - Centre pour la recherche économique et ses applications, GAINS-TEPP - Université du Maine) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the optimal unemployment insurance for older workers in a repeated principal-agent model, where the search intensity of risk-averse workers (the agents) is not observed by the risk-neutral insurance agency (the principal). When unemployment benefits are the only available tool, the insurance agency is not able to induce older workers to search for a job. This is because of the short time-horizon of workers close to retirement. We propose to introduce a pension tax dependent on the length of the unemployment spell. We show that this device performs better than a wage tax after re-employment. First, it makes jobs more attractive, as they are free of tax. Second, because re-employment will be short-lived, a pension tax is a more powerful incentive than a wage tax, and provides more substantial fiscal gains to the agency. Finally, a pension tax allows those workers near retirement who still do not exercise job search to smooth their consumption during their unemployment spell, as if they could borrow against their future pension. |
| Date: | 2012–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00668989&r=lab |
| By: | Lasse Steiner; Lucian Schneider |
| Abstract: | The artistic labor market is marked by several adversities, such as low wages, above-average unemployment, and constrained underemployment. Nevertheless, it attracts many young people. The number of students exceeds the available jobs by far. A potential explanation for this puzzle is that artistic work might result in exceptionally high job satisfaction, a conjecture that has been mentioned at various times in the literature. We conduct the first direct empirical investigation of artists’ job satisfaction. The analysis is based on panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP). Artists on average are found to be considerably more satisfied with their work than non-artists, a finding that corroborates the conjectures in the literature. Differences in income, working hours, and personality cannot account for the observed difference in job satisfaction. Partially, but not fully, the higher job satisfaction can be attributed to the higher self-employment rate among artists. Suggestive evidence is found that superior “procedural” characteristics of artistic work, such as increased variety and on-the-job learning, contribute to the difference in job satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, artists, work-preference, cultural economics |
| JEL: | Z10 J24 J28 J31 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp430&r=lab |
| By: | Owen Haaga; Richard W. Johnson |
| Abstract: | This study examines Social Security claiming behavior, which has important implications for older Americans and for the system itself. Retireees may begin collecting benefits as early as age 62, but early claimants receive lower monthly benefits for the rest of their lives. Our data come from Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) files from 1984 to 2009 linked to administrative records on earning and benefits. The sample is restricted to respondents with 40 quarters of covered employment who did not claim benefits before age 62. Results indicate that early claiming has declind over the past decade after increasing over the previous ten years. For men, the share claiming at age 62 fell from 55.3 percent in the 1930 - 34 birth cohort to 46.4 percent in the 1940 - 44 cohort. Over the same period, the share of women claiming at 62 fell from 59.3 to 49.0 percent. The recent trend toward delayed claiming is evident among all educational groups, not just college graduates. Hazard models show that high unemployment boosts Social Security claiming among men with limited education. A 1 percent point increase in the state unemployment rate is associated with a 0.4 percentage point increase in the likelihood each month that men who never attended college will claim benefits, a relative increase of 6 percent, This estimate implies that the Great Recession increased claiming for men with limited education by about 40 percent. Claiming behavior among women and well-educated men is not significantly correlated with the state unemployment rate, however. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2012-5&r=lab |
| By: | Carol A. Scotese (Department of Economics, VCU School of Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the relationship between occupation attributes and changes in wage inequality finding partial support for the computerization hypothesis. While wages associated with non-routine cognitive tasks have risen; current versions of the hypothesis cannot explain the pattern of within occupation wage changes, the differential impact of various types of non-routine cognitive tasks and the declining return to tasks that complement machines. Despite significant employment shifts, occupational composition alone matters little for changes in wage inequality. Changes in wage dispersion within occupations are quantitatively just as important as wage changes between occupations for explaining wage inequality between 1980 and 2000. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, computerization, skill, tasks |
| JEL: | J31 E24 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vcu:wpaper:1201&r=lab |
| By: | Gobillon, Laurent (Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques); Magnac, Thierry (University of Toulouse I); Selod, Harris (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an impact evaluation of the French enterprise zone program which was initiated in 1997 to help unemployed workers find employment by granting a significant wage-tax exemption (about one third of total labor costs) to firms hiring at least 20% of their labor force locally. Drawing from a unique geo-referenced dataset of unemployment spells in the Paris region over an extensive period of time (1993-2003), we are able to measure the direct effect of the program on unemployment duration, distinguishing between short- and medium-term effects. This is done by implementing an original two-stage empirical strategy using individual data in the first stage and aggregate data and conditional linear matching techniques in the second stage. We show that although the enterprise zones program tended to "pick winners", it is likely to be cost-ineffective. It had a small but significant effect on the rate at which unemployed workers find a job (which is increased by a modest 3 percent). This effect is localized and significant only in the short run (i.e. at best during the 3 years that follow the start of the policy). |
| Keywords: | enterprise zone, evaluation of programs, regional policies, unemployment |
| JEL: | C21 J60 J68 R58 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6357&r=lab |
| By: | Krause, Michael U.; Uhlig, Harald |
| Abstract: | Since the so-called Hartz IV reforms around 2005 and during the global crisis of 2008/2009, the German labor market featured mainly declining unemployment rates. We develop a search and matching model with heterogeneous skills to explore the role of structural and cyclical policies for this performance. Calibrating unemployment benefits to approximate legislation before and after the reforms, we find a large reduction in unemployment and its duration, with the transition concluding after about three years. During the crisis, the extended use of short-time labor subsidies that prevent jobs from being destroyed is likely to have prevented strong increases in unemployment. -- |
| Keywords: | German Hartz IV reforms,search and matching,unemployment benefits,labor subsidies |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J64 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp1:201134&r=lab |
| By: | Tuomas Kosonen |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of child-care subsidies on maternal labour supply. In the Finnish child-care system, parents taking care of their children at home receive a relatively generous home-care allowance. I use variation arising from changes in the municipality-specific supplement to this allowance to identify the causal effect of subsidies on the labour force participation of parents. A municipal supplement creates plausibly exogenous variation in subsidies, since the opportunity to take them up depends on municipal-level rules, but not on changes in individual labour supply decisions. Moreover, a supplement policy affects labour supply in a transparent way since the amount of supplement one is eligible for does not depend on income. Robustness checks indicate that the results are not driven by policy endogeneity or residential sorting. I find a large negative effect on the labour force participation and income of mothers. 100 euros higher supplement per month reduces the maternal labour supply by 3 per cent. The estimated effect is larger for higher-educated than for mediumeducated mothers. |
| Keywords: | Labour supply of parents, child care subsidies, participation tax rate |
| JEL: | J13 J22 H20 |
| Date: | 2011–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:23&r=lab |
| By: | Eric Toder; Karen E. Smith |
| Abstract: | Economists frequently assume that employees "pay for" employer-provided fringe benefits, such as contributions to retirement plans, in the form of reduced wages. Because low-income employees receive little tax benefit from saving in qualified retirement plans, however, and may prefer immediate consumption to additional retirement accruals, they may not be willing to accept a one dollar reduction in their wage in return for an additional dollar contributed to their 401(k) plan, while high income workes may be willing to give up more than a dollar in wages to get the tax benefit... |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2011-14&r=lab |
| By: | Klassen, Thomas R. |
