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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Guido Matias Cortes; Nir Jaimovich; Christopher J. Nekarda; Henry E. Siu |
| Abstract: | The U.S. labor market has become increasingly polarized since the 1980s, with the share of employment in middle-wage occupations shrinking over time. This job polarization process has been associated with the disappearance of per capita employment in occupations focused on routine tasks. We use matched individual-level data from the CPS to study labor market flows into and out of routine occupations and determine how this disappearance has played out at the “micro” and “macro” levels. At the macro level, we determine which changes in transition rates account for the disappearance of routine employment since the 1980s. We find that changes in three transition rate categories are of primary importance: (i) that from unemployment to employment in routine occupations, (ii) that from labor force non-participation to routine employment, and (iii) that from routine employment to non-participation. At the micro level, we study how these transition rates have changed since job polarization, and the extent to which these changes are accounted for by changes in demographic composition or changes in the behavior of individuals with particular demographic characteristics. We find that the preponderance of changes is due to the propensity of individuals to make such transitions, and relatively little due to demographics. Moreover, we find that changes in the transition propensities of the young are of primary importance in accounting for the fall in routine employment. |
| JEL: | E0 J0 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20307&r=lab |
| By: | Clark, Brian (Duke University); Joubert, Clement (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Maurel, Arnaud (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze career dynamics for the large share of U.S. workers who have more schooling than their peers in the same occupation. We use data from the NLSY79 combined with the CPS to analyze transitions into and out of overeducated employment, together with the corresponding effects on wages. Overeducation is a fairly persistent phenomenon at the aggregate and individual levels, with 66% of workers remaining overeducated after one year. Overeducation is not only more common, but also more persistent among blacks and low-AFQT individuals. Further, the hazard rate out of overeducation drops by about 60% during the first 5 years spent overeducated. However, the estimation of a mixed proportional hazard model suggests that this is attributable to selection on unobservables rather than true duration dependence. Finally, overeducation is associated with lower current as well as future wages, which points to the existence of scarring effects. |
| Keywords: | overeducation, mismatch |
| JEL: | J24 I21 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8313&r=lab |
| By: | Brianna Cardiff-Hicks; Francine Lafontaine; Kathryn Shaw |
| Abstract: | With malls, franchise strips and big-box retailers increasingly dotting the landscape, there is concern that middle-class jobs in manufacturing in the U.S. are being replaced by minimum wage jobs in retail. Retail jobs have spread, while manufacturing jobs have shrunk in number. In this paper, we characterize the wages that have accompanied the growth in retail. We show that wage rates in the retail sector rise markedly with firm size and with establishment size. These increases are halved when we control for worker fixed effects, suggesting that there is sorting of better workers into larger firms. Also, higher ability workers get promoted to the position of manager, which is associated with higher pay. We conclude that the growth in modern retail, characterized by larger chains of larger establishments with more levels of hierarchy, is raising wage rates relative to traditional mom-and-pop retail stores. |
| JEL: | J00 J24 J3 L25 L81 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20313&r=lab |
| By: | Zavodny, Madeline (Agnes Scott College) |
| Abstract: | In the debate over immigration reform, it is frequently asserted that immigrants take jobs that U.S. natives do not want. Using data from the 2000 Census merged with O*NET data on occupation characteristics, I show that the jobs held by immigrants are more physically arduous than the jobs held by U.S. natives. However, data from the California Work and Health Survey on self-reported physical job demands indicate that immigrants do not perceive their jobs as requiring more physical effort than U.S. natives. Immigrants thus have worse jobs than natives but do not view them as such. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, working conditions, compensating differentials |
| JEL: | J81 J15 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8327&r=lab |
| By: | David N. F. Bell (University of Stirling, Scotland); David G. Blanchflower (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the amount of slack in the UK labor market. It examines the downward adjustments made by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to both unemployment and underemployment, which in our view are invalid. Without any evidence the MPC in its assessment of the output gap reduces the level of unemployment because of its claim that long-term unemployment has no effect on wages. We produce contrary evidence. The MPC further reduces the level of underemployment in the United Kingdom by half. We present arguments as to why we also think this inappropriate. We set out arguments on why we believe the level of slack is greater than the MPC calibrates. Consistent with that is the fact that real wages in the United Kingdom continue to fall. |
| Keywords: | wages, underemployment, unemployment |
| JEL: | J01 J11 J21 J23 J38 J64 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp14-2&r=lab |
