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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Timothy Halliday (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization) |
| Abstract: | We use micro-data to investigate the relationship between unemployment and mortality in the United States using Logistic regression on a sample of over 16,000 individuals. We consider baselines from 1984 to 1993 and investigate mortality up to ten years from the baseline. We show that poor local labor market conditions are associated with higher mortality risk for working-aged men and, specifically, that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate increases their probability of dying within one year of baseline by 6%. There is little to no such relationship for people with weaker labor force attachments such as women or the elderly. Our results contribute to a growing body of work that suggests that poor economic conditions pose health risks and illustrate an important contrast with studies based on aggregate data. |
| JEL: | I0 I12 J1 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2013-14&r=lab |
| By: | Long, Richard J. (University of Saskatchewan); Fang, Tony (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | The conditions under which profit sharing affects workplace productivity have never been fully understood. Using panel data, this paper examines whether there is any link between adoption of an employee profit sharing plan and subsequent productivity growth in Canadian establishments, and whether this relationship is affected by various contextual factors, particularly use of work teams. In so doing, we use both three and five-year panels. Overall, we find a significant link between adoption of a profit sharing program and subsequent productivity growth in both panels, but only among establishments that utilize employee work teams. |
| Keywords: | profit sharing plans, workplace productivity, teamwork, firm-worker linked survey, Canada |
| JEL: | J33 J24 J54 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7869&r=lab |
| By: | Bruno, Bruna; Fiorillo, Damiano |
| Abstract: | The effects of voluntary work on earnings have recently been studied for some developed countries such as Canada, France and Austria. This paper extends this line of research to Italy, using data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) dataset. A double methodological approach is used in order to control for unobserved heterogeneity: Heckman and IV methods are employed to account for unobserved worker heterogeneity and endogeneity bias. Empirical results show that, when the unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account, a wage premium of 2.7 percent emerges, quite small if compared to previous investigations on Canada and Austria. The investigation into the channels of influence of volunteering on wages gives support to the hypotheses that volunteering enables the access to fruitful informal networks, avoids the human capital deterioration and provides a signal for intrinsically motivated individuals. |
| Keywords: | Voluntary work, wages, Mincer equation, selection bias, instrumental variables, Italy |
| JEL: | C31 C36 D64 J31 Z1 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:52989&r=lab |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Miller, Paul W. (Curtin University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a review of the research on the ‘economics of language' as applied to international migration. Its primary focuses are on: (1) the effect of the language skills of an individual on the choice of destination among international (and internal) migrants, both in terms of the ease of obtaining proficiency in the destination language and access to linguistic enclaves, (2) the determinants of destination language proficiency among international migrants, based on a model (the three E's) of Exposure to the destination language in the origin and destination, Efficiency in the acquisition of destination language skills, and Economic incentives for acquiring this proficiency, (3) the consequences for immigrants of acquiring destination language proficiency, with an emphasis on labor market outcomes, and in particular earnings. Factors that are considered include age, education, gender, family structure, costs of migration, linguistic distance, duration in the destination, return migration, and ethnic enclaves, among others. Analyses are reported for the immigrant experiences in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Germany, Israel and Spain. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, language, bilingualism, human capital, earnings |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7880&r=lab |
| By: | Razzolini, Tiziano (University of Siena); Leombruni, Roberto (University of Turin); Mastrobuoni, Giovanni (Collegio Carlo Alberto); Pagliero, Mario (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Despite its policy relevance there is little evidence on the joint evolution of gender differences in wages and workplace safety. Between 1994 and 2002 Italian micro-level data show a decline in both gaps, as well as an increased concentration of injuries among low-skilled female workers. The reduction in the gender wage gap is driven by sorting of workers across sectors and occupations, while the reduction in the gender injury gap and the increased concentration of injuries among low skilled female workers appears to be driven by changes in unobservables characteristics. Moreover, our findings indicate that in 2002 women became more vulnerable to non-employment spells, which seems to be followed by both wage reductions and increased workplace risk for the re-employed low-skilled female workers. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, workplace injury, job amenities, wage differentials |
| JEL: | J16 J28 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7849&r=lab |
