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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Laudeline Auriol; Max Misu; Rebecca Ann Freeman |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis of the labour market and mobility indicators generated by the second large-scale data collection on Careers of Doctorate Holders, a joint project by the OECD, UNESCO Institute for Statistics and Eurostat.<P> There has been a steady increase in the number of doctoral degrees being awarded across the OECD and the evidence points to a sustained labour market premium of doctorate holders relative to other highly qualified individuals in 2009, prior to the potential impact of the economic crisis. Women and younger doctoral graduates, however, fare relatively worse in terms of employment rates, but these results are less marked than for lower degree holders. While temporary positions are increasingly common in academics, coinciding with the rise of postdoctoral positions, they are less so in business. Natural scientists and engineers are those who are more likely to be engaged in research, while social scientists find more opportunities in non-research occupations. Doctorate holders in the medical and health sciences are generally better paid. Earnings are also typically higher in the business sector than in other sectors, but there are exceptions. Job mobility patterns differ markedly across countries, with mobility being more frequent among doctorates not working in research. Oftentimes mobility from the business sector to the higher education sector is higher than the other way around. International mobility, as well as migration of doctoral graduates, have kept increasing over the decade. |
| Date: | 2013–06–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2013/4-en&r=lab |
| By: | Artuc, Erhan; Lederman, Daniel; Porto, Guido |
| Abstract: | Estimates of labor mobility costs are needed to assess the responses of employment and wages to trade shocks when factor adjustment is costly. Available methods to estimate those costs rely on panel data, which are seldom available in developing countries. The authors propose a method to estimate mobility costs using readily obtainable data worldwide. The estimator matches the changes in observed sectoral employment allocations with the predicted allocations from a model of costly labor adjustment. This paper estimates a world map of labor mobility costs and uses those estimates to explore the response of labor markets to trade policy. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Work&Working Conditions,Labor Management and Relations |
| Date: | 2013–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6556&r=lab |
| By: | Camacho, Adriana; Conover, Emily; Hoyos, Alejandro |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether the Colombian government's expansion of social programs in the early 1990s, particularly the publicly provided health insurance, discouraged formal employment. Using household survey data and variation across municipalities in the onset of interviews for the SISBEN, the instrument used to identify beneficiaries for public health insurance, it shows robust and consistent estimates of an increase in informal employment of approximately 4 percentage points. Similar results are obtained using an alternative dataset, consisting of a panel of individuals interviewed for the first and second SISBEN. The findings suggest that marginal individuals optimized when deciding whether to participate in the formal sector. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Markets,Health Systems Development&Reform,Labor Policies,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2013–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6564&r=lab |
| By: | Jan Kleibrink |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of educational mismatch on wages in Germany, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Educational mismatch has been discussed extensively, mostly by applying OLS wage regressions which are prone to an unobserved heterogeneity bias. This problem is approached by using FE and IV models. As a stability check, the regressions are rerun using data from the International Adult Literacy Survey, allowing for an explicit control of skills as proxy of abilities. Results show that unobserved heterogeneity does not explain the wage diff erences between actual years of education and years of required education. This rejects the hypothesis that mismatched workers compensate for heterogeneity in innate abilities. The results suggest a structural problem in the German educational system as skill demand and supply are not in long-term equilibrium. |
| Keywords: | Wages, educational mismatch |
| JEL: | I14 I21 J31 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp571&r=lab |
| By: | Stefania Albanesi (Federal Reserve Bank of New York and CEPR); Aysegul Sahin (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | The unemployment gender gap, defined as the difference between female and male unemployment rates, was positive until 1980. This gap virtually disappeared after 1980, except during recessions when men's unemployment rate always exceeds women's. We study the evolution of these gender differences in unemployment from a long-run perspective and over the business cycle. Using a calibrated three-state search model of the labor market, we show that the rise in female labor force attachment and the decline in male attachment can mostly account for the closing of the gender unemployment gap. Evidence from nineteen OECD countries also supports the notion that convergence in attachment is associated with a decline in the gender unemployment gap. At the cyclical frequency, we find that gender differences in industry composition are important in recessions, especially the most recent, but they do not explain gender differences in employment growth during recoveries. |
| Keywords: | Gender unemployment gap, labor market attachment |
| JEL: | E24 J64 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2013-004&r=lab |
