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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Marianne Bertrand (Booth School of Business, University of Chicago); Patricia Cortés (Questrom School of Business, Boston University); Claudia Olivetti (Boston College; NBER); Jessica Pan (National University of Singapore) |
| Abstract: | In most of the developed world, skilled women marry at a lower rate than unskilled women. We document heterogeneity across countries in how the marriage gap for skilled women has evolved over time. As labor market opportunities for women have improved, the marriage gap has been growing in some countries but shrinking in others. We discuss a theoretical model in which the (negative) social attitudes towards working women might contribute towards the lower marriage rate of skilled women, and might also induce a non-linear relationship between their labor market prospects and their marriage outcomes. The model is suited to understand the dynamics of the marriage gap for skilled women over time within a country with set social attitudes towards working women. The model also delivers predictions about how the marriage gap for skilled women should react to changes in their labor market opportunities across countries with more or less conservative attitudes towards working women. We test the key predictions of this model in a panel of 23 developed countries, as well as in a panel of US states. |
| Keywords: | Marriage, Social Norms, Gender |
| JEL: | J11 J12 J16 |
| Date: | 2016–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:902&r=lab |
| By: | Stockinger, Bastian (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Wolf, Katja (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Several empirical studies find that worker inflows from more productive or otherwise superior firms increase hiring firms' productivity. We conduct a similar analysis for Germany, using a unique linked employer-employee data set, and ranking sending and hiring establishments by their median wage. We find that inflows from superior (higher-paying) establishments do not increase hiring establishments' productivity, but inflows from inferior establishments seem to. Further analyses suggest this effect is due to positive selectivity of such inflows from their sending establishments. Our findings can be interpreted as evidence of a reallocation process by which the best employees of lower-paying establishments become hired by higher-paying establishments. This process reflects the increasingly assortative pattern of worker mobility in Germany, to which our findings suggest a micro-foundation at the establishment and worker levels." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | D24 J61 J62 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201607&r=lab |
| By: | Rense Nieuwenhuis; Wim Van Lancker; Diego Collado; Bea Cantillon |
| Abstract: | Although employment growth is propagated as being crucial to reduce poverty across OECD countries, the actual impact of employment growth on poverty rates is still unclear. This study presents novel estimates of the impact of macro-level trends in female labour force participation on trends in poverty, across 15 OECD countries from 1971 to 2013. It does so based on over 2 million household-level observations from the LIS Database, using Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions. This method allows for disentangling the impact of increasing women’s employment rates from other possible confounders driving poverty outcomes. The results indicate that an increase of 10 percentage points in the female labour force participation rate was associated with a reduction of 1 percentage point of poverty across these countries. The increase in women’s employment has had a significant impact on poverty trends. However, in the Nordic countries no such poverty reducing effect was found, as in these countries womens employment rates were very high and stable throughout the observation period. In countries that initially showed marked increases in women’s employment, such as the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Canada, and the United States, the initial increases in women’s employment rates were typically followed by a period in which these trends levelled off. Hence, our findings suggest that the potential of following an employment strategy to reduce poverty in OECD countries has, to a large extent, been depleted. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1602&r=lab |
| By: | Bassford, Micaela; Fisher, Hayley |
| Abstract: | Paid parental leave has become an increasingly important part of family policy in OECD countries: by 2004 on average over a year of leave paid at 59% of average wages was provided. Australia's Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme was introduced in 2011 and provides 18 weeks of leave paid at the full time minimum wage for the primary carer of a child. Prior to the scheme, federal and state legislation provided paid maternity leave for most state and federal employees. We estimate the effect of access to paid parental leave on women's fertility desires and intentions by exploiting the differential impact of the scheme for women working in the public and private sectors. We find that the announcement of the scheme had no impact on fertility desires or intentions at the extensive margin but that, conditional on intending to have at least one (more) child, the number of children intended increases by 0.28, a 13% increase. This effect is driven by highly educated women who do not already have children. As it has been shown that fertility intentions predict fertility outcomes, these results suggest that even modest paid parental leave programs can increase the fertility of working women and so moderate the declines in fertility rates seen in many developed countries. |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:syd:wpaper:2016-04&r=lab |
| By: | Leonardo Fabio Morales; Daniel Medina |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we compute standard measures of fluidity for the Colombian urban labor market: worker and job reallocation rates and the excess of worker reallocation over job reallocation. We analyze the period between the second semester of 2008 and the second semester of 2014, finding evidence of an increase of fluidity in the labor market, especially after 2010. We test the hypothesis of a positive effect of fluidity on different employment and occupation indexes using instrumental variables regression models that exploit the variation of labor results and fluidity measures between metropolitan areas and over time. We find robust and positive effects of fluidity on some labor market result indexes related to employment and occupation. To the best of our knowledge, a positive causal effect of fluidity on the performance of the labor market has not been documented for a developing economy. |
| Keywords: | Labor market fluidity, unemployment, occupation. |
| JEL: | J60 J63 J11 |