| By: | Muravyev, Alexander (St. Petersburg University GSOM and IZA); Oshchepkov, Aleksey (Higher School of Economics, Moscow) |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits labor market effects of the minimum wage by taking advantage of a unique institutional setting and rich data from Russia that cover 89 regions over 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. Our empirical analysis draws on the methodology introduced by Neumark and Wascher, in which labor market outcomes at the regional level are related to the relative minimum wage (captured by the Kaitz index) in a panel setting. We find that the minimum wage raises unemployment among young workers aged 15 to 24. In contrast, there is no evidence of disemployment effects of the minimum wage for workers aged 25-72, including women. In addition, minimum wage hikes are associated with an increase in informal employment. |
| Keywords: | minimum wages, unemployment, informal employment, Russia |
| JEL: | J38 J23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7878&r=lab |
| By: | Fujita, Shigeru (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Moscarini, Giuseppe (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) covering 1990-2011, we document that a surprisingly large number of workers return to their previous employer after a jobless spell and experience more favorable labor market outcomes than job switchers. Over 40% of all workers separating into unemployment regain employment at their previous employer; over a fifth of them are permanently separated workers who did not have any expectation of recall, unlike those on temporary layoff. Recalls are associated with much shorter unemployment duration and better wage changes. Negative duration dependence of unemployment nearly disappears once recalls are excluded. We also find that the probability of finding a new job is more procyclical and volatile than the probability of a recall. Incorporating this fact into an empirical matching function significantly alters its estimated elasticity and the time-series behavior of matching efficiency, especially during the Great Recession. We develop a canonical search-and-matching model with a recall option where new matches are mediated by a matching function, while recalls are free and triggered by both aggregate and job-specific shocks. The recall option is lost when the unemployed worker accepts a new job. A quantitative version of the model captures well our cross-sectional and cyclical facts through selection of recalled matches. |
| Keywords: | Recalls; Unemployment; Duration dependence; Matching function |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J64 |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:14-3&r=lab |
| By: | Prantl, Susanne (University of Cologne); Spitz-Oener, Alexandra (Humboldt University Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Does interacting product and labor market regulation alter the impact of immigration on wages of competing native workers? Focusing on the large, sudden and unanticipated wave of migration from East to West Germany after German reunification and allowing for endogenous immigration, we compare native wage reactions across different segments of the West German labor market: one segment without product and labor market regulation, to which standard immigration models best apply, one segment in which product and labor market regulation interact, and one segment covering intermediate groups of workers. We find that the wages of competing native West Germans respond negatively to the large influx of similar East German workers in the segment with almost free firm entry into product markets and weak worker influence on the decision-making of firms. Competing native workers are insulated from such pressure if firm entry regulation interacts with labor market institutions, implying a strong influence of workers on the decision-making of profit-making firms. |
| Keywords: | immigration, product market regulation, labor market regulation |
| JEL: | J61 L50 J3 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7882&r=lab |
| By: | Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Schwerdt, Guido (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Wiederhold, Simon (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Existing estimates of the labor-market returns to human capital give a distorted picture of the role of skills across different economies. International comparisons of earnings analyses rely almost exclusively on school attainment measures of human capital, and evidence incorporating direct measures of cognitive skills is mostly restricted to early-career workers in the United States. Analysis of the new PIAAC survey of adult skills over the full lifecycle in 22 countries shows that the focus on early-career earnings leads to underestimating the lifetime returns to skills by about one quarter. On average, a one-standard-deviation increase in numeracy skills is associated with an 18 percent wage increase among prime-age workers. But this masks considerable heterogeneity across countries. Eight countries, including all Nordic countries, have returns between 12 and 15 percent, while six are above 21 percent with the largest return being 28 percent in the United States. Estimates are remarkably robust to different earnings and skill measures, additional controls, and various subgroups. Intriguingly, returns to skills are systematically lower in countries with higher union density, stricter employment protection, and larger public-sector shares. |
| Keywords: | cognitive skills, education, labor market, earnings, international comparisons |
| JEL: | J31 I20 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7850&r=lab |
| By: | Sylvi Rzepka; Marcus Tamm |