| By: | Balsvik, Ragnhild (Norwegian School of Economics); Jensen, Sissel (Norwegian School of Economics); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We analyze whether regional labor markets are affected by expo- sure to import competition from China. We find negative employment effects for low-skilled workers, and observe that low-skilled workers tend to be pushed into unemployment or leave the labor force altogether. We find no evidence of wage effects. We partly expect this in a Nordic welfare state where firms are flexible at the employment margin, while centralized wage bargaining provides less flexibility at the wage margin. Our estimates suggest that import competition from China explains almost 10% of the reduction in the manufacturing employment share from 1996 to 2007 which is half of the effect found by Autor, Dorn and Hanson (2013) for the US. |
| Keywords: | import competition, local labor markets, Norway |
| JEL: | F16 H53 J23 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8324&r=lab |
| By: | Almeida, Rita K. (World Bank); de Faria, Marta Lince (Católica Lisbon) |
| Abstract: | Skills shortages and skill mismatch are a pressing concern for policymakers in several developing countries, and in East Asia specifically. Providing on-the-job training can be an effective policy tool to shape the skills of the existent workforce to the specific needs of the firms. This paper explores a unique data set of matched employer-employee data for Malaysia and Thailand to estimate the wage return to on-the-job training in these two countries. Exploring propensity score matching estimates, we show that the average wage returns to on-the-job training are 7.7% for Malaysia and 4.5% for Thailand. Furthermore, we find evidence that the wage returns to on-the-job training are higher for males than for females in Malaysia and that, for both countries, returns are higher for workers with at least secondary education. |
| Keywords: | matched employer-employee data, wages, on-the-job training |
| JEL: | J24 J30 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8314&r=lab |
| By: | Caliendo, Marco (University of Potsdam); Lee, Wang-Sheng (Deakin University); Mahlstedt, Robert (IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on re-examining the gender wage gap and the potential role that reservation wages play. Based on two waves of rich data from the IZA Evaluation Dataset Survey we examine the importance of gender differences in reservation wages to explain the gender gap in realized wages for a sample of newly unemployed individuals actively searching for a full-time job in Germany. The dataset includes measures for education, socio-demographics, labor market history, psychological factors and job search characteristics allowing us to perform a decomposition analysis including these potentially influential factors. Our results suggest that the gender wage gap disappears once we control for reservation wages. We also find a close correspondence between the two gaps for certain subgroups. For example, those with low labor market experience show no gender gap in reservation wages and also no corresponding gap in observed wages. In an attempt to better understand how the initial gender gap in reservation wages arises, we also decompose the gender gap in reservation wages and draw some preliminary conclusions on the nature of the unobservable traits that reservation wages might be capturing. |
| Keywords: | wages, gender gap, reservation wages, discrimination |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8305&r=lab |
| By: | Bhuller, Manudeep (Statistics Norway); Mogstad, Magne (University of Chicago); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | What do the education premiums look like over the life cycle? What is the impact of schooling on lifetime earnings? How does the internal rate of return compare with opportunity cost of funds? To what extent do progressive taxes attenuate the incentives to invest in education? This paper exploits Norwegian population panel data with nearly career long earnings histories to answer these important questions. We provide a detailed picture of the causal relationship between schooling and earnings over the life cycle, following individuals over their working lifespan. To account for endogeneity of schooling, we apply three commonly used identification strategies. Our estimates show that additional schooling gives higher lifetime earnings and steeper age-earnings profile, in line with predictions from human capital theory. These estimates imply an internal rate of return of around 10 percent, after taking into account income taxes and earnings-related pension entitlements. Under standard conditions, this finding suggests it was financially profitable to take additional schooling because the rates of return were substantially higher than the market interest rates. By comparison, Mincer regressions understate substantially the rates of return. We explore the reasons for this downward bias, finding that it is driven by Mincer's assumptions of no earnings while in school and exogenous post-schooling employment. |
| Keywords: | education premium, internal rate of return, life cycle earnings |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8316&r=lab |
| By: | Huber, Martin (University of St. Gallen); Lechner, Michael (University of St. Gallen); Wunsch, Conny (University of Basel) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the average effects of (firm-provided) workplace health promotion measures in form of the analysis of sickness absenteeism and health circles/courses on labour market out-comes of the firms' employees. Exploiting linked employer-employee panel data that consist of rich survey-based and administrative information on firms, workers and regions, we apply a flexible propensity score matching approach that controls for selection on observables as well as on time-constant unobserved factors. While the effects of analysing sickness absenteeism appear to be rather limited, our results suggest that health circles/courses increase tenure and decrease the number of job changes across various age groups. A key finding is that health circles/courses strengthen the labour force attachment of elderly employees (51-60), implying potential cost savings for public transfer schemes such as unemployment or early retirement benefits. |