| Date: | 2016–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:014249&r=lab |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Wang, Zhiling (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Using longitudinal data on immigrants in the Netherlands for the years 1991, 1994, 1998, 2002, we examined the impacts of social contacts and Dutch language proficiency on adult foreign-born men's earnings, employment and occupational status. The main conclusions are as follows. On average, social contacts and a good mastery of the Dutch language enhance immigrants' economic performances. The effects are stronger for immigrants with low-skill-transferability than for immigrants with high-skill-transferability, and are stronger for economic migrants than for non-economic migrants. Contact with Dutch people and Dutch organisations unambiguously enhances all aspects of immigrants' economic performance, however, we found no evidence for the positive effect of co-ethnic contact on employment status. |
| Keywords: | social capital, Dutch language proficiency, labour market performance, Dutch immigrants, skill transferability |
| JEL: | J15 J61 Z13 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9760&r=lab |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert |
| Abstract: | Labor force transitions are empirically examined using CPS data matched across months from 1996-2012 for Hispanics, African-Americans and whites. Transition probabilities are contrasted prior to the Great Recession and afterwards. Estimates indicate that minorities are more likely to be fired as business cycle conditions worsen. Estimates also show that minorities are usually more likely to be hired when business cycle conditions are weak. During the Great Recession, the odds of losing a job increased for minorities although cyclical sensitivity of the transition declined. Odds of becoming re-employed declined dramatically for blacks, by 2-4 percent, while the probability was unchanged for Hispanics. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, unemployment, race, minorities, labor market, labor force, dynamics, Great Recession |
| Date: | 2016–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt4542h7rq&r=lab |
| By: | Jordi Galí |
| Abstract: | I develop a version of the New Keynesian model with insider- outsider labor markets and hysteresis that can account for the high persistence of European unemployment. I study the implications of that environment for the design of monetary policy. The optimal policy calls for strong emphasis on unemployment stabilization which a standard interest rate rule fails to deliver, with the gap between the two increasing in the degree of hysteresis. A simple interest rule that includes the unemployment rate is shown to approximate well the optimal policy. |
| Keywords: | wage stickiness, New Keynesian model, unemployment fluctuations, Phillips curve, monetary policy tradeoffs. |
| JEL: | E24 E31 E32 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1506&r=lab |
| By: | Juan Guerra-Salas |
| Abstract: | This paper offers an explanation for the substantial decline in income inequality in Latin America during the 2000s, which is known to have been mainly driven by a decline in the skill premium. The 2000s were characterized by an economic expansion concentrated on low-skill-intensive service sectors. The expansion induced an increase in the demand for low-skilled labor relative to highskilled labor, which compressed the skill premium. Procyclical fiscal policy exacerbated the distributional effects of the boom by contributing to the growth of the service sector. I first document the expansion was concentrated on services while manufacturing lagged behind, and show declining inequality is associated with procyclical fiscal policy. I then rationalize the evidence using a small open economy DSGE model that features a low-skill-intensive nontradable sector relative to the tradable sector, and procyclical government purchases. This framework implies that at least part of the decline in inequality is transitory, a prediction supported by recent data |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chb:bcchwp:779&r=lab |
| By: | Andriopoulou, Eirini (Athens University of Economics and Business); Tsakloglou, Panos (Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | We analyze poverty dynamics in Europe for the periods 1994‐2001 and 2005‐2008 using, respectively, the data of the ECHP and the EU‐SILC. We focus on poverty profiles depicting poverty duration, recurrence and persistence and, then, on the trigger events (income, demographic, labour market) associated with movements into and out of poverty, using a modified version of the Bane and Ellwood (1986) framework of event analysis. Multivariate logit analysis is employed in order to identify the socioeconomic factors affecting transitions into and out of poverty. Cross‐country differences, as well as differences in poverty dynamic trends between the two periods, are examined. Poverty profiles show a consistency with the welfare regime typology during the period 1994‐2001, but the results are not entirely clear in the pre‐crisis period. The results differ significantly across countries when the events associated with poverty exits and entries are examined in detail, although five general patterns emerge: a) In both periods, income events and especially changes in head's labor earnings seem to be highly associated with poverty transitions in all countries, but more so in the Mediterranean countries, while demographic events seem to be relatively more important in Northern countries; b) Employment events are more important for ending a poverty spell than unemployment events for starting a poverty spell; c) The importance of second income earners (finding a job or increasing earnings) for bringing the household out of poverty was established in both periods; d) The demographic events have a stronger effect in the EU‐SILC than the ECHP for poverty entries and weaker for poverty exits; e) The socioeconomic characteristics of the household and the household head present a rather similar patterns across countries in both periods examined. |
| Keywords: | poverty, EU, ECHP, EU‐SILC, event analysis |
| JEL: | I32 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9750&r=lab |
| By: | Wang, Fei (Renmin University of China); Zhao, Liqiu (Renmin University of China); Zhao, Zhong (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | China initiated its family planning policy in 1962 and one-child policy in 1980 and allows all couples to have two children as of 1st January, 2016. This paper systematically examines the labor market consequences of China's family planning policies. First, we briefly review the major historical evolution of China's family planning policies. Second, we investigate the effects of these policies on the labor market, focusing on the size and quality of the working-age population and its age and gender composition and paying special attention to regional as well as rural-urban differences in the demographic structure resulting from the interaction of the family planning policies and internal migration. Last, we discuss undergoing and prospective policy changes and potential consequences. Though urban areas and coastal provinces have implemented stricter family planning policies, our analysis shows that because of internal migration, the aging problem is more severe in rural areas and in inland provinces. Our simulation results further indicate that the new two-child policy may be too late and too little to alleviate the aging problem in China. |