| By: | Manuel Flores (University of Santiago de Compostela, IDEGA); Adriaan Kalwij (Utrech University School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper adds to the empirical literature on health as an important determinant of employment at older ages by exploring the role in the health-employment nexus of the wage rates of 50 to 64-year-old workers. To do so, we use individual-level panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to estimate a system of equations for health, wages and employment. Our model also takes into account both the potential for measurement error in the health variable and selectivity issues related to the wage equation. We find that for men (women) a one-unit (one standard deviation) increase in health yields, on average, a 7 (8) percentage higher hourly wage rate, resulting in a 2 (4) percentage point higher employment probability. We also show a direct impact of health on employment: a similar increase in health raises the employment probability of men (women) by 16 (13) percentage points. As regards differences between European countries, our findings suggest that for all country groups, the mediating role of wages in the health-employment nexus is relatively small while the direct impact of health on employment is relatively large and rather similar. Overall, our findings indicate only a minor role for disability income policies likes wage subsidies to encourage the employment of (older) workers with health limitations, but an instrumental role for policy aimed at helping employers accommodate these workers on the job and keep them employed at older ages. |
| Keywords: | Health, wages, employment |
| JEL: | D00 I10 J14 J20 J30 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edg:anecon:0054&r=lab |
| By: | Huber, Martin (University of St. Gallen); Lechner, Michael (University of St. Gallen); Wunsch, Conny (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the impact of firms introducing part-time work schemes for gradual labour market exit of elderly workers on their employees' labour market outcomes. The analysis is based on unique linked employer-employee data that combine high-quality survey and administrative data. Our results suggest that partial or gradual retirement options offered by firms are an important tool to alleviate the negative effects of low labour market attachment of elderly workers in ageing societies. When combined with financial incentives to hire unemployed or young jobseekers as replacement, they seem to be particularly beneficial, especially when labour market conditions are difficult. Under such circumstances, they can even have positive spill-over effects on younger workers. Firms should thus be encouraged to offer such schemes. |
| Keywords: | part-time work, elderly employees, treatment effects, matching |
| JEL: | J14 J26 C21 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7513&r=lab |
| By: | Jose I. Silva (University Of Kent); Judit Vall-Castello (Universitat de Girona) |
| Abstract: | Although partially disabled individuals in Spain are allowed to combine the receipt of disability benefits with a job, the empirical evidence shows that employment rates for this group of individuals are very low. Therefore, in this paper we construct labor market model with search intensity and matching frictions in order to identify the incentives and disincentives to work provided by the partial disability system in Spain from the point of view of both disabled individuals and employers. According to the model, the high employment rate gap observed between nondisabled and disabled workers can be partially explained by the presence of a lower level of productivity and higher searching costs among disabled individuals that discourage them from looking for jobs. Moreover, the design of the Spanish Disability System also contributes in explaining this gap. We also analyze the role of business cycle conditions in shaping the labor market transitions of disabled individuals. |
| Keywords: | disability system, job search intensity, flow analysis |
| JEL: | I18 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:13-201&r=lab |
| By: | Regina Flake |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the educational attainment and early labor market outcomes of young migrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who arrived in Germany between 1989 and 1994. The results reveal that migrants have lower educational attainments than natives, and that within the group of migrants, Jewish migrants perform better than ethnic German migrants. A decomposition analysis reveals that this competitive edge can, for the most part, be explained by a higher socioeconomic background. In the labor market, migrants cannot compensate for their educational disadvantage and have poorer labor market outcomes than natives. The results of this study stress the importance of an early educational integration of migrants for a successful labor market integration in the long run. |
| Keywords: | International migration; education; wages; unemployment; intergenerational mobility; integration |
| JEL: | F22 I20 J30 J60 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0425&r=lab |
| By: | Aristovnik, Aleksander; Jaklič, Ksenja |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the study of older workers’ job satisfaction as a factor that, combined with other personal and job-related factors, can significantly influence the decision to postpone retirement when this decision is in the hands of an individual. Starting from the fact that the employment rate of older workers in Slovenia in 2011 was the lowest in the EU, the article aims to establish the level of older workers’ job satisfaction in Slovenia compared to the EU, analyse its dimensions, its specifics related to age, gender, sector of economic activities and type of profession, as well as ascertain what determines it the most. A statistical analysis of the results of the Fifth European Working Conditions Survey of 2010 reveals that Slovenia ranks 15th among the EU member states in terms of older workers’ job satisfaction, thus lagging behind the EU average. While Slovenian older workers, the same as their European counterparts, are most satisfied with doing useful work and the least with their prospects for career advancement, a comparison with other EU member states shows that they are relatively dissatisfied with working conditions, salary and adequacy of the motivation to give one’s best performance, and relatively satisfied with doing useful work and with their colleagues. The analysis also shows that the level of older workers’ job satisfaction in Slovenia is determined most by their satisfaction with the adequacy of the motivation to give one’s best performance. |
| Keywords: | older workers, job satisfaction, employment, labour market participation, EU, Slovenia |
| JEL: | J14 J20 J26 J28 |
| Date: | 2013–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48809&r=lab |
| By: | Antón, José-Ignacio; Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael |
| Abstract: | Using the recent Wage Structure Survey 2010, this article examines the public-private sector wage gaps in Spain across the whole earnings distribution and the incidence of the gender gap in both sectors of the economy. Firstly, we find that that there is positive wage premium to public sector employment which is not fully explained by employees’ observable characteristics. Furthermore, this premium concentrates on low-skilled workers, while high-skilled individuals in the public sector suffer a pay penalty. Secondly, the gender gap is substantially larger in the private sector. Lastly, we analyse what happens in some specific activities, Education and Human health and social work, where both public and private sector coexist to a large extent. We discuss several explanations for these findings, coherent with international evidence, and the possible implications of the current process of downsizing of public sector employment associated to austerity measures. |
| Keywords: | wage gap; public sector; gender gap; quantile regression |
| JEL: | C21 J16 J31 J45 |
| Date: | 2013–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48888&r=lab |
| By: | Ieva Brauksa; Ludmila Fadejeva |
| Abstract: | This research gives an overview of labour market internal and occupational mobility in Latvia comparing periods before, during and after the crisis. It uses both the labour flow analysis and the survival analysis to evaluate labour mobility and to determine factors influencing it. The analysis is based on labour force survey (LFS) longitudinal data for 2005–2011. The paper investigates possible asymmetric responses of the labour market during the extreme period of economic boom and bust, provides detailed information on the aspects of labour market mobility (e.g. changes in the types of labour contract, sector and region of work) and factors determining changes in the status of economic activity (employed or unemployed). We also propose a new way for calculating labour market flows to provide information on quarterly changes. |
| Keywords: | labour flows, labour force survey, labour mobility, occupational mobility, unemployment |
| JEL: | J23 J61 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2013–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ltv:wpaper:201302&r=lab |
| By: | Daniel Pollmann; Thomas Dohmen; Franz Palm |
| Abstract: | We present a semiparametric method to estimate group-level dispersion, which is particularly effective in the presence of censored data. We apply this procedure to obtain measures of occupation-specific wage dispersion using top-coded administrative wage data from the German IAB Employment Sample (IABS). We then relate these robust measures of earnings risk to the risk attitudes of individuals working in these occupations. We find that willingness to take risk is positively correlated with the wage dispersion of an individual’s occupation. |
| Keywords: | dispersion estimation, earnings risk, censoring, quantile regression, occupational choice, sorting, risk preferences, SOEP, IABS |
| JEL: | C14 C21 C24 J24 J31 D01 D81 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp572&r=lab |
| By: | Laurent Gobillon (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole normale supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, INED - Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques Paris - INED); Peter Rupert (University of California, Santa Barbara - University of California, Santa Barbara); Etienne Wasmer (IEP Paris - Sciences Po Paris - Institut d'études politiques de Paris - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris - PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité - Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques [FNSP], LIEPP - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire d'évaluation des politiques publiques - Sciences Po : PARIS) |
| Abstract: | The unemployment rate in France is roughly 6 percentage points higher for African immigrants than for natives. In the US the unemployment rate is approximately 9 percentage points higher for blacks than for whites. Commute time data indicates that minorities face longer commute times to work, potentially reecting more di cult access to jobs. In this paper we investigate the impact of spatial mismatch on the unemployment rate of ethnic groups using the matching model proposed by Rupert and Wasmer (2012). We nd that spatial factors explain from 1 to 1.5 percentage points of the unemployment rate gap in both France and the US, amounting to 17% to 25% of the relative gap in France and about 10% to 17.5% in the US. Among these factors, di erences in commuting distance play the most important role. In France, though, longer commuting distances may be mitigated by higher mobility in the housing market for African workers. Overall, we still conclude that labor market factors remain the main explanation for the higher unemployment rate of Africans. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination ; Ethnic groups ; Local markets ; Matching models |
| Date: | 2013–07–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00849074&r=lab |
| By: | Andreas Kotsadam; Anja Tolonen |
| Abstract: | We use the rapid expansion of the number of mineral mines in Sub-Saharan Africa to explore changes in local labor markets. Matching over two decades of panel data on industrial mines to survey data for half a million women and exploiting the spatial and temporal variation in the data in a difference-in-difference strategy, we find that opening of an industrial mine induces a structural shift whereby women switch from working in agriculture to services. We also find that the probability to earn cash income increases and women become less likely to work seasonally once a mine opens nearby. The results illustrate that mineral mining creates non-agricultural employment opportunities for women despite their absence frm the mining workforce. T|he spillover effects wear off with distance from mine and the effects on service employment are reversed when a mine closes. |
| Keywords: | Mineral mining, female employment, Sub-Saharan Africa, local labor markets, women |
| JEL: | J16 J21 O13 O18 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:114&r=lab |
