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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel (University of Bristol); Bradley, Jake (University of Bristol); Tarasonis, Linas (Aix-Marseille University) |
| Abstract: | In the US labor market the average black worker is exposed to a lower employment rate and earns a lower wage compared to his white counterpart. Lang and Lehmann (2012) argue that these mean differences mask substantial heterogeneity along the distribution of workers' skill. In particular, they argue that black-white wage and employment gaps are smaller for high-skill workers. In this paper we show that a model of employer taste-based discrimination in a labor market characterized by search frictions and skill complementarities in production can replicate these regularities. We estimate the model with US data using methods of indirect inference. Our quantitative results portray the degree of employer prejudice in the US labor market as being strong and widespread, and provide evidence of an important skill gap between black and white workers. We use the model to undertake a structural decomposition and conclude that discrimination resulting from employer prejudice is quantitatively more important than skill differences to explain wage and employment gaps. In the final section of the paper we conduct a number of counterfactual experiments to assess the effectiveness of different policy approaches aimed at reducing racial differences in labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | employment and wage differentials, discrimination, job search |
| JEL: | J31 J64 J71 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8176&r=lab |
| By: | Melissa A. Boyle; Joanna N. Lahey |
| Abstract: | Measuring the overall impact of public health insurance receipt is important in an era of increased access to publicly-provided and subsidized insurance. Although government expansion of health insurance to older workers leads to labor supply reductions for recipients, there may be spillover effects on the labor supply of uncovered spouses. While theory predicts a decrease in overall household work hours, financial incentives such as credit constraints, target income levels, and the need for own health insurance suggest that spousal labor supply might increase. In contrast, complementarities of spousal leisure would predict a decrease in labor supply for both spouses. Utilizing a mid-1990s expansion of health insurance for U.S. veterans, we provide evidence on the effects of public insurance availability on the labor supply of spouses. Using data from the Current Population Survey and Health and Retirement Study, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy to compare the labor market behavior of the wives of older male veterans and non-veterans before and after the VA health benefits expansion. Our findings suggest that although household labor supply may decrease because of the income effect, wives’ labor supply increases, suggesting that financial incentives dominate complementarities of spousal leisure. This effect is strongest for wives with lower education levels and lower levels of household wealth. Moreover, wives with employer-provided health insurance in the previous year remain on the job while those without increase their hours, suggesting incentives to retain or obtain health insurance. Finally, non-working wives enter the labor force, those who were working part-time increase their hours, and full-time “career” women are largely unaffected. |
| JEL: | H42 I13 J14 J22 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20371&r=lab |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effectiveness of wage subsidies as a policy instrument to integrate disabled individuals into the labour market. To identify causal effects, we conduct a large-scale field experiment in Belgium. Our results show that the likelihood of a disabled candidate receiving a positive response to a job application is not positively influenced by revealing entitlement to the Flemish Supporting Subsidy. |
| Keywords: | labour market policy evaluation, wage subsidies, disability, discrimination |
| JEL: | I38 J14 J78 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8318&r=lab |
| By: | Alfonso R. Sánchez; J. Ignacio García Pérez; Sergi Jiménez-Martín |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore the links between pension reform, early retirement, and the use of unemployment as an alternative pathway to retirement. We use a dynamic rational expectations model to analyze the search and retirement behaviour of employed and unemployed workers aged 50 or over. The model is calibrated to reproduce the main reemployment and retirement patterns observed between 2002 and 2008 in Spain. It is subsequently used to analyze the effects of the 2011 pension reform in Spain, characterized by two-year delays in both the early and the normal retirement ages. We find that this reform generates large increases in labour supply and sizable cuts in pension costs, but these are achieved at the expense of very large welfare losses, especially among unemployed workers. As an alternative, we propose leaving the early retirement age unchanged, but penalizing the minimum pension (reducing its generosity in parallel to the cuts imposed on individual pension benefits, and making it more actuarially fair with age). This alternative reform strikes a better balance between individual welfare and labour supply stimulus. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2014-06&r=lab |