| Abstract: | The new training literature suggests that in a monopsonistic market employers will not only pay for firm-specific training but also for general training if the risk of poaching is limited. This implies that training participation should decrease when competition for employees is higher among firms. Using worker level data for Germany, we find that the hypothesis is supported empirically. Specifically, we find that employees are significantly less likely to participate in training if the density of firms in a sector is higher within the local labor market. |
| Keywords: | Training; local labor markets; monopsony |
| JEL: | I24 J24 J42 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0463&r=lab |
| By: | Mark Bils; Yongsung Chang; Sun-Bin Kim |
| Abstract: | We consider a matching model of employment with wages that are flexible for new hires, but sticky within matches. We depart from standard treatments of sticky wages by allowing effort to respond to the wage being too high or low. Shimer (2004) and others have illustrated that employment in the Mortensen-Pissarides model does not depend on the degree of wage flexibility in existing matches. But this is not true in our model. If wages of matched workers are stuck too high in a recession, then firms will require more effort, lowering the value of additional labor and reducing new hiring. |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J22 J23 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19821&r=lab |
| By: | Julian Diaz Saavedra (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.) |
| Abstract: | We analyze two social security reforms aimed at increasing working lifetimes. The rst reform elim- inates early retirement provisions, while the second increases both the age of early eligibility and the normal retirement age. We nd that although both reforms increase the participation rates of older workers, the elimination of early retirement provisions reduces future social security imbalances if ben- ets taken early are not reduced actuarially. Additionally, we nd that both reforms increase aggregate hours and output, although eciency gains derived from the elimination of the early retirement scheme are distant from previous estimates since labor supply could be less responsive. Finally, we also nd that the output gap brought about by the early retirement scheme may decrease in coming decades. |
| Keywords: | Computable general equilibrium, social security reforms, macroeconomic eects, retirement. |
| JEL: | C68 H55 J11 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–01–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:wpaper:14/01&r=lab |
| By: | Burdín, Gabriel (IECON, Universidad de la República) |
| Abstract: | Are high-ability individuals more likely to quit egalitarian regimes? Does the threat of exit by talented individuals restrict the redistributive capacity of democratic organizations? This paper revisits that long-standing debate by analyzing the interplay between compensation structure and quit behavior in the distinct yet underexplored institutional setting of worker-managed firms. The study exploits two novel administrative data sources: a panel of Uruguayan workers employed in both worker-managed and conventional firms; and a linked employer–employee panel data set covering the population of Uruguayan worker-managed firms and their workers from January 1997 to April 2010. A key advantage of the data is that it enables one to exploit within-firm variation on wages to construct an ordinal measure of the worker ability type. The paper's four main findings are that (1) worker-managed firms redistribute in favor of low-wage workers; (2) in worker-managed firms, high-ability members are more likely than other members to exit; (3) the hazard ratio of high-ability members is lower for founding members and for those employed by worker-managed firms in which there is less pay compression; and (4) high-ability members are less likely to quit when labor market conditions in the capitalist sector are less attractive. This paper contributes to the study of the interplay between equality and incentives that permeates many debates in public finance, comparative economic systems, personnel and organizational economics. |
| Keywords: | labor managed firms, redistribution, compensation structure, job mobility |
| JEL: | H00 J54 J62 M52 P0 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7854&r=lab |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Verhofstadt, Elsy (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | We identify hiring discrimination against former juvenile delinquents in a direct way. To this end we conduct a field experiment in the Belgian labour market. We find that labour market discrimination is indeed a major barrier in the transition to work for former juvenile delinquents. Labour market entrants disclosing a history of juvenile delinquency get about 22 percent less callback compared to their counterparts without a criminal record. This discrimination is more outspoken among the low-educated. |
| Keywords: | hiring discrimination, field experiments, juvenile delinquency, transitions in youth |
| JEL: | C93 J2 J71 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7845&r=lab |
| By: | Dos Santos Ferreira, Rodolphe (University of Strasbourg 3); Lloyd-Braga, Teresa (Católica Lisbon); Modesto, Leonor (Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, Lisbon) |
| Abstract: | We study employment dynamics using an OLG model with unemployment benefits and universal old-age survival pensions, both financed by taxing employed workers. The novelty is that we explicitly introduce workers' social norms that shape both the individual participation decision of workers and wage bargaining. We find that social norms increase the likelihood of multiplicity of equilibria and somewhat facilitate the emergence of indeterminacy and flip bifurcations, constituting therefore a source of business cycles driven by self-fulfilling volatile expectations, i.e. sunspots. We also find that, in the presence of strong social norms, standard policy recommendations that advocate a decrease in unemployment benefits in order to boost employment are no longer valid. Indeed, our simulation results show that the opposite will happen for empirically plausible levels of the unemployment rate. |