| Keywords: | firm health policies, health circles, health courses, analysis of sickness absenteeism, matching |
| JEL: | I10 I19 J32 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8297&r=lab |
| By: | Hospido, Laura (Bank of Spain); Moral-Benito, Enrique (Bank of Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the public sector wage gap in Spain, by gender, skill level and type of contract, using recent administrative data from tax records. We estimate wage distributions in the presence of covariates separately for men and women in the public and in the private sectors, and we take advantage of the longitudinal structure of the data to control for selection. We find a positive public wage premium for men and women even after accounting for characteristics and endogenous selection; the observed average gap in hourly wages of 35 log points is reduced to 20 when accounting for observed characteristics, and to 10 once endogenous selection is also taken into consideration. We also find substantial variation in the public premium along the wage distribution once observed characteristics are accounted for. This variation, however, is offset by opposite patterns of selection into the public sector: while we observe positive selection into the public sector at the bottom of the wage distribution, workers at the top of the distribution select negatively into the public sector. |
| Keywords: | public sector wage gap, quantile regression, wage distribution, panel data |
| JEL: | C21 C23 J31 J45 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8315&r=lab |
| By: | Raphael A. Espinoza; Esther Pérez Ruiz |
| Abstract: | The paper presents a simple supply side, general equilibrium model to estimate the macroeconomic effects of labor tax cuts. The model assumes that output is produced using capital, unskilled and skilled workers, and public servants. Wage formation for skilled workers features a Blanchflower-Oswald wage curve, while the labor supply for unskilled workers is very elastic around the minimum wage for small changes in employment. The model is calibrated for France and used to estimate the output and employment effects induced by two recent tax reforms: the Crédit d’Impôt pour la Compétitivité et l’Emploi (CICE) and the Pacte de Solidarité Responsabilité (RSP). We find that the tax cuts, if not offset by other fiscal measures, would contribute overall to creating around 200,000 jobs in the short run (600,000 jobs in the long run). Since the model abstracts from demand side effects, the results should be interpreted as providing estimates of the effect of tax measures on potential output and potential employment. |
| Date: | 2014–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:14/114&r=lab |
| By: | Cahuc, Pierre (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris); Carcillo, Stéphane (OECD); Le Barbanchon, Thomas (CREST) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of an unexpected temporary hiring credit targeted at workers paid below 1.6 times the minimum wage in firms with less than 10 employees in France from December 2008 to December 2009. Using rich administrative data covering all French firms, we find that the program has had a strong and rapid impact on employment. The net cost per job created for the government was around zero. The employment effect was stronger in areas where recruitment was easier. Although the hiring credit was not conditional on net job creation, it did not increase churning of workers. Nevertheless, we estimate that a credit conditional on net job creation above the employment growth threshold of -1%; would have maximized job creation, and created 1.8 times more jobs, at constant budget, provided that take-up had remained the same. |
| Keywords: | hiring credit, labor demand |
| JEL: | C31 C93 J6 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8330&r=lab |
| By: | Mariam Camarero (Department of Economics, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Gaetano D’Adamo (Department of Applied Economics II, University of Valencia, Spain); Cecilio Tamarit (Department of Applied Economics II, University of Valencia, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Over the last 15 years, the evolution of labor costs has been very diverse across EMU countries. Since wages have important second-round effects on prices and competitiveness, and EMU countries do not have the tool of the nominal exchange rate to correct for such imbalances, understanding the determinants of the wage is a matter of increasing concern and debate. We estimate the equilibrium wage equation for the Euro Area over the period 1995-2011 using panel cointegration techniques that allow for cross-section dependence and structural breaks. The results show that the equilibrium wage has a positive relation with productivity and negative relation with unemployment, as expected. We also include institutional variables in our analysis, showing that a more flexible labor market is consistent with long-run wage moderation. Allowing for a regime break, we find that, since 2004, possibly due to increased international competition, wage determination was more strictly related to productivity, and real wage appreciation triggers a drop in the real wage. Furthermore, results point to a wage-moderating role of government intervention and concertation in wage bargaining. |
| Keywords: | panel cointegration, wage setting, labor market |
| JEL: | E24 J31 C23 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2014/15&r=lab |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Verhaest, Dieter (K.U.Leuven) |