| By: | Boeri, Tito (Bocconi University) |
| Abstract: | Two-tier bargaining structures, in which plant-level wage negotiations supplement industry-level wage setting, are present in a number of EU countries, as unions resist pressures for greater decentralization in wage determination. In principle, these two-tier structures could reconcile macroeconomic stability with a closer link between productivity and pay. Evidence from an ECB firm-level survey suggests, however, that two-tier regimes may end up getting the worst of either fully centralized and fully decentralized systems, as they do not allow incentive schemes to operate downwards, reduce the participation of firms to collective bargaining, and do not seem to improve either microeconomic and macroeconomic adjustment to shocks. |
| Keywords: | wage drift, favourability principle, productivity-related pay |
| JEL: | J31 J33 J51 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8358&r=lab |
| By: | Fouarge, Didier (ROA, Maastricht University); Kriechel, Ben (Economix Research & Consulting); Dohmen, Thomas (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | We relate risk attitudes and patience of young graduates from high-school, college and university, measured around the time that they start their labor market career in a large representative survey, to the riskiness and timing of earnings in the occupations they choose to work in. We find a systematic positive and significant relation between willingness to take risks and measures of occupational earnings risks and employment risk that we derive from a large administrative data set. Patient individuals are significantly more likely to choose for occupations with a steep earnings profile. Individuals whose economic preferences are not well aligned with the riskiness and timing of earnings in their initial occupation are more likely to change to an occupation that better matches their economic preferences. |
| Keywords: | risk preferences, earnings risk, sorting, occupational choice |
| JEL: | J24 J31 D01 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8355&r=lab |
| By: | Canelas, Carla |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates if changes in the minimum wage have influenced changes on the formality and informality rates, and the level of wages in Ecuador. A 12-year panel was built. It allows to overcome the short time span of household data and so to char |
| Keywords: | labor markets, informality, minimum wage |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-006&r=lab |
| By: | Bertoni, Marco (University of Padova); Brunello, Giorgio (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | The "Retired Husband Syndrome", that affects the mental health of wives of retired men around the world, has been anecdotally documented but never formally investigated. We use Japanese micro data and the exogenous variation generated by the 2006 revision of the Japanese Elderly Employment Stabilization Law, which mandated employers to guarantee continuous employment between mandatory retirement age and full pension eligibility age, to estimate the causal effect of the husband's retirement on the wife's mental health. We find that adding one year to the time spent in retirement by Japanese husbands increases the probability that their wives develop the syndrome by 5.8 to 13.7 percentage points, depending on the empirical specification. We discuss mechanisms at work and argue that – ceteris paribus – increasing female labour force participation might exacerbate rather than attenuate the phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | retirement, pension reforms, couples, stress, depression, Japan |
| JEL: | D1 I1 I3 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8350&r=lab |
| By: | Bonke, Jens (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit) |
| Abstract: | Various European studies show that the majority of those employed wish to work fewer hours than they actually do. The question addressed here is whether imbalanced working hours – working hour tensions – influence changes in behavior: do preferences transmit into reality? Based on a Danish longitudinal time-use study, we find that more Danes prefer shorter working hours over longer working hours, which is in contrast to the Americans. Moreover, not only do the vast majority of overworked Danes adjust their working hours, those who are underworked also do so within a decade. Factors behind these changes are analyzed and means to ensure an optimization of time- and money-related wellbeing are discussed. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, working hours |
| JEL: | J22 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8356&r=lab |
