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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Cortes, Patricia (Boston University); Pan, Jessica (National University of Singapore) |
| Abstract: | Gender differences in occupations account for a sizable portion of the persistent gender pay gap. This paper examines the relationship between the demand for long hours of work (as proxied for by the share of men working 50 or more hours per week) and skilled women's occupational choice. Exploiting variation across 215 occupations and four decades in the US, we find that the prevalence of overwork in an occupation significantly lowers the share of college educated young married women with children working in that occupation. These findings are robust to controlling for the occupational distribution of similarly aged males and married women with no children, suggesting that the prevalence of overwork reduces the desirability of the work environment for women with family responsibilities and is not merely proxying for other demand side shocks. Similar results are obtained using a panel of European countries. |
| Keywords: | long hours, overwork, occupational choice, gender |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J22 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10225&r=lab |
| By: | Shintaro Yamaguchi |
| Abstract: | This paper constructs and estimates a dynamic discrete choice structural model of female employment and fertility decisions that incorporates job protection and cash benefits of parental leave legislation. The estimated structural model is used for ex ante evaluation of policy reforms that change the duration of job protection and/or the arrangement for cash benefits. Counterfactual simulations indicate that introducing an initial one-year job protection policy increases maternal employment significantly, but extending the existing job protection period from one to three years has little effect. The employment effects of cash benefits also seem modest. Overall, parental leave policies have little effect on fertility. |
| Keywords: | parental leave, female labor supply, discrete choice model, structural estimation |
| JEL: | J13 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:deptwp:2016-10&r=lab |
| By: | Jorge M. Agüero (University of Connecticut); Maithili Ramachandran (University of California, Riverside) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the intergenerational transmission of schooling in a country where the majority of the population was rationed in its access to education. By eliminating apartheid-style policies against blacks, the 1980 education reform in Zimbabwe swiftly tripled the progression rate to secondary schools. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we find large and robust intergenerational transmissions. Placebo tests for white Zimbabweans further validate our design. Evidence of assortative mating suggests that the marriage, rather than the labor, market is a key mechanism for these transmissions. We discuss how our results impact the long-term success and design of antipoverty policies. |
| Keywords: | Schooling, intergenerational effects, Zimbabwe |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2016-25&r=lab |
| By: | Mundra, Kusum (Rutgers University); Rios-Avila, Fernando (Levy Economics Institute) |
| Abstract: | Using data from the CPS this paper examines the role of birth-country networks on immigrants' unemployment duration from 2001 to 2013. We find that networks significantly lower unemployment duration for all immigrants. Varying the effect of networks over duration categories we find that networks are more effective in lowering duration for immigrants unemployed for 1-2 months than immigrants who are unemployed for longer periods and this effect is further strengthened during the post recession period. This supports the Calvo-Armengol and Jackson hypothesis which posits that longer the agent is unemployed, less effective are her social networks in job search. Our findings are robust to different specifications. |
| Keywords: | social networks, immigrants, unemployment duration, Great Recession |
| JEL: | J61 J64 D10 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10233&r=lab |
| By: | Marco Alfano (University of Strathclyde); Christian Dustmann (University College London); Tommaso Frattini (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the main features of immigration in the UK, and puts it in perspective with the experience of other advanced economies. It then reviews the most recent available evidence on the labour market and fiscal effects of immigration in the UK. This evidence is assessed in relation to some of the claims that were made in the run up to the Brexit referendum. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Brexit, labour market impact, fiscal impact |
| JEL: | J31 J61 J68 |
| Date: | 2016–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:402&r=lab |
| By: | Erixon, Lennart (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | The Swedish Rehn-Meidner model is a unique economic- and wage-policy program for the simultaneous achievement of full employment, price stability, growth and equality. This article presents, specifies and develops the model’s underlying macroeconomic theory. The Rehn-Meidner theory is a synthesis between a flex-price Kaldorian model of profit margins and a Kaleckian model where profit margins are squeezed under full-employment conditions. The theory deviates from both Kaldorian and Kaleckian models by stressing the importance of low profit margins for productivity growth. The Rehn-Meidner theory and policy deserve a prominent place in macroeconomics even in the age of globalization and financialization. However, some weaknesses of the model make it necessary to modify the arguments for and partly the composition of its policy program. |