| Abstract: | Although contractual mandatory retirement at a specified age has been eliminated, or limited, in many Western nations, the practice remains widespread in other parts of the world. In South Korea (henceforth, Korea) most workers are subject to contractual mandatory retirement, often while still relatively young; that is, in the 50s. Korean retirement policies are deeply rooted in the belief by policy makers, employers and unions that mandatory retirement creates jobs for young workers. In addition, because worker compensation is linked to age, employers argue that the seniority-based wages paid to older workers are excessive. Notwithstanding the opposition to reforming retirement policies, Korea faces a rapidly aging population that will require modifications to existing retirement arrangements. Moreover, greater emphasis on human rights, and efforts to reduce age-based discrimination in employment, will add to the pressures to increase the age of contractual mandatory retirement. |
| Keywords: | Mandatory Retirement, South Korea, Age Discrimination, Population Aging |
| JEL: | J26 J14 J78 |
| Date: | 2012–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2012-6&r=lab |
| By: | Emanuela Ghignoni |
| Abstract: | According to theoretical and empirical evidence young workers are more likely to be overeducated than adult ones, especially in countries where the educational attainments of young people grow quickly and the school-to-work transition is difficult and/or lengthy. Nonetheless, if overeducation were expected to disappear during working life, it would not be a crucial problem. To test the transitory nature/persistence of this phenomenon, firstly, I estimated overeducation using the competences frontier method and, later, I studied the “destination†of different cohorts of workers by applying a pseudo-panel technique to Eurostat data referring to European Mediterranean countries and the Netherlands. |
| Keywords: | overeducation, transitoriness, youth employment, cohort effects, returns to education |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp147&r=lab |
| By: | Gaetano Lisi; Maurizio Pugno |
| Abstract: | A matching model will explain both unemployment and economic growth by considering the underground sector and human capital. Three problems can thus be simultaneously accounted for: (i) the persistence of the underground sector, (ii) the ambiguous relationships between underground employment and unemployment, and (iii) between growth and unemployment. Key assumptions are that entrepreneurial ability is heterogeneous, skill accumulation determines productivity growth, job-seekers choose whether to invest in education. The conclusions are that the least able entrepreneurs, whose number is endogenous, set up underground firms, employ unskilled labour, and do not contribute to growth. If the monitoring rate is sufficiently low, underground employment alleviates unemployment, but the economy grows at lower rates. |
| Keywords: | Matching models, endogenous growth, underground economy, entrepreneurship, unemployment. |
| JEL: | E26 J6 J24 L26 |
| Date: | 2012–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2012_03&r=lab |
| By: | Stephan Klasen (University ot Goettingen / Germany); Thomas Otter; Carlos Villalobos (University of Goettingen / Germany) |
| Abstract: | We examine the drivers of inequality change in Honduras between 1991-2007, trying to understand why inequality increased in Honduras until 2005, while it was falling in most other Latin American countries. Using annual household surveys, we document first rising inequality between 1991-2005, which is followed by falling inequality thereafter. Using an inequality decomposition technique, we show that the rising inequality between 1991 and 2005 was, for the most part, driven by the dispersion of labour incomes in rural areas. We also show that the extraordinary labour earnings disequalization is mainly the result of a widening wage gap between the tradable and non-tradable sectors and occupations, combined with highly segmented labor markets and poor overall educational progress. The underlying determinants of the divergence between tradable and non-tradable sectors were highly overvalued currencies and poor commodity process for Honduras’ agricultural exports. Between 2005 and 2007, however, the inequality reduction was a result of equalizing trends in labour and non-labour incomes. The commodity boom promoting the tradable sector and remittances (in this order) played a significant role here, with government transfers playing a small supporting role. Since the decline in inequality is largely driven by international factors, we cannot be sure whether the decline in inequality will continue. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Decomposition, Education, Wages, Honduras, Migration |
| JEL: | C15 D31 I21 J23 J31 R23 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:iaidps:215&r=lab |
| By: | Uschi Backes-Gellner (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Simone Balestra (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Using Swiss Labor Force Survey data from 1996 to 2009, the authors estimate the earning losses of workers experiencing an involuntary job loss. Two empirical strategies are followed: the standard approach of the earning losses literature and a new method that allows to consider the full set of involuntary separations, also those individuals with zero earnings because of unemployment. Using the first approach the authors estimate an immediate loss of 11%, and a long-term loss of about 9%. Using the second method the authors estimate an earning loss of 50% in the year of separation and a long-term loss of about 19%. With respect to other reasons for separation, the earning loss pattern is unique for involuntary separations. Analyzing the determinants of an involuntary job loss, the authors find out that education plays a major role against the risk of an involuntary separation and this element has a unique pattern with reference to the other reasons for separation. |
| Keywords: | Involuntary separation, Earning losses, Layoffs |
| JEL: | J63 C23 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0072&r=lab |
| By: | Dechief, Diane; Oreopoulos, Philip |
| Abstract: | In earlier work (Oreopoulos, 2009), thousands of resumes were sent in response to online job postings across Toronto to investigate why Canadian immigrants struggle in the labor market. The findings suggested significant discrimination by name ethnicity and city of experience. This follow-up study focuses more on better understanding exactly why this type of discrimination occurs -- that is, whether this discrimination can be attributed to underlying concerns about worker productivity or simply prejudice, and whether the behaviour is likely conscious or not. We examine callback rates from sending resumes to online job postings across multiple occupations in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Substantial differences in callback rates arise again from simply changing an applicant’s name. Combining all three cities, resumes with English-sounding names are 35 percent more likely to receive callbacks than resumes with Indian or Chinese names, remarkably consistent with earlier findings from Oreopoulos (2009) for Toronto in better economic circumstances. If name-based discrimination arises from language and social skill concerns, we should expect to observe less discrimination when 1) including on the resume other attributes related to these skills, such as language proficiency and active extracurricular activities; 2) looking at occupations that depend less on these skills, like computer programming and data entry and 3); listing a name more likely of an applicant born in Canada, like a Western European name compared to a Indian or Chinese name, In all three cases, we do not find these patterns. We then asked recruiters to explain why they believed name discrimination occurs in the labour market. Overwhelmingly, they responded that employers often treat a name as a signal that an applicant may lack critical language or social skills for the job, which contradicts our conclusions from our quantitative analysis. Taken together, the contrasting findings are consistent with a model of ‘subconscious’ statistical discrimination, where employers justify name and immigrant discrimination based on language skill concerns, but incorrectly overemphasize these concerns without taking into account offsetting characteristics listed on the resume. Pressure to avoid bad hires exacerbates these effects, as does the need to review resumes quickly. Masking names when deciding who to interview, while considering better ways discern foreign language ability may help improve immigrants' chances for labour market success. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Audit Study, Point System |
| JEL: | J70 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2012-8&r=lab |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This issue will show that strong performers do not invest scarce resources in smaller classes, but in higher teachers' salaries. They are neither the countries that spend the most on education, nor are they the wealthiest countries; rather they are the countries that are committed to providing high-quality education to all students in the belief that all students can achieve at high levels. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:13-en&r=lab |
| By: | Vincenzo Carrieri; Edoardo Di Porto; Leandro Elia |
| Abstract: | Social scientists have developed several indicators to address the existence of segregation processes. This paper deals with labor market segregation in risky jobs and suggests a simple indirect way to detect segregation based on battery of statistical tests in a well-established microeconomics setting: the theory of compensating wage differentials. The test is based on matching estimator and the Rosenbaum bounds test and allows us to detect segregation while correcting for the selection bias that affect standard estimates, commonly based on OLS. We apply our test to the Italian labor market and we detect a strong segmentation in risky jobs. According to the theory, workers segregated in risky jobs, earn a lower wage. |