| By: | William R. Cline (Peterson Institute for International Economics); Jared Nolan (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper applies time series analysis to distinguish between cyclical and demographic causes of the decline of the labor force participation rate. Some public discussions suggest that the decline of US unemployment from its 2009 peak of 10 percent to about 6 percent by mid-2014 grossly exaggerates recovery because most of the decline reflects the exit of discouraged workers from the labor force. This study finds instead that one-half to two-thirds of the decline in labor force participation by about 3 percentage points from late 2007 to early 2014 is attributable to aging of the population. Although about one-third is found attributable to the lagged influence of high, and especially long-term, unemployment, going forward the potential rebound in the participation rate from recovery is projected to be approximately offset by further aging of the population. |
| Keywords: | labor force participation, aging, unemployment |
| JEL: | E52 J11 J21 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp14-4&r=lab |
| By: | Haile, Getinet Astatike (University of Nottingham); Bryson, Alex (National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)); White, Michael (Policy Studies Institute) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates whether unionisation has a spillover effect on wellbeing by comparing non-members in union and non-union workplaces. To this end, it adapts the social custom model of trade unions and goes on to conduct empirical analyses using linked employer-employee data and alternative empirical strategies. The findings in the paper reveal that unionisation does have a spillover effect lowering non-members' job satisfaction. Sub-group analysis based on workplace-level collective bargaining status uncovers that the adverse effect found is specific to establishments that set pay through collective bargaining. |
| Keywords: | trade union, spillover effect, wellbeing, linked employer-employee data, Britain |
| JEL: | J5 J51 J28 J82 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8361&r=lab |
| By: | Janiak, Alexandre (University of Chile); Wasmer, Etienne (Sciences Po, Paris) |
| Abstract: | Employment protection (EPL) has a well known negative impact on labor flows as well as an ambiguous but often negative effect on employment. In contrast, its impact on capital accumulation and capital-labor ratio is less well understood. The available empirical evidence suggests a non-monotonic relation between capital-labor ratios and EPL: positive at very low levels of EPL, and then negative. We explore the theoretical effects of EPL on physical capital in a model of a firm facing labor frictions. Under standard assumptions, theory always implies a motononic negative link between capital-labor ratios and EPL. For a positive link to arise, a very specific pattern of complementarity between capital and workers protected by EPL (senior workers, as opposed to unprotected new entrants, or junior workers) has to be assumed. Further, no standard production technology is able to reproduce the inverted U-shape pattern of the data. Instead, endogenous specific skills investment leads to an inverted U-shape pattern: EPL protects and therefore induces investments in specific skills. We develop such a model and calibrate the returns to seniority by using estimates from the empirical literature. Under complementarity between capital and specific human capital, physical capital and senior workers having accumulated specific human capital are de facto complement production factors and EPL may increase capital demand at the firm level. The paper concludes that labor market institutions may sometimes favor physical and human capital investments in second-best environments. |
| Keywords: | employment protection, specific skills, unemployment, capital-labor ratios |
| JEL: | J60 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8362&r=lab |
| By: | Addison, John T. (University of South Carolina); Kölling, Arnd (Berlin School of Economics and Law); Teixeira, Paulino (University of Coimbra) |
| Abstract: | Recent studies have pointed to the association between declining collective bargaining coverage and rising overall wage inequality. This association holds more or less across-the-board, at least for broad swathes of recent history. That said, the exact contribution of deununionization is a matter of debate, perhaps no more so than in Germany, our case study. The present paper takes a less conventional approach to this particular source of rising inequality by examining intra-plant wage dispersion in the wake of establishments either exiting from or entering into collective agreements. Several measures of inequality are constructed for German establishments over the twelve-year period 1996-2008, an interval of continuously declining union representation. Using linked employer-employee data, our estimation strategy hinges upon the identification of comparable groups of establishments and on both instantaneous and medium- to long-term changes in the wage structure. A modest widening effect on dispersion of exiting from a sectoral agreement is detected in the data once we effect a comparison across observationally-equivalent individuals. The converse does not apply in respect of joiners. The scale of the former effect casts doubt on some of the more exaggerated claims of the importance of deunionization to wage inequality and the resurgence of Germany more generally. |
| Keywords: | Germany, collective bargaining, deunionization, intra-plant wage inequality, sectoral agreement exits and accessions |