| By: | Laurent Gobillon (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole normale supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, INED - Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques Paris - INED, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor - IZA); Dominique Meurs (INED - Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques Paris - INED, EconomiX - CNRS : UMR7166 - Université Paris X - Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense); Sébastien Roux (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - INSEE - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique, DARES - Direction de l'animation de la recherche, des études et des statistiques - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a new measure of gender di¤erences in access to jobs based on a job assignment model. This measure is the probability ratio of getting a job for females and males at each rank of the wage ladder. We derive a non-parametric estimator of this access measure and estimate it for French full-time executives aged 40 - 45 in the private sector. Our results show that the gender di¤erence in the probability of getting a job increases along the wage ladder from 9% to 50%. Females thus have a signi.cantly lower access to high-paid jobs than to low-paid jobs. |
| Keywords: | Gender ; Discrimination ; Wages ; Quantiles ; Job assignment model ; Glass ceiling |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00849072&r=lab |
| By: | Karamcheva, Nadia (Urban Institute); Sanzenbacher, Geoffrey (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | In light of the declining pension coverage of low-income workers, policy makers have discussed requiring all employers to offer individual retirement accounts, similar to defined contribution plans. How likely to participate are workers who currently do not have access to a pension plan? We address this question by using plausibly exogenous variation in pension-plan availability to estimate the determinants of participation in a standard selection on unobservables model. We find that currently uncovered low-income workers are fairly likely to participate in a newly offered plan, yet they are much less likely to do so than currently covered workers. |
| Keywords: | private pensions, participation, self-selection, policy effects |
| JEL: | J08 J26 J32 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7518&r=lab |
| By: | García-Morán, Eva; Kuehn, Zoe |
| Abstract: | Grandparents are regular providers of free child care. Similar to other forms of child care, availability of grandparent-provided child care affects fertility and labor force participation of women positively. However, grandparent-provided child care requires residing close to parents or in-laws. While living close can provide access to free child care, it may also imply costly spatial restrictions. We find that mothers residing close to parents or in-laws have lower wages and that the probability of having to commute increases if relatives provide child care. We build a model of residence choice, fertility, and female labor force participation that can account for the relationships between grandparent-provided child care, fertility, and female labor market outcomes. We simulate our model to analyze how women's decisions on residence, fertility, and labor force participation would change if the availability of grandparent-provided child care or family policies were altered. We find that if child care subsidies were raised to the Swedish level, fertility and mothers' labor force participation would increase, while mobility would remain unchanged. The absence of grandparents, on the other hand, would increase mobility, while it would have only limited negative effects on aggregate fertility and labor force participation. |
| Keywords: | grandparent-provided child care, fertility, labor force participation, spatial restrictions, regional labor markets |
| JEL: | H42 J13 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48953&r=lab |
| By: | Vikram Rai |
| Abstract: | This report draws lessons from the Canadian immigration experience that can contribute to improving the labour market outcomes of immigrants and alleviate barriers related to labour market information issues. Foreign-born workers often lack the necessary information to learn about opportunities in the Canadian labour market, which can prevent highly-skilled workers from finding employment in their field, to the detriment of the Canadian economy. We examine the services provided to immigrants in Canada by federal and provincial governments, and the large role played by the non-profit sector in facilitating the delivery of information and services to immigrants in order to lessen the informational barriers to immigrant employment. We further identify best practices from Canada, which include establishing national standards for the recognition of foreign qualification; simplifying the delivery of services by using one-stop shops or single-points-of-contact; involving local stakeholders in the development of policy and delivery of service; and maintaining a flexible immigration policy. Identifying and addressing the specific needs of newcomers to Canada has had a strong positive impact on their labour market outcomes. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sls:resrep:1305&r=lab |
| By: | Evan Capeluck; Andrew Sharpe |
| Abstract: | The objective of this report is to review the prospects for Métis employment in the mining industry brought upon by a looming wave of retirements; to determine potential barriers to Métis employment in the mining industry; and to identify actions and strategies that the Métis National Council (MNC) and Métis Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS) agreement holders should adopt to take advantage of and overcome obstacles to employment opportunities in the mining industry. The Canadian mining industry accounted for somewhere between two and five per cent of nominal GDP in Canada – depending on which definition of the mining industry is used – in 2008. This industry, concentrated in rural and remote locations, represents an important potentialsource of employment for the comparatively large youthful and rural Métis population entering the labour market in the coming decades. The mining industry has unique locational dynamics and hiring practices, a highly productive and experienced but aging work force, and growth prospects that are heavily reliant on global demand. Skilled workers are needed to replace the mining industry’s soon-to-be-retired baby boomers and to replace other workers leaving the industry. The Métis have unique demographic characteristics, which could create competitive advantages for employment in the mining industry; however, they are at risk of being unable to take advantage of the upcoming job openings if they cannot meet the educational requirements for employment in that industry. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sls:resrep:1304&r=lab |