| Keywords: | wage differentials, risky jobs, segregation, propensity score matching, Rosenbaum bounds. |
| JEL: | C14 J31 J28 I19 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp144&r=lab |
| By: | Iftikhar Hussain |
| Abstract: | Ofsted inspections of schools have been a central feature of state education in England for nearly 20 years. Research by Iftikhar Hussain explores the validity of the school ratings that Ofsted produces, the impact of a fail rating on subsequent pupil performance and the extent to which teachers can 'game' the system. |
| Keywords: | education, UK, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:cepdp358&r=lab |
| By: | John Schmitt |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades, high – and, in some countries, rising – rates of low-wage work have emerged as a major political concern. If low-wage jobs act as a stepping stone to higher-paying work, then even a relatively high share of low-wage work may not be a serious social problem. If, however, as appears to be the case in much of the wealthy world, low-wage work is a persistent and recurring state for many workers, then low-wages may contribute to broader income and wealth inequality and constitute a threat to social cohesion. This report draws five lessons on low-wage work from the recent experiences of the United States and other rich economies in the OECD. |
| Keywords: | low-wage, minimum wage, EITC, unions |
| JEL: | J J3 J31 J8 J88 J5 J51 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2012-03&r=lab |
| By: | Amine Ouazad; Lionel Page |
| Abstract: | What is the impact of a pupil's perceptions of how their teachers will treat them on their motivation, efforts and educational achievements? To explore this question, Amine Ouazad and Lionel Page have conducted an experiment in which school children could use pocket money to place small bets on their performance in an exam. |
| Keywords: | education, UK, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:359&r=lab |
| By: | Michele Raitano; Francesco Vona |
| Abstract: | The empirical literature using large international students’ assessments tends to neglect the role of school composition variables in order not to incur in a misidentification of peer effects. However, this could lead to an error of higher logical type since the learning environment crucially depends on peer variables. In this paper, using PISA 2006, we show how peer heterogeneity is a key determinant of students’ attainments. Interestingly, the effect of peer variables differs depending on the country tracking policy: peer heterogeneity reduces efficiency in comprehensive systems whereas it has a non-linear impact in early-tracking ones. In turn, linear peer effects are larger in early-tracking systems. Results remain robust in both student- and school-level regressions and when we add school-level dummies and several controls correlated with the school choice to alleviate the selectivity bias. |
| Keywords: | peer heterogeneity, peer effects, schooling tracking, educational production function. |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp143&r=lab |
| By: | Zucchelli, E.;; Harris, M.;; Zhao, X.; |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a dynamic multinomial choice framework to provide new evidence on the effect of health on labour market transitions among older individuals. We consider retirement as a multi-state process and examine the effects of ill-health and health shocks on mobility between full-time employment, part-time employment, self-employment and inactivity. In order to disentangle the roles of unobserved individual heterogeneity and true state dependence, we estimate dynamic panel multinomial logit models with random effects, assuming a first order Markov process and accounting for the initial conditions problem. We also account for potential measurement error in the self-assessed health status by building a latent health stock model and employing measures of health shocks. Using data from the first nine waves of the (2001 - 2009) Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, we find that both ill-health and health shocks greatly increase the probability of leaving full-time employment towards inactivity. We also find evidence of health-driven part-time and selfemployment paths into inactivity. |
| Keywords: | ill-health; health shocks; labour transitions; dynamic multinomial choice models |
| JEL: | C23 I10 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:12/04&r=lab |
| By: | Di Pietro, Giorgio (University of Westminster) |
| Abstract: | Whilst in the US there is a growing debate about the effectiveness of remedial university courses, this issue is less questioned in the UK. Using a regression discontinuity approach and data from a large School of a post-1992 UK university, we estimate the effect of remediation on student outcomes. We find no evidence that attending a math remedial program improves student performance in the first year. This finding is consistent and complements that of a recent study by Lagerlöf and Seltzer (2009), which is based on data from a pre-1992 UK university. Taken together, these results may call for a review of the remediation policy offered at university level in the UK. |
| Keywords: | regression discontinuity design, remedial mathematics, student performance |
| JEL: | A22 I20 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6358&r=lab |
| By: | Dooley, Martin D.; Payne, A. Abigail; Robb, A. Leslie |
| Abstract: | We use a unique set of linked administrative data sets to explore the determinants of persistence and academic success in university. The explanatory power of high school grades greatly dominates that of other variables such as university program, gender, and neighbourhood and high school characteristics. Indeed, high school and neighbourhood characteristics, such as average standardized test scores for a high school or average neighbourhood income, have weak links with success in university. |
| Keywords: | University Success, High School, Neighbourhood |
| JEL: | I23 |
| Date: | 2012–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2012-7&r=lab |
| By: | Milo Bianchi (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris IX - Paris Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that utility differences between the self-employed and employees increase with financial development. This effect is not explained by increased profits but by an increased value of non-monetary benefits, in particular job independence. We interpret these findings by building a simple occupational choice model in which financial constraints may impede the creation of firms and depress labor demand, thereby pushing some individuals into self-employment for lack of salaried jobs. In this setting, financial development favors a better matching between individual motivation and occupation, thereby increasing entrepreneurial utility despite increasing competition and so reducing profits. |
| Keywords: | Financial development; entrepreneurship; job satisfaction |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00670031&r=lab |
| By: | López Bóo, Florencia (Inter-American Development Bank); Rossi, Martín A. (Universidad de San Andrés); Urzua, Sergio (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: | We provide new evidence on the link between beauty and hiring practices in the labor market. Specifically, we study if people with less attractive faces are less likely to be contacted after submitting a resume. Our empirical strategy is based on an experimental approach. We sent fictitious resumes with pictures of attractive and unattractive faces to real job openings in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We find that attractive people receive 36 percent more responses (callbacks) than unattractive people. Given the experimental design, this difference can be attributed to the exogenous manipulation of facial attractiveness of our fake job applicants. |
| Keywords: | facial attractiveness, callback rates, labor market discrimination |
| JEL: | J71 J78 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6356&r=lab |
| By: | SOLOGON Denisa; O’DONOGHUE Cathal |
| Abstract: | The concerns regarding the economic insecurity stemming from earnings instability and volatility have been gaining momentum in the contemporary political discourse. If earnings instability/volatility is a proxy for risk, for risk-averse individuals, increasing earnings instability/volatility bears substantial welfare costs. Using the European Community Household Panel and the OECD labour market indicators, we explore the cross-national dierences in earnings instability and earnings volatility across 14 European countries in the 1990s and the relationship between earnings instability/volatility, labour market institutions and macroeconomic shocks by means of non-linear least squares. Earnings instability is measured by the variance of transitory earnings, and earnings volatility by the standard deviation of the two-year changes in log earnings. Evaluated for the average country, we nd that the employment protection legislation, the degree of corporatism and the deregulation in the product market are associated with a lower earnings instability and a lower earnings volatility. The institutions are found to shape the distributional eects of macroeconomic shocks on earnings instability and earnings volatility. The institutions which counteract the adverse eects of macroeconomic shocks on both earnings instability and earnings volatility, are a high corporatism, deregulated product markets and generous unemployment benets. The institutions which counteract the adverse effects of macroeconomic shocks only on earnings volatility are the employment protection legislation and low tax-wedges on labour. |