| JEL: | J31 J51 J53 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8359&r=lab |
| By: | Calero, Carla (Inter-American Development Bank); Corseuil, Carlos Henrique (Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Brazil); Gonzales, Veronica (Inter-American Development Bank); Kluve, Jochen (Humboldt University Berlin, RWI); Soares, Yuri (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides findings of a small-scale, innovative labor training program that uses expressive arts and theatre as a pedagogical tool. The corresponding life skills training component is combined with a technical component teaching vocational skills. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of a training program constructed around expressive arts. Using a randomized assignment of favela youth into program and control groups, we look at the short-run treatment effects on a comprehensive set of outcomes including employment and earnings as well as measures of personality traits and risk behavior. We find positive short-run employment and earnings impacts five months after the program finalized; no impacts are found for shorter periods. These short-run impacts are economically very large, compared to those typically found in the literature: a 33.3 per cent increase in the probability of being employed, and a 23.6 per cent increase in earnings. We find no evidence of significant program impacts on other outcomes, including personality-related traits, providing evidence that these traits may not be malleable for young adults in the short-run. We argue that the estimated labor market impacts are due to a combination of both skills formation and signaling of higher quality workers to employers. |
| Keywords: | labor market training, youths, randomized controlled trial, life skills |
| JEL: | J24 J68 I38 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8210&r=lab |
| By: | David Carey |
| Abstract: | Skills shortages have developed in certain fields and regions in recent years. Earnings premiums for people in some professions, notably health, engineering and skilled trades have increased. And vacancy rates have risen for skilled trades, with the increase being particularly large in Alberta and Saskatchewan. While reforms have been implemented to strengthen adjustment so as to overcome these shortages, there is still room to go further by improving labour market information, increasing responsiveness of the education and training system to labour market demand, making the immigration system more reactive to current labour market conditions and reducing regulatory barriers to inter-provincial labour mobility. This Working Paper relates to the 2014 OECD Economic Review of Canada (http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economi c-survey-canada.htm). |
| Keywords: | apprenticeships, skills shortages, vacancy rates, inter-provincial mobility, employment insurance, earnings premiums, high-skilled immigrants |
| JEL: | J08 J15 J24 J31 J6 |
| Date: | 2014–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1143-en&r=lab |
| By: | Paul Gregg (Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath); Lindsey Macmillan (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education); Claudia Vittori (Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath) |
| Abstract: | Estimates of intergenerational economic mobility that use point in time measures of income and earnings suffer from lifecycle and attenuation bias. We consider these issues for the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and British Cohort Study (BCS) for the first time, highlighting how common methods used to deal with these biases do not eradicate these issues. To attempt to overcome this, we offer the first estimates of lifetime intergenerational economic mobility for the UK. In doing so, we discuss a third potential bias, regularly ignored in the literature, driven by spells out of work. When all three biases are considered, our best estimate of lifetime intergenerational economic persistence in the UK is 0.43, significantly higher than previously thought. We discuss why there is good reason to believe that this is still a lower bound. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility, measurement, income inequality |
| JEL: | I20 J62 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1412&r=lab |
| By: | Letizia Mencarini (Università di Torino & Collegio Carlo Alberto); Daniele Vignoli (Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti", Università di Firenze) |
| Abstract: | A new generation of studies has called into question standard microeconomic predictions of a positive association between women’s economic independence and union dissolution, and suggests that it is necessary to include information about both partners’ contributions to paid and unpaid work when conducting empirical tests of the impact of women’s employment on union stability. In this study, we follow this strand of research and use data on couples from the 2003 and 2007 waves of the Italian “Family and Social Subject” survey, with the aim of investigating whether and how the gender division of labor channels the causal impact of women’s employment on union disruption. Utilizing techniques of mediation analysis, we suggest that women’s employment does not have a negative effect per se on union stability, and that women’s paid work becomes detrimental to the stability of the union only if the male partner’s contribution to unpaid work is scarce. We found that the impact of women’s employment on union dissolution is positive only when 70% or more of the housework is performed by women. |