| Keywords: | flip bifurcations, local indeterminacy, steady state multiplicity, sunspots, workers' social norms, unemployment benefits |
| JEL: | E32 H23 H31 J65 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7888&r=lab |
| By: | Pagés, Carmen (Inter-American Development Bank); Rigolini, Jamele (World Bank); Robalino, David A. (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the main findings of the book "Social Insurance and Labor Markets: How to Protect Workers While Creating New Jobs." The book conceptualizes and reviews the empirical evidence on the potential distortions that the social insurance system of a country can have on the supply and demand side of the labor market, and proposes options to address them. The overall message is that current Bismarckian systems are inadequate to extend coverage to the entire labor force of a country and that, at the same time, can affect the level and structure of employment – for instance, by promoting informality and reducing participation rates. These effects can be important enough to deserve consideration in policy discussion. In part, they are explained by a series of explicit and implicit taxes and subsidies that emerge as part of the design of health insurance, pensions, and unemployment benefits programs. Going forward, there a few general principles that countries can follow to expand coverage while reducing potential distortions in labor markets. First, giving more flexibility to individuals in the choice of the bundle of social insurance programs, the level of benefits, and the portfolio of investments (in the case of savings programs), while providing better information and incentives to enroll. Second, relying on explicit, integrated, and in some circumstances means-tested redistributive arrangements in order to better contribute to reduce poverty and inequality. Finally, from the point of view of labor markets, by aiming to reduce perceived tax-wedges. This could be done by better linking contributions to benefits, improving the quality of services, and financing redistributive arrangements through general revenues. |
| Keywords: | social insurance, pensions, informality, pay-roll taxes, redistribution, labor markets |
| JEL: | J3 J6 H2 H3 I3 D3 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7879&r=lab |
| By: | Geiler, P.H.M.; Renneboog, L.D.R. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: Are female top managers paid less than their male counterparts? Is the gender gap higher in male-dominated industries? What effect on pay do female non-executive directors and remuneration consultants exert? While we find no pay gap for the figure-head (CEO), there is strong pay discrimination at the level of the other top managers. These female executive directors earn over a five-year tenure period £1.3 million less than male directors, and this pay gap is visible for all components of pay. The pay gap is lower for executives in firms with one or more female non-executives. Female executives in ‘male’ industries receive less remuneration than male executives but the gender pay gap is smaller. The advice of top remuneration consultants does not reduce the pay gap. |
| Keywords: | executive compensation;gender pay gap;gender discrimination;pay-for-performance;glass ceiling;glass cliff |
| JEL: | J31 J33 M52 G30 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2014004&r=lab |
| By: | Akgüc, Mehtap (IZA); Giulietti, Corrado (IZA); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA and University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the Longitudinal Survey on Rural Urban Migration in China (RUMiC), a unique data source in terms of spatial coverage and panel dimension for research on labor markets in China. The survey is a collaboration project between the Australian National University, Beijing Normal University and the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), which makes data publicly available to the scientific community by producing Scientific Use Files. The paper illustrates the structure, sampling frame and tracking method of the survey, and provides an overview of the topics covered by the dataset, and a review of the existing studies based on RUMiC data. |
| Keywords: | household survey, China, migration, labor markets |
| JEL: | C81 J01 P36 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7860&r=lab |
| By: | Joanne Lindley (Department of Management, Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy, King’s College); Steven McIntosh (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | UK graduate wage inequality has increased over the previous three decades. This paper demonstrates that most of the growth has occurred within degree subjects, with the largest occurring in non-STEM subjects. The paper therefore investigates two potential explanations. The first is the increase in the variance of childhood cognitive test scores amogst graduates in the same subject. This increase differs across subjects, and is again in the non-STEM subjects where the variance of test scores has increased the most, especially during the second period of rapid higher education expansion in the 1990s. The second potential explanation explored is the fall in the occupational concentration of subjects. Graduates of some subjects (like Medicine and Education) are highly concentrated into only a few jobs whereas others are much more widely dispersed. Generally, all subjects have become more widely dispersed across occupations over time, but some more so than others. The paper then shows that both of these factors have played a role in explaining growing graduate wage inequality within subjects, though the largest is by far from the widening in the variance of test scores. The path of graduate wage inequality would have been relatively flat without the accompanying increase in the variance of cognitive skills. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality; subject of degree; graduates |