| Keywords: | economic insecurity; earnings instabiloty; labour market institutions; labour market policies and institutions |
| JEL: | C23 D31 J08 J31 J50 J60 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2012-06&r=lab |
| By: | KOISSY KPEIN Sandrine |
| Abstract: | This work uses MVPROBIT model and MICS surveys from rural areas of 8 sub-Saharan African countries to highlight the link between household wealth and child labor. It opposes “wealth paradox” approach of Bhalotra and Heady (2003) to “luxury axiom” approach of Basu and Van (1998). Our analysis is based on the assumption of differences in the wealth’s effect according to the gender and the type of labor. The results suggest that heterogeneity among children (gender) and labor activities leads to heterogeneous rules concerning the link between child labor and household wealth. |
| Keywords: | child labor; schooling; luxury axiom; wealth paradox |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2012-08&r=lab |
| By: | Cristini, Annalisa (University of Bergamo); Origo, Federica (University of Bergamo); Pinoli, Sara (University of Bergamo) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the effect of different degrees of employment protection on absenteeism, paying attention to differences between workers moving from protected jobs to insecure jobs, on the one hand, and workers moving from insecure to secure jobs, on the other hand. Using a large representative sample of Italian workers, we show that workers' reaction in terms of sickness leave is not symmetric: losing protection (bad news) is more effective than gaining it (good news). We claim that this asymmetry is consistent with the behavior of financial markets responding to good and bad news. In our case, workers react in a more prudential way to improvements in their employment status ("wait and see" strategy), while they do immediately adjust to worsening job security by showing off healthy behavior. |
| Keywords: | absenteeism, employment protection, delayed reaction |
| JEL: | J22 J41 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6348&r=lab |
| By: | Dara Lee (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the economic consequences of mandatory school vaccination laws that were passed from the mid-1960s to late-1970s. After the invention of a number of key vaccines, states began to require proof of immunization against certain infectious diseases for children entering school for the first time. I exploit the staggered implementation of the laws across states to identify both the short-run impacts on health and long-term effects on educational attainment. First, I show that the mandatory school vaccination laws were very successful in reducing the incidence rates of the targeted diseases. There is less evidence that mortality rates were affected. Finally, I find sizable and positive effects on educational outcomes as measured by years of schooling and high school completion. The effect on educational attainment is twice as large for non-whites relative to whites. |
| Keywords: | school vaccinations, morbidity, health, educational attainment |
| JEL: | I18 I2 J13 |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:1202&r=lab |
| By: | González de San Román, Ainara (University of the Basque Country); de la Rica, Sara (University of the Basque Country) |
| Abstract: | The existence of gender gaps in test scores has been documented in the relevant literature for a wide range of countries. In particular, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted by the OECD over the past ten years reveals that on average female students underperform (outperform) males in maths (reading) test scores in most of the countries that take part in the evaluation programme. We find that differences in culture and social norms across countries and across regions within the same country are crucial determinants in understanding gender differences in PISA 2009 test scores: girls perform relatively better in both maths and reading in societies where gender equality is enhanced, and the effect varies over the distribution of scores. In addition, we find substantial evidence for the intergenerational transmission of gender role attitudes, especially from mothers to daughters, as the performance of girls – not that of boys, is better in families where the mother works outside home. |
| Keywords: | PISA, test scores, achievement, gender differences, culture, role attitudes, intergenerational transmission |
| JEL: | C14 C33 I21 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6338&r=lab |
| By: | Auriol, Emmanuelle (Toulouse School of Economics); Friebel, Guido (Goethe University Frankfurt); Lammers, Frauke (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | We suggest a parsimonious dynamic agency model in which workers have status concerns. A firm is a promotion hierarchy in which a worker's status depends on past performance. We investigate the optimality of two types of promotion hierarchies: (i) internal labor markets, in which agents have a job guarantee, and (ii) "up-or-out", in which agents are fired when unsuccessful. We show that up-or-out is optimal if success is difficult to achieve. When success is less hard to achieve, an internal labor market is optimal provided the payoffs associated with success are moderate. Otherwise, up-or-out is, again, optimal. These results are in line with observations from academia, law firms, investment banks and top consulting firms. Here, up-or-out dominates, while internal labor markets dominate where work is less demanding or payoffs are more compressed, for instance, because the environment is less competitive. We present some supporting evidence from academia, comparing US with French economics departments. |
| Keywords: | status, promotion hierarchies, incentives, sorting |
| JEL: | J3 M5 L2 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6343&r=lab |
| By: | Elias Dinopoulos (University of Florida, Department of Economics, Gainesville, USA); Wolf-Heimo Grieben (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany); Fuat Sener (Department of Economics, Union College, Schenectady, New York, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper adopts a Neo-Schumpeterian approach to macroeconomics, by proposing a model which includes fully-endogenous growth, involuntary search-based unemployment, and financial frictions. The model analyzes the effects of several recovery policies used by governments to fight unemployment or/and enhance growth. Employment protection legislation reduces growth and unemployment. Policies that reduce the cost of job vacancies decrease unemployment and raise growth. Industrial policies in the form of production subsidies to young small firms, production taxes to adult large firms, and R&D subsidies increase growth and unemployment. Policies that reduce financial frictions accelerate growth but exert an ambiguous effect on unemployment. |
| Keywords: | fully- endogenous growth, Schumpeterian unemployment, financial frictions, recovery policies, vacancy creation |
| JEL: | J63 O31 |
| Date: | 2012–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1203&r=lab |
| By: | Marco de Pinto (University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Trade liberalization is no Pareto-improvement . there are winners (high-skilled) and losers (low-skilled). To compensate the losers the government is assumed to introduce unemployment benefits (UB). These benefits are financed by either a wage tax, a payroll tax, or a profit tax. Using a Melitz -type model of international trade with unionized labour markets and heterogeneous workers we show that: (i) UB .financed by a wage tax reduce aggregate employment but increase welfare measured by per capita output. (ii) UB financed by a payroll tax reduce aggregate employment and welfare. If UB exceeds a well-de.ned threshold, the trade gains will be completely destroyed. (iii) UB financed by a profit tax reduce the unemployment rate of the low-skilled, but also reduces welfare. The threshold for the level of UB, where the trade gains are destroyed by the redistribution scheme, is higher compared to the case of a payroll tax. |
| Keywords: | trade liberalization, heterogeneous firms, trade unions,skill-specific unemployment, unemployment benefits, taxes |
| JEL: | F1 F16 H2 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201210&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Pfeifer (Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany); Joachim Wagner (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This empirical paper documents the relationship between composition of a firm's workforce (with a special focus on age and gender) and its performance (productivity and profitability) for a large representative sample of enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany. We use unique newly available data that for the first time combine information from the statistics of employees covered by social security that is aggregated at the enterprise level and information from enterprise level surveys performed by the Statistical Offices. Our microeconometric analysis confirms previous findings of concave age-productivity profiles, which are consistent with human capital theory, and adds a new finding of a rather negative effect of age on firms' profitability, which is consistent with deferred compensation considerations. Moreover, our analysis reveals for the first time that the ceteris paribus lower level of productivity in firms with a higher share of female employees does not go hand in hand with a lower level of profitability in these firms. If anything, profitability is (slightly) higher in firms with a larger share of female employees. This finding might indicate that lower productivity of women is (over)compensated by lower wage costs for women, which might be driven by general labor market discrimination against women. |