| Keywords: | Marital dissolution; Women's employment; Men's contribution to unpaid work; Italy; Mediation analysis |
| JEL: | J00 J12 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fir:econom:wp2014_06&r=lab |
| By: | Soundararajan, Vidhya |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:180133&r=lab |
| By: | Henrik Braconier; Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela |
| Abstract: | Income and earning inequality has been on the rise in most of the OECD and in many emerging economies since the 1980s. This paper estimates a model of earnings inequality across OECD countries that incorporates determinants of relative demand and supply of more and less-skilled labour. Drawing on OECD data we find that skill-biased technological change – measured as a common cross-country time trend and the level of multi factor productivity – has been the key driver in increasing earning differentials. The analysis also shows that educational attainment has mitigated the impact of skill-biased technological change on earning differentials, but has in most countries been unable to fully compensate. In line with previous OECD analysis, changes in structural policies and labour market institutions, such as deregulation of product and labour markets have exerted upward pressure on inequality. The estimated model is used to decompose historical changes in earning differentials and to construct forward looking scenarios up to 2060. If the common cross-country trend of skill-biased technological change observed during the last 25 years prevails, earning differentials will on average increase by almost 30% in the OECD by 2060. Finally, the model is used to simulate the consequences of alternative policy scenarios over the coming 50 years. Inégalités de revenus dans les pays de l'OCDE et les grandes économies non membres : Facteurs déterminants et scénarios futurs Les inégalités de revenus se creusent dans la plupart des pays de l’OCDE et nombre d’économies émergentes depuis les années 1980. Dans ce document, on évalue un modèle des inégalités de revenu intégrant les déterminants de l’offre et de la demande relatives de main d’oeuvre plus qualifiée et moins qualifiée. En analysant la base des données de l’OCDE, on observe que le changement technologique– mesuré comme un effet temporel commun à tous les pays – et le niveau de productivité multifactorielle ont été les principaux moteurs du creusement des écarts de rémunération. L’analyse montre également que le niveau de formation a atténué l’effet du changement technologique sur les écarts de revenus, mais que dans de nombreux pays, il n’a pas suffi à le compenser. Comme l’indiquent de précédentes analyses de l’OCDE, les évolutions des politiques structurelles et des institutions du marché du travail (déréglementation des marchés des produits et du travail notamment) ont exercé une pression à la hausse sur l’inégalité. Le modèle évalué est employé pour décomposer les évolutions historiques des écarts de revenus et pour élaborer des scénarios prospectifs à l’horizon 2060. Si le changement technologique valorisant les compétences observé au cours des 25 dernières années persiste, les écarts de revenus se creuseront de près de 30 % en moyenne d’ici à 2060 dans l’OCDE. Le modèle est par ailleurs utilisé pour simuler les conséquences de scénarios différents dans les 50 prochaines années. |
| Keywords: | globalisation, education, product market regulation, labour market institutions, earning inequalities, skill-biased technological change, changement technologique valorisant les compétences, institutions du marché du travail, éducation, réglementation des marchés de produits, mondialisation, inégalité des revenus |
| JEL: | D31 I24 J24 J31 J38 J58 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1139-en&r=lab |
| By: | Emin Dinlersoz (Bureau of the Census); Henry Hyatt (Bureau of the Census); Jeremy Greenwood (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | What type of businesses do unions target for organizing? A dynamic model of the union organizing process is constructed to answer this question. A union monitors establishments in an industry to learn about their productivity, and decides which ones to organize and when. An establishment becomes unionized if the union targets it for organizing and wins the union certification election. The model predicts two main selection effects: unions organizing occurs in larger and more productive establishments early in their life-cycles, and among the establishments targeted for organizing, unions are more likely to win elections in smaller and less productive ones. These predictions find support in union certification election data for 1977-2007 matched with data on establishment characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Unionization, Union Organizing, Union Certification Election, Diffusion of Unionization, Bayesian Learning, Productivity. |