| JEL: | J2 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2014001&r=lab |
| By: | Hart, Cassandra M. D. (University of California, Davis); Sojourner, Aaron J. (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between teacher unionization and student achievement. Generally stable patterns of teacher unionization since the 1970s have historically presented challenges in measuring the effects of unionization on educational production. However, the blossoming of the charter school sector in recent decades provides fertile ground for study because while most charters are non-union, teachers at some charters have unionized. Using a generalized difference-in-difference approach combining California union certification data with student achievement data from 2003-2012, we find that, aside from a one-year dip in achievement associated with the unionization process itself, unionization does not affect student achievement. |
| Keywords: | teacher, labor union, student achievement, charter school, education, labor productivity |
| JEL: | I21 J5 J45 J24 H75 D24 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7887&r=lab |
| By: | Krapf, Matthias (University of Zurich); Ursprung, Heinrich W. (University of Konstanz); Zimmermann, Christian (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of pregnancy and parenthood on the research productivity of academic economists. Combining the survey responses of nearly 10,000 economists with their publication records as documented in their RePEc accounts, we do not find that motherhood is associated with low research productivity. Nor do we find a statistically significant unconditional effect of a first child on research productivity. Conditional difference-in-differences estimates, however, suggest that the effect of parenthood on research productivity is negative for unmarried women and positive for untenured men. Moreover, becoming a mother before 30 years of age appears to have a detrimental effect on research productivity. |
| Keywords: | Fertility; research productivity; gender gap; research productivity; life cycle. |
| JEL: | I23 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2014-001&r=lab |
| By: | Biavaschi, Costanza (IZA); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA and University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Despite the ongoing dialogue on facilitating mobility between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, very little is known about the magnitude and characteristics of migration from these countries. We find that EaP migrants experience worse labor market outcomes than other migrant groups, but current and potential migrants hold qualifications in those areas were skill shortages are expected. Therefore, the monitoring and supervision of EaP integration will be consequential in order to understand how much of the current brain waste is driven by poor assessment of foreign qualifications, and to unleash the potential of migration for the German economy. |
| Keywords: | brain waste, eastern partnership countries, labor mobility, foreign qualifications |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7861&r=lab |
| By: | Hawranek, Franziska; Schanne, Norbert (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "This paper analyzes job referral effects that are based on residential location. We use georeferenced record data for the entire working population (liable to social security) and the corresponding establishments in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area, which is Germany's largest (and EU's second largest) metropolitan area. We estimate the propensity of two persons to work at the same place when residing in the same neighborhood (reported with an accuracy of 500m×500m grid cells), and compare the effect to people living in adjacent neighborhoods. We find a significant increase in the probability of working together when living in the same neighborhood, which is stable across various specifications. We differentiate these referral effects for socioeconomic groups and find especially strong effects for migrant groups from former guestworker countries and new EU countries. Further, we are able to investigate a number of issues in order to deepen the insight on actual job referrals: distinguishing between the effects on working in the same neighborhood and working in the same establishment - probably the more accurate measure for job referrals - shows that the latter yield overall smaller effects. Further, we find that clusters in employment although having a significant positive effect play only a minor role for the magnitude of the referral effect. When we exclude short distance commuters, we find the same probabilities of working together, which reinforces our interpretation of this probability as a network effect." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Arbeitsvermittlung, informelle Kommunikation, soziales Netzwerk - Auswirkungen, soziale Umwelt, Beschäftigungseffekte, Arbeitsort, Wohnort, Inländer, Einwanderer, ausländische Arbeitnehmer, Arbeitsplatzwahl, peer group, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien, Rhein-Region, Ruhrgebiet, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
| JEL: | J20 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–01–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201401&r=lab |