| Keywords: | Ageing, firm performance, gender, productivity, profitability, Germany |
| JEL: | D22 D24 J21 J24 L25 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:232&r=lab |
| By: | Battistin, Erich (University of Padova); De Nadai, Michele (University of Padova); Sianesi, Barbara (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London) |
| Abstract: | We provide a number of contributions of policy, practical and methodological interest to the study of the returns to educational qualifications in the presence of misreporting. First, we provide the first reliable estimates of a highly policy relevant parameter for the UK, namely the return from attaining any academic qualification compared to leaving school at the minimum age without any formal qualification. Second, we provide the academic and policy community with estimates of the accuracy and misclassification patterns of commonly used types of data on educational attainment: administrative files, self-reported information close to the date of completion of the qualification, and recall information ten years after completion. We are in the unique position to assess the temporal patterns of misreporting errors across survey waves, and to decompose misreporting errors into a systematic component linked to individuals' persistent behaviour and into a transitory part reflecting random survey errors. Third, by using the unique nature of our data, we assess how the biases from measurement error and from omitted ability and family background variables interact in the estimation of returns. On the methodological front, we propose a semi-parametric estimation approach based on balancing scores and mixture models, in particular allowing for arbitrarily heterogeneous individual returns. |
| Keywords: | misclassification, mixture models, returns to educational qualifications, treatment effects |
| JEL: | C10 I20 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6337&r=lab |
| By: | Kelly, Elish; McGuinness, Seamus; O'Connell, Philip J. |
| Abstract: | Ireland faces a crisis of mass unemployment. More than 14 per cent of the labour force is unemployed, and long-term unemployment is growing rapidly. Active labour market policies (ALMPs) - consisting of a range of assistance, training and employment programmes to support the unemployed back to work - have been held out as an essential part of the policy response to unemployment. This paper examines a wide range of national and international research on the effectiveness of ALMPs to ask: i) what do ALMPs do for the unemployed?, ii) are some programmes more effective than others? iii) what can we expect ALMPs to achieve in a recession? The paper shows that while research on the impact of active labour market programmes is far from conclusive and faces a number of difficult methodological challenges, it does provide a basis on which to identify the types of programmes that have been found to enhance the employment prospects of their unemployed clients. |
| Keywords: | labour market/Policy |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:ec1&r=lab |
| By: | Chiara Criscuolo; Ralf Martin; Henry G. Overman; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | Business support policies designed to raise productivity and employment are common worldwide, but rigorous micro-econometric evaluation of their causal effects is rare. We exploit multiple changes in the area-specific eligibility criteria for a major program to support manufacturing jobs ("Regional Selective Assistance"). Area eligibility is governed by pan-European state aid rules which change every seven years and we use these rule changes to construct instrumental variables for program participation. We match two decades of UK panel data on the population of firms to all program participants. IV estimates find positive program treatment effect on employment, investment and net entry but not on TFP. OLS underestimates program effects because the policy targets underperforming plants and areas. The treatment effect is confined to smaller firms with no effect for larger firms (e.g. over 150 employees). We also find the policy raises area level manufacturing employment mainly through significantly reducing unemployment. The positive program effect is not due to substitution between plants in the same area or between eligible and ineligible areas nearby. We estimate that "cost per job" of the program was only $6,300 suggesting that in some respects investment subsidies can be cost effective. |
| Keywords: | industrial policy, regional policy, employment, investment, productivity |
| JEL: | H25 L52 L53 O47 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp01113&r=lab |
| By: | Blatter, Marc (University of Bern); Mühlemann, Samuel (University of Bern); Schenker, Samuel (University of Bern); Wolter, Stefan (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how the costs of hiring skilled workers from the external labor market affect a firm's supply of training. Using administrative survey data with detailed information on hiring and training costs for Swiss firms, we find evidence for substantial and increasing marginal hiring costs. However, firms can invest in internal training of unskilled workers and thereby avoid costs for external hiring. Controlling for a firm's training investment, we find that a one standard deviation increase in average external hiring costs increases the number of internal training positions by 0.7 standard deviations. |
| Keywords: | hiring costs, apprenticeship training, firm-sponsored training |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J32 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6344&r=lab |
| By: | Slim Bridji and Matthieu Charpe (ILO, International Labour Organization, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses fiscal policy using a DSGE model with search and matching in the labour market. Fiscal policy is effective mainly via its impact through the labour market. Although public intervention tends to crowd out private consumption, public spending also improves the matching between unemployed workers and job vacancies. The mechanism modelled in this paper shares similarity with Baxter & King (1993) and Leeper et al. (2010). The model produces positive fiscal multipliers on impact and in the short term and consistently reproduces the reaction to a spending shock of the main labour market variables such as wages,employment or labour market tightness. These results are similar with that of Monacelli et al. (2010) except that the transmission channel does not depend on the downward adjustment of the reservation wage of workers. The size of the fiscal multiplier increases with the elasticity of matching to spending and is also negatively related with the steady state spending to GDP ratio in the presence of diminishing marginal returns on spending. For large value of the multiplier, there is a crowding in of consumption and investment. Lastly, this model produces output multipliers larger than 1 in the presence of nominal price rigidities. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy, search, matching |
| JEL: | E24 E32 E62 |
| Date: | 2012–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:giihei:heidwp03-2012&r=lab |
| By: | Latika Chaudhary; Aldo Musacchio; Steven Nafziger; Se Yan |
| Abstract: | Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50 percent of the world’s population in 1910, but remarkably few of their citizens attended any school by the early 20th century. We present new, comparable data on school inputs and outputs for BRIC drawn from contemporary surveys and government documents. Recent studies emphasize the importance of political decentralization, and relatively broad political voice for the early spread of public primary education in developed economies. We identify the former and the lack of the latter to be important in the context of BRIC, but we also outline how other factors such as factor endowments, colonialism, serfdom, and, especially, the characteristics of the political and economic elite help explain the low achievement levels of these four countries and the incredible amount of heterogeneity within each of them. |
| JEL: | I22 I28 N30 O15 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17852&r=lab |
| By: | Giuseppe Croce; Emanuela Ghignoni |
| Abstract: | According to a recent strand of literature this paper highlights the relevance of spatial mobility as an explanatory factor of the individual risk of being overeducated. To investigate the causal link between spatial mobility and overeducation we use individual information about daily home-to-work commuting time and choices to relocate in a different local area to get a job. In our model we also take into account relevant local labour markets features. We use a probit bivariate model to control for selective access to employment, and test the possibility of endogeneity of the decision to migrate. Separate estimations are run for upper-secondary and tertiary graduates. The results sustain the appropriateness of the estimation technique and show a significantly negative impact of the daily commuting time for the former group, as well as, negative impact of the decision to migrate and of the migration distance for the latter one. |
| Keywords: | Overeducation, Spatial flexibility, Local labour markets, Sample selection bias |
| JEL: | J21 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp145&r=lab |
| By: | David Dickinson (Department of Economics - Appalachian State University); Marie-Claire Villeval (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon) |