| JEL: | J5 J50 J51 L11 L23 L25 L6 D24 D21 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eag:rereps:24&r=lab |
| By: | Aleksynska, Mariya; Cazes, Sandrine |
| Keywords: | labour market analysis, labour force, data base, labour flexibility, measurement, data collecting, methodology, analyse du marché du travail, main-d'oeuvre, base de données, flexibilité du travail, mesure, collecte des données, méthodologie, análisis del mercado de mano de obra, mano de obra, base de datos, flexibilidad del trabajo, medición, recopilación de datos, metodología |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:485452&r=lab |
| By: | Martin P. Brosnan; David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | Using detailed travel surveys conducted by the Metropolitan Council of the Minneapolis/St Paul (Twin Cities) Region in Minnesota for 1990, 2000-2001, and 2010-2011, this paper conducts a detailed analysis of journey-to-work times, activity allocation and accessibility. This study corroborates previous studies showing that accessibility is a significant factor in commute durations. Adjusting land use patterns to increase the number of workers in job-rich areas and the number of jobs in labor-rich areas is a reliable way of reducing auto commute durations. The finding that accessibility and commute duration have a large affect on the amount of time spent at work shows that activity patterns are influenced by transportation and the urban environment in very impactful ways. The descriptive results of this analysis show a measurable decline in the time people spend outside of their homes as well as the amount of time people spend in travel over the past decade. Although trip distances per trip are not getting any shorter, the willingness to make those trip is declining, and as a result fewer kilometers are being traveled and less time on average is being allocated to travel. |
| Keywords: | Accessibility, Transport Geography, Travel Behavior, Networks |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:accessibilityandtheallocationoftime&r=lab |
| By: | Niels Vermeer; Maarten van Rooij; Daniel van Vuuren |
| Abstract: | In this study we gauge the impact of social interactions on individual retirement preferences. A survey including self-assessments and vignette questions shows that individual preferences are affected by preferences and actual retirement behavior of the social environment. Retirement from paid work depends on the retirement age of relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Information and advice provided by the social environment play a role in the retirement decision. A majority of respondents would postpone retirement when their social environment retires later. A one year increase in the social environment's retirement age leads to an average increase of three months in the individual retirement age. In addition, people tend to stick more to the state pension age than to other retirement ages, which suggests a norm about retirement at the state pension age. |
| Keywords: | retirement decisions; social norms; sources of advice; state pension age |
| JEL: | J26 J14 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:426&r=lab |
| By: | Jon Kristian Pareliussen |
| Abstract: | Unemployment insurance is a key tool for risk sharing and redistribution and also a prominent automatic stabiliser. It is a volatile spending item by design, which can lead to vulnerabilities. This paper explores various shocks and sources of vulnerability of the unemployment insurance schemes of OECD and BRIICS countries. Policies that boost both financial resilience and benefit adequacy as well as policy trade-offs are explored. Four country clusters are identified with key similarities in the overall policy mix that can shed light on why some countries boast generous benefits and at the same time display high economic efficiency, while other countries face a much more pronounced trade-off. Surmonter les vulnérabilités des systèmes d'assurance chômage L’assurance chômage est un instrument clé de mutualisation des risques et de redistribution, et c’est aussi un stabilisateur automatique majeur. C’est, fondamentalement, un poste de dépenses volatile, ce qui peut entraîner des vulnérabilités. Ce document examine divers chocs et sources de vulnérabilité pour les systèmes d’assurance chômage des pays de l’OCDE et pays BRIICS. Les politiques de nature à améliorer à la fois la résilience financière et le caractère suffisant des prestations, ainsi que les choix à opérer, y sont examinés. Quatre groupes de pays présentant d’importantes similitudes de par l’éventail des politiques mises en oeuvre y sont identifiés, ce qui permet de mieux comprendre pourquoi certains pays enregistrent à la fois des prestations généreuses et de faibles inégalités de revenu en même temps qu’un haut niveau d’efficience économique, tandis que, dans d’autres, ces situations apparaissent beaucoup plus difficiles à concilier. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, unemployment insurance, employment services, labour market policies, chômage, services de l'emploi, assurance chômage, politique du marché du travail |
| JEL: | J21 J40 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2014–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1131-en&r=lab |