| Abstract: | This study aims at estimating the stigma effect of unemployment and overeducation within one framework. To this end, we conduct a field experiment in the Belgian labour market. We send out trios of fictitious male job applications to real vacancies. These applications differ only by the labour market history of the candidates. By monitoring the subsequent reactions from the employer side, we find evidence for a larger stigma effect of unemployment than overeducation. The stigma effect of overeducation is found to occur for permanent contract jobs but not temporary ones. |
| Keywords: | unemployment signalling, overeducation signalling, transitions in youth |
| JEL: | J24 J60 C93 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8312&r=lab |
| By: | Kidd, Michael (Queensland University of Technology); O'Leary, Nigel C. (Swansea University); Sloane, Peter J. (Swansea University) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses HESA data from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2003/04 to examine whether more mobile students in terms of choice of institution and location of employment earn more than those who are less mobile. The clear finding is that mobility is associated with superior earnings outcomes, but principally through mobility as it relates to students extending their horizon of job search. A bivariate probit analysis also confirms that there is a positive relationship between regional mobility both in the choice of attending university and the choice of where to take up employment. |
| Keywords: | location by residence, academic institution and employment, graduates, earnings |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8325&r=lab |
| By: | Del Boca, Daniela (University of Turin); Venturini, Alessandra (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Our research analyzes the effect of changes in migration policies and the accession to the European Union of former countries of emigration, considering the crucial role played by migrants in an aging society. We focus on the demand of family-care workers by using the last five years of the Italian Labour Force Survey dataset. Our results show that especially during the last years of recession, foreign labor (mostly female) has become fundamental in the family sector, favoring the participation of Italian skilled women in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | migration, aging, women's work |
| JEL: | J6 J15 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8328&r=lab |
| By: | Hirsch, Boris (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Oberfichtner, Michael (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Schnabel, Claus (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | Using linked employer-employee panel data for West Germany that include direct information on the competition faced by plants, we investigate the effect of product market competition on the gender pay gap. Controlling for match fixed effects we find that intensified competition significantly lowers the unexplained gap in plants with neither collective agreements nor a works council. Conversely, there is no effect in plants with these types of worker codetermination, which are unlikely to have enough discretion to adjust wages in the short run. We also document a larger competition effect in plants with few females in their workforces. Our findings are in line with Beckerian taste-based employer wage discrimination that is limited by competitive forces. |
| Keywords: | gender pay gap, discrimination, product market competition |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8317&r=lab |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); De Visschere, Sarah (Ghent University); Schoors, Koen (Ghent University); Omey, Eddy (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses hiring discrimination based on disclosed depression. We send out pairs of job applications from fictitious unemployed candidates to real vacancies in Belgium. Within each pair, one candidate cites depression as the reason for her/his unemployment, whereas the other candidate reveals no reason for unemployment. Overall, the hypothesis that applicants disclosing former depression are treated unfavourably is rejected. However, if we break up the data by the gender of the recruiter, we see that revealing former depression as a reason for unemployment is rewarded by female recruiters, whereas it affects the hiring decisions made by male recruiters in a non-positive way. |
| Keywords: | economics of health, depression, hiring discrimination, field experiments |
| JEL: | I14 J71 C93 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8320&r=lab |
| By: | Tong, Patricia (US Department of the Treasury); Zhou, Li (University of Alberta, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using administrative tax data that contain information on firm credit take-up and employee residence, we examine the impact of the Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community employment tax credits on local labor. We find modest evidence that zone designation improves labor market outcomes among residents. However, when we specifically estimate the impact of the place-based employment tax credit and disentangle the impact based on where workers live and work, we find strong evidence that the employment tax credits have significant and positive impacts on both zone and non-zone residents employed at firms that claim these credits. We determine that firms claiming the employment tax credit represent a small share of the overall labor demand of zone residents. As a result, utilizing data that include information on which firms receive place-based tax incentives is crucial to evaluate how these policies impact local labor, and evaluations looking at outcomes of broader populations may not be able to identify significant improvements in outcomes if a limited fraction of the population is directly affected. |
| Keywords: | employment tax credits; place-based programs; business incentives; empowerment zones; renewal communities |
| JEL: | H25 J38 R23 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2014_006&r=lab |