| Abstract: | An important issue in personnel economics is the design of efficient job allocation rules. Firms often use promotions both to sort workers across jobs and to provide them with incentives. However, the Peter Principle states that employees' output tends to fall after a promotion. Lazear (2004) suggests that self-selection may improve job allocation efficiency while preserving incentive effects. We reproduce this Peter Principle in the laboratory and compare the efficiency of a promotion standard with subjects self-selecting their task. We find no evidence of effort distortion, as predicted by theory. Furthermore, we find that when the Peter Principle is not severe, promotion rules often dominate self-selection efficiency of task assignment. Results are consistent with imperfect appraisal of transitory ability and a lack of strategic behavior. |
| Keywords: | Promotion, Peter Principle, Sorting, Experiment |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00664665&r=lab |
| By: | OECD |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaf:1-en&r=lab |
| By: | Julien Martin; Isabelle Méjean |
| Keywords: | Firm-Level Data, Quality Heterogeneity, Low-Wage Countries’ Competition, Within-product specialization |
| JEL: | F12 F14 A A A |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2012-04&r=lab |
| By: | Becchetti, Leonardo (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit); Pisani, Fabio (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit) |
| Abstract: | We investigate factors affecting happiness on a sample of Italian secondary school students. We find that money matters since family’s house ownership, mortgages and (class) relative wealth significantly affect life satisfaction. Other crucial factors are geographical residence (those living in Milan are significantly less happy), mother’s occupation, trust on family and friendships. Even though we cannot rule out inverse causality and other forms of endogeneity, the characteristics of many of the significant regressors such as family wealth, parental job and geographical residence (not under the decisional power of the student) suggest a direct causality nexus for these factors. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction; secondary school; wealth |
| JEL: | E01 I31 |
| Date: | 2012–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:aiccon:2012_101&r=lab |
| By: | Margarida Chagas Lopes |
| Abstract: | Labor market regulation and its relations with education and training have been performing an historical trajectory which closely intertwined with developments in economic thought. Under the form of human capital theories, neo-classical economics set the bridge between labor market equilibrium and education outputs for decades. The functionalist approach behind that lasting relationship was to be challenged by economic crises and globalization, which imposed the unquestionable supremacy of the demand for skilled work. Likewise, even if only that more strict perspective of education would prevail, which fortunately is not the case, time and hazard came to undertake its denigration on the grounds of a severe loss of regulatory efficiency as globalization was setting up.In this paper we shed light on the increasing role which innovation is called to perform in labor market hetero regulation in the present phase of globalization. Depending on the institutional design throughout which R&D become embedded in nowadays societies, evidence clearly reveals how innovation strategies are to be found so asymmetrically implemented between developed and developing countries, thereby leading to the enlarging divide between the “new North” and “new South” globalization off springs. |
| Keywords: | labor market regulation, education and training, innovation, knowledge, North-South divide, Portugal |
| JEL: | I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:soc:wpaper:wp082011&r=lab |
| By: | Ceyhun Elgin; Tolga Umut Kuzubas |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bou:wpaper:2012/03&r=lab |
| By: | Smyth, Emer; McCoy, Selina |
| Abstract: | Second-level education has a crucial role to play in Ireland's long-term economic prosperity, as well as being intrinsically valuable, allowing young people to develop intellectually, socially and personally. Much of the debate internationally has focused on how countries compare against international benchmarks and indicators like PISA. This paper argues that, while we can potentially learn from what other systems have 'got right', it is important that we do not fall into the trap of engaging in 'policy borrowing'. Furthermore we now have a rich evidence base in Ireland on 'what works' in terms of school organisation and process. The paper reviews this evidence in a number of key areas: ability grouping, school climate, teaching and learning methods, and curriculum and assessment. The discussion reviews how these aspects of school policy and practice can make a substantive impact on student outcomes and act as 'drivers' of improvement, often requiring relatively modest levels of expenditure. |
| Keywords: | education/Policy/policy development/Ireland |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:ec5&r=lab |
| By: | Irina Sinitsina |
| Abstract: | The global economic crisis has created new challenges for education systems all over the world. The Former Soviet Union countries were confronted with an urgent issue, not necessarily specifically related to the crisis: to formulate and introduce new educational curricula, standards, and delivery models in order to adjust to the challenges imposed by the transition to the post-industrial stage of development. Irina Sinitsina summarised her chapter in the CASE Network Report No. 100 "The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Education Services in Economies of the Former Soviet Union" in this E-brief. Using the available data, she comes to the conclusion that during the crisis, the education system of FSU countries were not dramatically affected by overall budget cuts. |
| Keywords: | Economic crisis, Labor market, social policy and social services, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, education, FSU |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:ebrief:1204&r=lab |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Christos Genakos; Raffaella Sadun; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | For the last decade we have been using double-blind survey techniques and randomized sampling to construct management data on over 10,000 organizations across twenty countries. On average, we find that in manufacturing American, Japanese, and German firms are the best managed. Firms in developing countries, such as Brazil, China and India tend to be poorly managed. American retail firms and hospitals are also well managed by international standards, although American schools are worse managed than those in several other developed countries. We also find substantial variation in management practices across organizations in every country and every sector, mirroring the heterogeneity in the spread of performance in these sectors. One factor linked to this variation is ownership. Government, family, and founder owned firms are usually poorly managed, while multinational, dispersed shareholder and private-equity owned firms are typically well managed. Stronger product market competition and higher worker skills are associated with better management practices. Less regulated labor markets are associated with improvements in incentive management practices such as performance based promotion. |
| JEL: | M1 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17850&r=lab |
| By: | Neher, Frank |
| Abstract: | Gender, income, education and self-employment are robust predictors for individual support for redistribution in the OECD. In addition, considerations of social status, the fairness of the allocation mechanism, perceived moral worth of the poor and individual autonomy are important. The results for the OECD are compared to those for a large sample of non-OECD countries which also include less developed economies. Neither gender, nor self-employment, nor fairness considerations exhibit a robust association with preferences for redistribution. However, education, income, individual autonomy and moral worth of the poor remain important determinants. On average, preferences for redistribution indicate that within the OECD, there is no desire to change redistributive policies. In contrast, in the sample of non-OECD countries, on average there is a desire to redistribute less. -- |
| Keywords: | preferences for redistribution,social rivalry effect,social identity,survey data,World Values Survey |
| JEL: | D0 H3 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:20122&r=lab |
| By: | Simon Breakspear |
| Abstract: | Little research has been done into how the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) affect national educational reform and policy-making. This paper examines the normative impact of PISA by investigating how, and the extent to which , national policy actors use PISA in policies and practices, to evaluate and improve school-system performance. Drawing on the results of a survey of country practices, the study shows that PISA has become accepted as a reliable instrument for benchmarking student performance worldwide, and that PISA results have had an influence on policy reform in the majority of participating countries/economies.<BR>À ce jour, rares sont les recherches ciblant l’impact des résultats de l’enquête PISA (Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des élèves) sur les réformes et l’action publique dans les pays. Le présent document examine l’impact normatif du PISA en cherchant à déterminer comment et dans quelle mesure les acteurs politiques des pays utilisent le PISA dans l’établissement de politiques et pratiques, afin d’évaluer et d’améliorer les performances de leur système d’éducation. À partir des résultats d’une enquête sur les pratiques des pays, cet étude montre que le PISA est aujourd’hui communément accepté en tant qu’instrument fiable pour évaluer la performance des élèves dans le monde entier et que les résultats au PISA exercent une influence réelle sur les réformes politiques dans la majorité des pays et économies participants. |