| Keywords: | One-Child Policy, aging, sex ratio, quantity–quality model, migration |
| JEL: | J13 J11 J21 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9746&r=lab |
| By: | Purva Khera |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the macroeconomic interaction between informality and gender inequality in the labor market. A dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model is built to study the impact of gender-targeted policies on female labor force participation, female formal employment, gender wage gap, as well as on aggregate economic outcomes. The model is estimated using Bayesian techniques and Indian data. Although these policies are found to increase female labor force participation and output, lack of sufficient formal job creation due to labor market rigidities leads to an increase in unemployment and informality, and further widens gender gaps in formal employment and wages. Simultaneously implementing such policies with formal job creating policies helps remove these adverse impacts while also leading to significantly larger gains in output. |
| Keywords: | Poverty and inequality;India;Gender;Labor markets;Labor force participation;Informal sector;General equilibrium models;gender inequality, informality, DSGE model, Indian economy, Bayesian estimation |
| Date: | 2016–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:16/16&r=lab |
| By: | KODAMA Naomi; Beata S. JAVORCIK; ABE Yukiko |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of foreign ownership on gender-related employment outcomes and work practices in Japan. The data indicate that the proportion of females among workers, managers, directors, and board members is higher, and the gender wage gap is smaller, in foreign affiliates than in domestic firms of comparable size operating in the same industry. Foreign affiliates are also more likely to offer flexible working arrangements, telecommuting, and child care subsidies. These effects are mostly visible in older affiliates and are more pronounced in affiliates with a larger foreign ownership share. These patterns are in line with the view that it takes time to transplant corporate culture to an overseas affiliate and that a higher ownership stake may facilitate this process. |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:16015&r=lab |
| By: | Franck, Raphaël (Bar-Ilan University); Galor, Oded (Brown University) |
| Abstract: | The research explores the effect of industrialization on human capital formation. Exploiting exogenous regional variations in the adoption of steam engines across France, the study establishes that, in contrast to conventional wisdom that views early industrialization as a predominantly deskilling process, the industrial revolution was conducive for human capital formation, generating broad increases in literacy rates and educational attainment. |
| Keywords: | technology-skill complementarity, economic growth, industrialization, human capital, steam engine |
| JEL: | N33 N34 O14 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9758&r=lab |
| By: | Philip Du Caju; François Rycx (Université Libre de Bruxelles); Ilan Tojerow (Université Libre de Bruxelles) |
| Abstract: | We study how unemployment effects the over-indebtedness of households using the new European Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). First, we assess the role of different labor market statuses (i.e. employed, unemployed, disabled, retired, etc.) and other household characteristics (i.e. demographics, housing status, household wealth and income, etc.) to determine the likelihood of over-indebtedness. We explore these relationships both at the Euro area level and through country-specific regressions. This approach captures country-specific institutional effects concerning all the different factors which can explain household indebtedness in its most severe form. We also examine the role that each country’s legal and economic institutions play in explaining these differences. The results of the regressions across all countries show that the odds of being over-indebted are much higher in households where the reference person is unemployed. These odds ratios remain fairly stable across different over-indebtedness indicators and specifications. Interestingly, we find similar results for secured debt only. Turning to country specific results, the role of unemployment varies widely across countries. In Spain, France or Portugal, for example, the odds ratio for the unemployed group is just below 2, whereas in Austria, Belgium, or Italy the odds ratio is higher than 4. Secondly, we situate the analysis in a macro-micro frame to identify households and countries that are especially vulnerable to adverse macroeconomic shocks in the labor market. For the Euro area, we find that the percentage of households plagued by overindebtedness increased by more than 10%, suggesting that another unemployment shock could have a major impact on the financial solvency of Euro area households. Finally, the impact of this shock on single-headed households is much higher than on couple-headed ones. |
| Keywords: | Household finance, Over-indebtedness, Financial Fragility, Unemployment, Labor market status, HFCS |
| JEL: | D14 D91 J12 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201602-294&r=lab |
| By: | Pekkarinen, Tuomas (Government Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics); Sarvimäki, Matti (Aalto University) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents trends in social mobility in Norway starting from fathers born at the turn of the 20th century and ending with sons born in the 1970s. We measure social mobility with intergenerational income elasticities, associations between fathers' and sons' income percentiles, and brother correlations. All approaches suggest that social mobility increased substantially between cohorts born in the early 1930s and the early 1940s. Father-son associations remained stable for cohorts born after WWII, while brother correlations continued to decline. The relationship between fathers' and sons' income percentile ranks is highly nonlinear for the early cohorts, but approaches linearity over time. We discuss increasing educational attainment among low- and middle-income families as a possible mechanism behind these trends. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, education, sibling correlation |
| JEL: | I24 J08 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9752&r=lab |