| By: | Guido Matias Cortes (University of Manchester and RCEA); Giovanni Gallipoli (University of British Columbia) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the costs of occupational mobility using a novel approach that relies on aggregate flows of workers across occupations rather than on wage data. The theoretical underpinnings for this approach are derived from a model of occupation choice that delivers a gravity equation linking worker flows to occupation characteristics and to transition costs, which we proxy using task data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Occupation flow data are constructed from the matched monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) between 1994 and 2012. We nd that transition costs vary widely across occupations, are increasing in task distance (the dissimilarity in the mix of tasks performed in the two occupations) and are higher for transitions across broad task categories. However, most of the transition costs are accounted for by general, task-independent entry costs, speci c to each destination occupation. |
| Keywords: | occupational mobility, tasks, worker flows, mobility costs, gravity model |
| JEL: | J62 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2014-015&r=lab |
| By: | Zsombor Cseres-Gergely (Institute of Economics, Center for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides empirical evidence on the effect of changing the retirement age on employment. Base on individual data from Hungary, a country where a number of hikes increased the retirement age between 1997 and 2009, this analysis benefits from substantial variation in pension eligibility during a relatively short time. It is based on a difference-in-difference approach and supported by independent variation in the age-based eligibility rule contributing to the causal identification of the effect. Results suggest that the effect of the changes in early retirement age is substantial, amounting to 5-7.4 percentage point increase in the 45 per cent employment rate at the retirement age for women. Changes in the normal retirement age do not seem to have such employment effect because increases in disability pension claims have counteracted them. |
| Keywords: | retirement age, older workers, employment |
| JEL: | H31 H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:1403&r=lab |
| By: | Bradler, Christiane (ZEW Mannheim); Dur, Robert (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Neckermann, Susanne (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Non, Arjan (ROA, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the results from a controlled field experiment designed to investigate the causal effect of unannounced, public recognition on employee performance. We hired more than 300 employees to work on a three-hour data-entry task. In a random sample of work groups, workers unexpectedly received recognition after two hours of work. We find that recognition increases subsequent performance substantially, and particularly so when recognition is exclusively provided to the best performers. Remarkably, workers who did not receive recognition are mainly responsible for this performance increase. Our results are consistent with workers having a preference for conformity and being reciprocal at the same time. |
| Keywords: | employee motivation, recognition, reciprocity, conformity, field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 M52 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8311&r=lab |
| By: | Cubel, Maria (University of Barcelona); Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana (University of Sheffield); Sanchez-Pages, Santiago (University of Barcelona); Vidal-Fernández, Marian (University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | While survey data supports a strong relationship between personality and labor market outcomes, the exact mechanisms behind this association remain unexplored. In this paper, we take advantage of a controlled laboratory set-up to test whether this relationship operates through productivity, and isolate this mechanism from other channels such as bargaining ability or self-selection into jobs. Using a gender neutral real-effort task, we analyse the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance. We find that more neurotic subjects perform worse, and that more conscientious individuals perform better. These findings are in line with previous survey studies and suggest that at least part of the effect of personality on labor market outcomes operates through productivity. In addition, we find evidence that gender and university major affect the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance. |
| Keywords: | Big-Five, personality traits, experiment, labour productivity, performance |
| JEL: | C91 D03 J3 M5 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8308&r=lab |
| By: | Ira N. Gang (Rutgers University) |
| Abstract: | Women who want to work often face many more hurdles than men. This is true in Tajikistan where there is a large gender gap in labour force participation. We highlight the role of two factors – international migration and education – on the labour force participation decision and its gender gap. Using probit and decomposition analysis, our investigation shows that education and migration have a significant association with the gender gap in labour force participation in Tajikistan. International emigration from Tajikistan, in which approximately 93.5% of the participants are men, reduces labour force participation by men domestically; increased female education, especially at the university and vocational level, increases female participation. Both women acquiring greater access to education and men increasing their migration abroad contribute to reducing the gender gap. |
| Keywords: | immigration |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2014–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rut:rutres:201407&r=lab |