| Date: | 2012–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:71-en&r=lab |
| By: | Nies, Kathrin (Maastricht University) |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:maastr:urn:nbn:nl:ui:27-25335&r=lab |
| By: | Kumagai, Narimasa |
| Abstract: | Background: Half of Japanese workers are physically inactive, but there are no studies on the relation between the leisure-time physical inactivity of Japanese workers and their socioeconomic status. The proportion of female workers who are physically inactive has been larger than that of male workers. Objectives: Using micro-data from nationwide surveys in Japan, this study explored the gender differences in socioeconomic determinants of leisure-time physical inactivity. Methods: We first estimated two-stage probit least squares models to examine whether simultaneous relationships between physical inactivity and working hours existed. Second, endogenous switching models were estimated to analyze whether physical inactivity depended on poor health status. We took into account the existence of unobserved factors affecting poor health status and physical inactivity. Results: The results of two-stage probit least squares estimation did not confirm simultaneous relationships between physical inactivity and working hours. The estimation results of the endogenous switching models showed that working hours had a positive effect on poor health status, and poor health status had a positive effect on physical inactivity. Physical inactivity was strongly associated with low educational attainment and marital status. For male workers, income had a negative effect on physical inactivity at the 5 percent significance level. In contrast, female income had no effect on physical inactivity. Conclusions: There are gender differences in the association of income and physical inactivity among Japanese workers. Workers in poorer health were likely to be physically inactive. To reduce chronic diseases due to physical inactivity, more attention should be paid to the influence of income reduction on poor health in males. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:cisdps:535&r=lab |
| By: | Valentina Conti (Faculty of Economics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Joanna Kopinska (Faculty of Economics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | This paper studies intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities from parents to children. We create a measure of parental cognitive evolution across time, which combines cognitive tests scores obtained at the age of 16 with the ones at the age of 50. We are thus able to identify cognitive aging patterns and assess their impact in the intergenerational perspective. The British National Child Development Study (NCDS) allows us to investigate the effect of parental cognition on two distinct offspring's outcomes: cognitive abilities and educational attainment. Our analysis provides novel results concerning the role of parental cognitive transition during adult life. We find that children benefit not only from the stock of cognitive abilities their mothers and fathers hold as adolescents, but also from cognitive evolution their parents achieve as adults. This outcome is significant and robust under various model specifications. Finally, we investigate the determinants of parental cognitive transition. We find that cognitive aging is attenuated for individuals who undergo multiple job variations, follow on-the-job trainings and engage in leisure activities. This analysis delivers new evidence on the role of policy interventions aimed at fostering cognitive function during adult life, which aside from improving individual outcomes, has positive externalities for the subsequent generations. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, cognitive ability |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:219&r=lab |
| By: | Brewer, Mike; Browne, James; Chowdry, Haroon; Crawford, Claire |
| Abstract: | Conventional in-work benefits (IWB) are means-tested, open to all workers with sufficiently low income, and usually paid without a time-limit. This paper evaluates an IWB with an alternative design that was aimed at lone parents in the UK and piloted in one third of the country, and that featured a time-limit, and was paid conditional on previous receipt of welfare. It increased flows off welfare and into work, and these positive effects did not diminish when recipients reached the 12 month time-limit for receiving the supplement. Job retention of recipients was good, but this cannot be attributed to the IWB. |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2012-04&r=lab |
| By: | Kotsadam, Andreas (Dept of Economics, University of Oslo); Nerman, Måns (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of gender quotas in national elections on political participation, public policy, and corruption in Latin America. We are able to replicate the findings from previous research that women in politics do affect these outcomes, but only when we treat the number of women in parliament as exogenous. We argue, however, that the introduction of gender quotas caused an – in this context – exogenous increase in women’s representation, and while we find that quotas in Latin America increased the number of women in parliament, we find no substantial effects beyond mere representation. The mechanisms for these findings are scrutinized, and we find no indications that quota women are more marginalized than other elected women in Latin American parliaments. Hence, increasing women’s representation by means of gender quotas may not result in the same outcomes as an increased representation in non-quota elections.<p> |
| Keywords: | gender quotas; Latin America; women in parliament |
| JEL: | D72 H50 Z10 |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0528&r=lab |
| By: | Thomas Liebig; Sebastian Kohls; Karolin Krause |
| Abstract: | Switzerland is among the OECD countries with the largest immigrant populations – 27% of the working-age population are foreign-born – and the issue of immigration is high on both the policy agenda and in the public debate. Given the numerous debates around this issue in Switzerland, one could be tempted to think that immigrants are less well integrated than in other countries... |
| JEL: | J13 J15 J21 J24 J61 J7 J8 |
| Date: | 2012–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:128-en&r=lab |
| By: | Olli Ropponen |
| Abstract: | This note adds to the discussion originating from David Card and Alan B. Krueger (1994; CK) and David Neumark and William Wascher (2000; NW). It re-evaluates their results by using the semiparametric difference-in-differences estimator introduced by Alberto Abadie (2005). The re-evaluation suggests that the original results on the average employment effect in CK and NW are fairly robust, although the NW results are slightly diluted when taking into account the differences in the distributions of the observed covariates. |
| Keywords: | Employment, minimum wage, nonlinear treatment effect models |
| JEL: | J38 J23 C21 |
| Date: | 2011–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:25&r=lab |
| By: | Alcalde, José (Department of Quantitative Methods and Economic Theory); Subiza, Begoña (Department of Quantitative Methods and Economic Theory) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a reform for school allocation procedures in order to help integration policies reach their objective. For this purpose, we suggest the use of a natural two-step mechanism. The (equitable) first step is introduced as an adaptation of the deferred-acceptance algorithm designed by Gale and Shapley (1962), when students are divided into two groups. The (efficient) second step captures the idea of exchanging places inherent to Gale’s Top Trading Cycle. This latter step could be useful for Municipal School Boards when implementing some integration policies. |
| Keywords: | Integration Policy; School Allocation; Affirmative Action |
| JEL: | C72 I28 J18 |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:qmetal:2012_003&r=lab |
| By: | Nakamura, R.; |
| Abstract: | Prevalence of overweight among children is at the top of health policy agenda in many developed countries. We study the causal effect of mothers' schooling on children's body weight. We exploit the 1972 schooling reform in England and Wales, which raised the minimum school leaving age from Fifteen to sixteen. Our regression-discontinuity estimates use Health Survey for England (1998-2002) and show that the extra year of schooling for mothers induced by the reform significantly reduces their son's weight. There is only insignificant negative effect for daughters. Additionally, we do not find that mothers' schooling improves children's health behaviour (fruit and vegetable consumption; exercising). |
| Keywords: | Overweight children; Schooling; Regression-discontinuity; |
| JEL: | I12 I20 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:12/02&r=lab |
| By: | Nguyen, Cuong |
| Abstract: | It is often argued that minimum wage increases can lead to increased inflation. This paper examines the impact of minimum wage increases on inflation in Vietnam during the 1994-2008 period. Inflation is measured by a monthly overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) and a monthly food CPI. It is found that the minimum wage increases did not increase inflation. Since the minimum wage increases often took place one or two months before the Vietnamese New Year festivals, observed increases in monthly inflation after the minimum wage increases were caused by increased consumption demand during the New Year festivals, not by the minimum wage increases. |
| Keywords: | Minimum wages; inflation; CPI; Vietnam |
| JEL: | E31 J38 J21 J23 |