| Keywords: | Rehn-Meidner model; labor market policy; wage policy of solidarity; structural change; productivity growth; inflation |
| JEL: | E11 E12 E23 E24 E25 E31 E32 E62 F43 |
| Date: | 2016–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2016_0003&r=lab |
| By: | Etienne Gagnon; Benjamin K. Johannsen; J. David Lopez-Salido |
| Abstract: | Since the onset of the Great Recession, the U.S. economy has experienced low real GDP growth and low real interest rates, including for long maturities. We show that these developments were largely predictable by calibrating an overlapping-generation model with a rich demographic structure to observed and projected changes in U.S. population, family composition, life expectancy, and labor market activity. The model accounts for a 1¼–percentage point decline in both real GDP growth and the equilibrium real interest rate since 1980—essentially all of the permanent declines in those variables according to some recent estimates. The model also implies that these declines were especially pronounced over the past decade or so because of demographic factors most-directly associated with the baby boom and the passing of the information technology boom. Our results further suggest that real GDP growth and real interest rates will remain low in coming decades, consistent with the U.S economy having reached a “new normal.” |
| Keywords: | Demographics ; Equilibrium real interest rate ; GDP growth ; New normal |
| JEL: | E17 E21 J11 |
| Date: | 2016–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2016-80&r=lab |
| By: | Michal Burzynski (CREA, Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a multi-country model of international migration in which college-educated workers choose their destination country, preferred type of visa, and the optimal duration of stay. Combining these elements into a unified theoretical framework provides a micro-foundation for the multilateral resistance to migration. The proposed theory is applied to investigate the global implications of decreasing the costs of six-year visas for highly skilled professionals in the EU, calibrated as an introduction of H1B visas. This is compared with a policy of reducing income tax for medium-term, college-educated, foreign workers. The two counterfactuals indicate a significant rise in the yearly inflows and total stocks of highly skilled immigrants into the EU. The outcomes of the former policy are driven by a “visa-substitution” effect within the group of current emigrants, while the latter scenario results in an increase in the pool of international migrants. Both policies induce a “destination-substitution” effect—losses of skilled migrants by non-EU states, which is reinforced by a multilateral resistance to migration. |
| Keywords: | migration policy, temporary migration, discrete choice models, H1B visas |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:16-12&r=lab |
| By: | Loken, Katrine Vellesen (University of Bergen); Lommerud, Kjell Erik (University of Bergen); Reiso, Katrine Holm (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using rich administrative data from Norway, we evaluate a 1998 work-encouraging reform targeted at single parents. We especially focus on educational performance for children of the involved single mothers. For all children of single mothers, the effect on school grades at completion of junior high school at age 16 is near zero and insignificant. If one concentrates on younger single mothers, those most likely to be affected by the reform, the grade point average of their children drops significantly by 7% of a standard deviation. We isolate groups of mothers who are affected by the reform either primarily by having less time at home, or by reduced income. The children of both groups of mothers experience drops in school grades, so both reduced parental time and reduced income matter. The effect of reduced parental time, though, seems to be the more important. |
| Keywords: | welfare reform, single mothers, child development, time and money investments |
| JEL: | I24 I38 J13 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10219&r=lab |
| By: | Axel Gottfries (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom); Coen Teulings (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | A wide class of models with On-the-Job Search (OJS) predicts that workers gradually select into better-paying jobs, until lay-off occurs, when this selection process starts over from scratch. We develop a simple methodology to test these predictions. Our inference uses two sources of identification to distinguish between returns to experience and the gains from OJS: (i) time-variation in job-finding rates and (ii)the time since the last lay-off. Conditional on the termination date of the job, job duration should be distributed uniformly. Using extreme value theory, we can infer the shape of the wage-offer distribution from the effect of the time since the last lay-off on wages. This methodology is applied to the NLSY 79. We find remarkably strong support for all implications. The offer distribution is Gumbel, which has an unbounded support, which is inconsistent with pure sorting models. The standard deviation of wage offers is 7 to 15% (depending on educational level and urbanisation). OJS accounts for 30% of the experience profile and 9% of total wage dispersion. The average wage loss after lay-off is 11%. |
| Keywords: | On-the-job search; Wage dispersion; Job duration |
| JEL: | J31 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2016–10–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20160080&r=lab |