| By: | Olivier Bargain (AMSE - Aix-Marseille School of Economics - Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole Centrale Marseille (ECM), IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor); Jinan Zeidan (AMSE - Aix-Marseille School of Economics - Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole Centrale Marseille (ECM)) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of height on earnings, occupational choices and a subjective measure of well-being among Indonesian men. We explore the extent to which height captures the effects of human capital endowments set before entry on the labor market. Cognitive skills, co-determined with stature early in life, do not explain much of the height earnings premium directly. Yet, human capital more broadly, including cognition, educational attainment and other factors related to parental investments and background characteristics, explains around half of the height premium and does so through occupational sorting. Indeed, taller workers tend to have more education, and educated workers tend to work in more lucrative occupations that require brain and social skills, not brawn. The unexplained share of the height earnings premium reflects other labor market advantages of taller workers, including psycho-social dimensions. We also find a height premium in happiness, half of which simply accounts for the educational and earnings advantages of taller workers. |
| Keywords: | height; cognitive skills; physical skills; childhood conditions; earnings; occupation; happiness |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01020788&r=lab |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); De Pauw, Ann-Sophie (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | Employing a lab experiment, we directly test the empirical importance of key attitudes underlying the models of taste-based and statistical discrimination in explaining ethnic hiring discrimination. We find evidence that employer concern that co-workers and customers will prefer collaborating with native individuals drives unequal treatment. |
| Keywords: | taste discrimination, statistical discrimination, hiring discrimination, economics of ethnic minorities |
| JEL: | J24 J60 C92 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8319&r=lab |
| By: | Caroli, Eve (Université Paris-Dauphine); Godard, Mathilde (CREST) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effect of perceived job insecurity – i.e. the fear of involuntary job loss – on health in a sample of men from 22 European countries. We rely on an original instrumental variable approach based on the idea that workers perceive greater job security in countries where employment is strongly protected by the law, and relatively more so if employed in industries where employment protection legislation is more binding, i.e. in industries with a higher natural rate of dismissals. Using cross-country data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey, we show that when the potential endogeneity of job insecurity is not accounted for, the latter appears to deteriorate almost all health outcomes. When tackling the endogeneity issue by estimating an IV model and dealing with potential weak-instrument issues, the health-damaging effect of job insecurity is confirmed for a limited subgroup of health outcomes, namely suffering from headaches or eyestrain and skin problems. As for other health variables, the impact of job insecurity appears to be insignificant at conventional levels. |
| Keywords: | job insecurity, health, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | I19 J63 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8299&r=lab |
| By: | Nizalova, Olena Y. (Kyiv School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of non-monetary dimensions of work in studies of inequality in total returns to work. Relying on the methodological advances in the field of multidimensional inequality and using the representative sample of Ukrainian industrial establishments over the period from 1994 to 2004, the paper shows that the focus on monetary compensation is too narrow. It ignores significant dynamics of inequality in workplaces. Analysis of such workplace conditions as risk of on the job injury, various benefits/amenities, and insecurities with wage payments, shows that the inequalities in these conditions do exacerbate inequalities in hourly wages. Workers in establishments paying highest hourly wages have enjoyed relatively greater reductions in the total workplace injury burden, greater retention of various benefits/ amenities, and relatively larger increases in wage payment security (decreased wage arrears), compared to the workers in the lowest paying establishments. These findings document the degree of an unequal shift away from work-centered provision of social services and highlight the importance of timely policy intervention. |
| Keywords: | workplace injuries, disamenities, amenities, non-wage benefits, multidimensional inequality, non-parametric |
| JEL: | J81 D63 C14 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8322&r=lab |
| By: | Radoslawa Nikolowa (Queen Mary University of London) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of relational contracts with moral hazard and asymmetric persistent information about an employee's type. We find that the form of the optimal contract depends on the job characteristics as well as the distribution of employees' talent. Bonus contracts are more likely to be adopted in complex jobs and when high talent is not too common or too rare. Firms with 'normal' jobs are more likely to adopt termination contracts. In labor market equilibrium, different contracts may be adopted by ex ante identical firms. Hence, we offer an explanation for the co-existence of different employment systems within the same industry. |
| Keywords: | Relational contracts, Job characteristics, Employment systems, Labor market segmentation |
| JEL: | D82 M5 L14 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp721&r=lab |