| By: | Shoichi Sasaki (Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of the greater inequality in the lower than in the upper tail of the male wage distribution on female marriage behavior in Japan, using a new analysis framework. I first formulated the analytical model applying the gmedian-preserving spreadh method to a marriage search model and then analyzed the theoretical hypothesis empirically, using extensive individual Japanese data from the Employment Status Survey, which examined a large sample. The theoretical and empirical results show that the higher male wage inequality in the lower tail, which is due to an increase in the male non-regular employment rate, has a significant effect on the rising single-female rate. Furthermore, the increase in the gnon-regular employmenth rate, regardless of the employment contract period, also has a significant effect on the rising single-female rate, even where the increasing male wage in the lower tail is controlled for. These results suggest that policies to improve the income security of the low-income male and to promote a shift from non-regular to regular employment are needed to raise the female marriage rate. |
| Keywords: | higher male wage inequality in the lower tail, non-regular employment, female marriage behavior, search model, median-preserving spread |
| JEL: | J12 J31 D31 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koe:wpaper:1401&r=lab |
| By: | Christoph Ehlert |
| Abstract: | As a response to an overall high and persistent unemployment rate during the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, the German Federal Employment Agency underwent several reforms. One of the most important reforms, the reform of the organisational structure of the Federal Employment Agency, comprised an adjustment of the business model and a reorganisation of placement processes. From 2004 onwards, customer service centres (CSC) and standardised action programmes for diff erent groups of customers were implemented in all German employment agencies, aiming at an improvement of quality and speed in the placement process. By handling customers faster (customer service centres) and activating/supporting them better (action programmes), a higher number of placements into employment should be observed, thus leading to a reduction of unemployment. By taking advantage of the staggered implementation of the customer service centres and action programmes by region, the eff ects on employment rates are estimated. The dynamic difference in- differences approach employed takes into account the time under treatment. The results suggest that the introduction of the customer service centres led to an increase in both, employment infl ows and overall employment, while most of the action programmes had a negative impact on both. |
| Keywords: | Difference-in-differences; program evaluation; customer service centre; action programmes |
| JEL: | J68 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0462&r=lab |
| By: | Vikström, Johan (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers treatment evaluation in a discrete time setting in which treatment could start at any point in time. A typical application is an active labor market policy program which could start after any elapsed unemployment duration. It is shown that various average effects on survival time are identified under unconfoundedness and no-anticipation and inverse probability weighting (IPW) estimators are provided for these effects. The estimators are applied to a Swedish work practice program. The IPW estimator is compared with related estimators. One conclusion is that the matching estimator proposed by Fredriksson and Johansson (2008) overlooks a selective censoring problem. |
| Keywords: | Treatment effects; dynamic treatment assignment; program evaluation; work practice |
| JEL: | C14 C40 |
| Date: | 2014–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2014_001&r=lab |
| By: | Lehmann, Hartmut (University of Bologna); Zaiceva, Anzelika (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) |
| Abstract: | Informal activities impact countries' economic development and overall growth. However, studying informal employment is not easy and it is crucial to provide a valid definition of it. This paper contributes to the recent discussion of the measures of informality by taking advantage of a rich dataset on Russia over the period 2003 - 2011, that is before and after the economic downturn, together with a special supplement on informality that allows to construct different measures of informal employment and to analyze its determinants. We demonstrate that the incidence of informal employment varies across the different definitions. However, the determinants of informal employment are roughly stable across the different measures as long as we exclude firm size as a criterion. We also show that risk-averse individuals, as expected, are less likely to select themselves into informal employment. |
| Keywords: | informal employment, definitions, incidence, determinants, Russia |
| JEL: | J31 J40 P23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7844&r=lab |
| By: | Jhon James Mora (Departamento de Economía. Universidad ICESI.); Juan Muro (Departamento de Economía, Universidad de Alcalá.) |
| Abstract: | We use information gathered from 122 studies on the effects of high school degrees on wages in different countries worldwide to carry out a meta-analysis that shows high school degrees have a statistically significant effect on wages of nearly 8%. This effect varies either when the review is made in countries away from the tropics or when factors such as sex, race, and continent are taken into account. Our results also reveal the existence of a publication bias that tends to increase the magnitude of the sheepskin effect. Nevertheless, when the former is included into the analysis the later remains statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | Sheepskin effects, meta-analysis, publication bias |
| JEL: | C80 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:alc:alcamo:1401&r=lab |
| By: | Bernhardt, Annette |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| Date: | 2014–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:indrel:qt3hc6t3d5&r=lab |