| By: | Dustmann, Christian (University College London); Fasani, Francesco (Queen Mary, University of London); Frattini, Tommaso (University of Milan); Minale, Luigi (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Schönberg, Uta (University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of refugee migration, with emphasis on the current refugee crisis. After first reviewing the institutional framework laid out by the Geneva Convention for Refugees, we demonstrate that, despite numerous attempts at developing a common European asylum policy, EU countries continue to differ widely in interpretation and implementation. We then describe key features of the current refugee crisis and document the overall magnitudes and types of refugee movements, illegal border crossings, and asylum applications to EU member states. We next turn to the economics of refugee migrations, contrasting economic and refugee migrants, discussing the trade-offs between long-term asylum and temporary protection, and highlighting the economic advantages of increasingly coordinating the different national asylum policies. Finally, we illustrate the economic integration of past refugee migrants to EU countries and conclude with several policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | asylum policy, asylum seekers, refugee crisis |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10234&r=lab |
| By: | Nyström, Kristina (Center of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), Division of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Department of Industrial Economics and Management, The Royal Institute of Technology, & The Ratio Institute, Stockholm Sweden.) |
| Abstract: | According to Hoetker and Agarwal (2007), research on knowledge transfers related to business closures is scarce. This paper intends to fill the knowledge gap on the transition to entrepreneurship after a business closure. This paper studies which employees are most likely to start an entrepreneurial venture after being affected by a displacement. Furthermore, following e.g., Hyttinen and Maliranta (2008) and Sørensen (2007), this study investigates the link between former workplace characteristics, such as the size and age of the former workplace, and the transition into entrepreneurship. In the second part of the analysis, the performance of the entrepreneurial ventures started by employees after displacement are explored as it relates to survival, employment and profitability. The empirical setting employs an employer–employee matched dataset coving all displaced employees in Sweden during 2001-2010. The empirical findings suggest that employees displaced from smaller firms are more likely to transition to entrepreneurship, Employing a Cox proportional hazard model to study the survival of these companies shows that new firms generated by displaced employees from small establishments are more viable. Furthermore, individuals who took part in labor market polices have a higher probability of becoming entrepreneurs, although these firms tend to show lower survival rates, which indicates that these transitions are necessity based. As for the performance of the business, the empirical findings suggest modest growth in terms of employment, turnover and operating profit for the vast majority of entrepreneurial ventures started after displacement. |
| Keywords: | Displacements; exit. Entrepreneurship; Labor mobility |
| JEL: | J63 L26 |
| Date: | 2016–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0443&r=lab |
| By: | T. Alexandra Beauregard; L. Arevshatian; Jonathan E. Booth; S. Whittle |
| Abstract: | We find that only 17% of FTSE 100 company websites refer directly to transgender (‘trans’) individuals, illustrating the extent to which trans voices are unheard in the workplace. We propose that these voices are missing for a number of reasons: voluntary silence to protect oneself from adverse circumstances; the subsumption of trans voices within the larger ‘LGBT’ community; assimilation, wherein many trans voices become affiliated with those of their post-transition gender; multiple trans voices arising from diversity within the transgender community; and limited access to voice mechanisms for transgender employees. We identify the negative implications of being unheard for individual trans employees, for organizational outcomes, and for business and management scholarship, and propose ways in which organizations can listen more carefully to trans voices. Finally, we introduce an agenda for future research that tests the applicability of the theoretical framework of invisible stigma disclosure to transgender individuals, and calls for new theoretical and empirical developments to identify HRM challenges and best practices for respecting trans employees and their choices to remain silent or be heard. |
| Keywords: | transgender; LGBT; voice; silence; diversity |
| JEL: | R14 J01 J50 |
| Date: | 2016–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:67793&r=lab |
| By: | Alessandro Tampieri (University of Greenwich, United Kingdom); Majlinda Joxhe (CREA, Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the decision to acquire higher education may affect job and marital satisfaction. We propose a theoretical model where individuals decide whether to attend university both for obtaining higher job satisfaction and for meeting potential partners. As the probability of marrying an educated partner increases (due to positive educational assortative matching), the average ability of university students falls, since more (low ability) students are willing to attend university. Two effects can be withdrawn: (i) average job satisfaction decreases, while (ii) marital satisfaction increases. We then test the model using the British Household Panel Survey for years 1996-2008, using a dynamic bivariate model. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, we find that higher education is correlated with lower average job satisfaction. In addition, the higher education of the partner increases marital satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | higher education, job satisfaction, marital satisfaction |
| JEL: | I21 J12 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:16-10&r=lab |