| By: | Chris SAKELLARIOU (Division of Economics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637332.); Fang ZHENG (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a new dataset, the 2009 Rural Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) to estimate returns to schooling in China using an instrumental variable (IV) methodology. After identifying a set of instruments, we conduct comprehensive validity and relevance testing of different combinations of instruments as well as robustness analysis of our estimates for rural to urban migrants and urban residents in China. We find that our estimates are in a fairly tight band for all four sub-samples examined (urban men, urban women, migrant men and migrant women). Estimates for men range from about 9.5% for urban workers to about 10-10.5% for migrant workers and are slightly higher than the corresponding estimates for women, which range from 7.5% for female urban workers to 8-9.5% for female migrant workers. Thus, private returns to education in urban China in 2009 were substantial and of similar magnitude to those for other transition countries, as well as to worldwide and developing country averages. We also find that the attenuation bias due to measurement error is generally large and more important in the migrant sample compared to the urban sample. |
| Keywords: | Returns to Schooling, Instrumental Variables, Rural-to-Urban Migrants, China |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1407&r=lab |
| By: | Bryan, Mark L. (University of Essex); Sevilla, Almudena (Queen Mary, University of London) |
| Abstract: | Using previously unexploited data on time scheduling in the employment and household contexts, we investigate the effect of flexible working on couples' coordination of their daily work time schedules in the UK. We consider three distinct dimensions of flexible working: flexibility of daily start and finish times (flexitime), flexibility of work times over the year (annualised hours), and generalised control of working hours. We find that in couples with flexitime there is greater spouse synchronization in daily working times by nearly one hour. The effect is driven by couples with dependent children. However, we find the effect in couples with children of any age (under 16), suggesting it does not stem from the childcare requirements of young children. Robustness checks indicate that flexitime is not endogenous, suggesting that an expansion of flexitime would increase couples' work time coordination. There is less evidence that broader control over working hours increases daily synchronous working time and no evidence that annualised hours increase synchronous time on a daily basis. The weaker relationships with daily synchronous time for these two flexibility measures are consistent with their broader scope (control over amount of hours as well as timing) and longer time span. |
| Keywords: | flexible work, time synchronization, time coordination |
| JEL: | J12 J22 J32 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8304&r=lab |
| By: | Nahm, Daehoon (Macquarie University, Sydney); Tani, Massimiliano (IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether skilled migrants contribute to the host country's 'productive efficiency' (Farrell, 1957) using input-output and immigration sectoral data for seven industries in twelve countries during the period 1999-2001. We find that skilled migrants contribute positively to a country's productive efficiency with the exception of the finance sector. The results broadly support the adoption of skill-biased migration policies. |
| Keywords: | highly skilled migration, human capital, productive efficiency |
| JEL: | D24 F2 J6 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8326&r=lab |
| By: | Guner, Nezih (MOVE, Barcelona); Kaygusuz, Remzi (Sabanci University); Ventura, Gustavo (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | What would be the aggregate effects of adopting a more generous and universal childcare subsidy program in the U.S.? We answer this question in a life-cycle equilibrium model with joint labor-supply decisions of married households along extensive and intensive margins, heterogeneity in terms of the presence of children across households and skill losses of females associated to non-participation. We find that subsidies have substantial effects on female labor supply, which are largest at the bottom of the skill distribution. Fully subsidized childcare available to all households leads to long-run increases in the participation of married females and total hours worked by about 10.1% and 1.0%, respectively. There are large differences across households in welfare gains, as a small number of households – poorer households with children – gain significantly while others lose. Welfare gains of newborn households amount to 1.9%. Our findings are robust to differences among households in fertility and childcare expenditures. |
| Keywords: | childcare, household labor supply |
| JEL: | E62 H24 H31 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8303&r=lab |
| By: | René Böheim; Thomas Leoni |
| Abstract: | In many countries, social security insures firms against their workers' sickness absences. The insurance may create a moral hazard for firms, leading to inefficient monitoring of absences or to an underinvestment in the prevention of absences. We exploit an administrative threshold in the Austrian social security that defined whether a firm had to pay a deductible for its blue-collar workers sicknesses or not. The quasi-experimental situation around the threshold provides causal evidence on the extent of moral hazard induced by the deductible. We apply a regression discontinuity design to estimate the differences in the incidences and durations of sicknesses for firms that faced the deductible and those who did not. We find that the deductible did not lead to different sickness outcomes and conclude that relatively low deductibles have little impact on forms' management of sicknesses. |
| JEL: | H51 I18 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20305&r=lab |