| Date: | 2011–03–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36750&r=lab |
| By: | Denis Cogneau; Alexander Moradi |
| Abstract: | When European powers partitioned Africa, individuals of otherwise homogeneous communities were divided and found themselves randomly assigned to one coloniser. This provides for a natural experiment: applying a border discontinuity analysis to Ghana and Togo, we test what impact coloniser’s policies really made. Using a new data set of men recruited to the Ghana colonial army 1908-1955, we find literacy and religious beliefs to diverge between British and French mandated part of Togoland as early as in the 1920s. We attribute this to the different policies towards missionary schools. The British administration pursued a ”grant-in-aid” policy of missionary schools, whereas the French restricted missionary activities. The divergence is only visible in the Southern part. In the North, as well as at the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso (former French Upper Volta), educational and evangelization efforts were weak on both sides and hence, did not produce any marked differences. Using contemporary survey data we find that border effects originated at colonial times still persist today. |
| Keywords: | Economic History, Africa, Colonization, Education |
| JEL: | O12 R12 P52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2011-21&r=lab |
| By: | Giovanni Andrea Cornia (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche) |
| Abstract: | The paper reviews the steady and widespread decline in income inequality which has taken place in most of Latin America over 2002-10 and which––if continued for another 2-3 years––would reduce the average regional income inequality to pre-liberalization levels. The paper then focuses on the factors, which may explain such inequality decline. A review of the literature and an econometric test indicate that a few complementary factors played an important role in this regard, including a drop in the skill premium following a rapid expansion of secondary education, and the adoption of a new development model by a growing number of left-of-centre governments which emphasizes fiscally-prudent but more equitable macroeconomic, tax, social expenditure and labour policies. For the region as a whole, improvements in terms of trade, migrant remittances, FDI and world growth played a less important role than expected although their impact was perceptible in countries where such transactions were sizeable. |
| Keywords: | income inequality, human capital inequality, policy regimes, external conditions, Latin America |
| JEL: | D31 E6 H53 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2012_02.rdf&r=lab |
| By: | d'Artis Kancs; Pavel Ciaian |
| Abstract: | Recently, the EU Council adopted a new labour migration policy instrument - the EU Blue Cards (BC) - for attracting the highly skilled workers to the EU. The present paper examines the potential impacts, which BC may cause on less developed sending countries (LDC). Our results suggest that the EU BC will reduce human capital in LDC. In addition, BC will also have a negative impact on knowledge capital. These findings suggest that without appropriate policy responses, BC makes developing country growth prospects rather bleak than blue. Therefore, we propose and analyse alternative migration policy instruments for LDC. We find that policies implemented on the demand side of the skilled labour market are the most efficient. In contrast, policies that address the supply side of the skilled labour market are the least efficient, though they might be less costly to implement. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge capital, human capital, high-skill migration, innovative capital, economic growth. |
| JEL: | F02 F22 J24 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2011–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2011_21&r=lab |
| By: | d'Artis Kancs |
| Abstract: | The paper studies the impact of migration policy liberalisation on international labour migration in the enlarged EU in a structural NEG approach. The liberalisation of migration policy would induce additional 1.80 - 2.98 percent of the total EU workforce to change their country of location, with most of migrant workers relocating from the East to the West. The average net migration rate is decreasing in the level of integration, suggesting that from the economic point of view no regulatory policy responses are necessary to labour migration in the enlarged EU. |
| Keywords: | Labour Migration, Economic Integration, Economic Geography, Market Access. |
| JEL: | F12 F14 F16 J21 J61 L11 |
| Date: | 2011–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2011_22&r=lab |
| By: | Brice Corgnet (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Ismael Rodriguez-Lara (Dpto. Analisis Economico, Universidad de Valencia, ERICES) |
| Abstract: | We develop a principal-agent model with a moral hazard problem in which the principal has access to a hard signal (the level of output) and a soft signal (the supervision signal) about the agent?s level of effort. We show that the agent?'s ability to manipulate the soft signal increases the cost of implementing the effcient equilibrium, leading to wage compression when the infl?uence cost is privately incurred by the agent. When manipulation activities negatively affect the agent?s productivity through the level of output, the design of infl?uence-free contracts that deter manipulation may lead to high-powered incentives. This result implies that high-productivity workers face incentive schemes that are more sensitive to hard evidence than those faced by their low-productivity counterparts. In that context, the principal will tolerate infl?uence for low-productivity workers but not for high-productivity workers. We also fi?nd that in the case of productivity-based costs, it may be optimal for the principal not to supervise the agent, even if supervision is costless. |
| Keywords: | principal-agent model with supervision, contract design, in?uence activities, manipulation, productivity-based in?uence costs, power of incentives |
| JEL: | D23 D82 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:12-02&r=lab |
| By: | Ahmet Ozkardas (Turgut Özal Üniversitesi et Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Agnieszka Rusinowska (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present a non-cooperative wage bargaining model in which preferences of both parties, a union and a firm, are expressed by sequences of discount factors varying in time. We determine subgame perfect equilibria for three cases when the strike decision of the union is exogenous : the case when the union is supposed to go on strike in each period in which there is a disagreement, the case when the union is committed to go on strike only when its own offer is rejected, and the case when the union is supposed to go never on strike. |
| Keywords: | Union, firm bargaining, strike, alternating offers, varying discount rates, subgame perfect equilibrium. |
| JEL: | J52 C78 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12013&r=lab |
| By: | Luca Barbone |
| Abstract: | Funded, compulsory pension funds are under attack in Europe and beyond. But are recent policy actions likely to improve the lot of future pensioners, or will they turn out to be short-term politically-motivated fixes that ultimately make life harder? |
| Keywords: | Private Pension |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:ebrief:1105&r=lab |
| By: | Codrina Rada |
| Keywords: | E24; E12; G23; H55; JEL Classification: This paper compares fully-funded (FF) and pay-as-you-go (paygo) pension plans in a Keynesian framework for an economy with overlapping generations and excess capacity. The model addresses both short/mediumrun equilibria and steady-states. Income distribution and class con ict, two crucial aspects of the political economy of pensions, become multidimensional. In a fully-funded economy class con ict between capitalists and labor gets diused in the short-run by retirees' own interest to maintain a high prot share. In the long-run capitalists recognize that they can control their (net) share of prots by controlling employment and therefore the number of future retirees through capital accumulation. An extension of the model can show that scal policy is not always helpful in a fully-funded economy. A pay-as-you-go economy maintains a closer resemblance to the classical story of class con ict over income distribution. This is because workers and retirees have their interests aligned with the wage share. In this case scal policy through spending can be eective without creating a debt problem. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uta:papers:2012_02&r=lab |
| By: | Nina Pološki Vokić |
| Abstract: | The paper explores the relationship between the way organizations measure HRM and overall quality of HRM activities, as well as the relationship between HRM metrics used and financial performance of an organization. In the theoretical part of the paper modalities of HRM metrics are grouped into five groups (evaluating HRM using accounting principles, evaluating HRM using management techniques, evaluating individual HRM activities, aggregate evaluation of HRM, and evaluating HRM department). In the empirical part of the paper researched concepts are assessed through questionnaires distributed to Croatian organizations with more than 500 employees. Respondents (HRM managers) provided information about HRM metrics their organizations use, overall quality of HRM practice, and financial performance of their organizations. Based on the acquired data, relationships between modality of HRM metrics, quality of HRM and organizational performance are explored. |
| Keywords: | HRM metrics, HRM evaluation, HRM quality, organizational performance, Croatia |
| JEL: | M12 M5 |
| Date: | 2011–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zag:wpaper:1109&r=lab |