nep-lab New Economics Papers
on Labour Economics
Issue of 2016‒12‒18
twenty papers chosen by
Joseph Marchand
University of Alberta

  1. The Ins and Outs of Employment in 25 OECD Countries By Paula Garda
  2. The effects of immigration on household services, labour supply and fertility By Romiti, Agnese
  3. The effects of international migration on native workers’ unionization in Austria By José-Ignacio Antón; René Böheim; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer
  4. Enhancing Economic Flexibility: What Is in It for Workers? By Boris Cournède; Oliver Denk; Paula Garda; Peter Hoeller
  5. Is There a Rationale to Contact the Unemployed Right from the Start? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment By van Landeghem, Bert; Cörvers, Frank; de Grip, Andries
  6. Discrimination against female migrants wearing headscarves By Doris Weichselbaumer
  7. How Do Product Market Regulations Affect Workers?: Evidence from the Network Industries By Oliver Denk
  8. Effects of Flexibility-Enhancing Reforms on Employment Transitions By Boris Cournède; Oliver Denk; Paula Garda
  9. Interregional Migration, Human Capital Externalities and Unemployment Dynamics: Evidence from Italian Provinces By Roberto Basile; Alessandro Girardi; Marianna Mantuano; Giuseppe Russo
  10. The Life-cycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program By Jorge Luis Garcia; James J. Heckman; Duncan Ermini Leaf; Maria Jose Prados
  11. Labor Market Frictions and Monetary Policy Design By Anna Almosova;
  12. Household formation over time: evidence from two cohorts of young adults By Cooper, Daniel H.; Luengo-Prado, Maria Jose
  13. Assortative Mating: A Genetic Assessment By Nicola Barban; Elisabetta De Cao; Sonia Oreffice; Climent Quintana-Domeque
  14. Spatial Labour Market Matching By Elzbieta Antczak; Ewa Galecka-Burdziak; Robert Pater
  15. Adaptive learning and labour market dynamics By Di Pace, Frederico; Mitra, Kaushik; Zhang, Shoujian
  16. Multiculturalism and Growth: Skill-Specific Evidence from the Post-World War II Period By Frédéric Docquier; Riccardo Turati; Jérôme Valette; Chrysovalantis Vasilakis
  17. The effect of culture on the fertility decisions of immigrant women in the United States By Marcén, Miriam; Molina, Jose Alberto; Morales, Marina
  18. Public and Private Learning in the Market for Teachers: Evidence from the Adoption of Value-Added Measures By Michael Bates
  19. Measuring Social Interaction Effects when Instruments are Weak By Stephen L. Ross; Zhentao Shi
  20. How labor regulation affects innovation and investment: A neo-Schumpeterian approach. By Giorgio Calcagnini; Germana Giombini; Giuseppe Travaglini

  1. By: Paula Garda
    Abstract: This paper presents quantitative information on labour market flows for 25 OECD countries. It uses household surveys that offer the advantage of reporting monthly transitions between employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for individuals. Between 2005 and 2012, the annual probability of leaving employment averaged 10% across OECD countries. Jobless people have a 30% average probability of finding a job. The analysis uncovers significant cross-country differences and highlights key facts about how labour market flows differ depending on socio-demographic, worker characteristics and the institutional framework. Female, young, low educated and low income workers are at highest risk of becoming jobless. Young jobless individuals have higher chances of finding a job than their older counterparts. Female, low educated and low income jobless individuals face a lower probability of finding a job than others. Les transitions professionnelles dans 25 pays de l’OCDE Cet article présente des données quantitatives concernant les flux de main-d’oeuvre sur le marché du travail dans 25 pays de l’OCDE. Les enquêtes sur lesquelles il repose présentent l’avantage de fournir des informations mensuelles sur les transitions entre emploi, chômage et inactivité au niveau individuel. Entre 2005 et 2012, la probabilité annuelle de quitter son emploi était en moyenne de 10 % dans l’ensemble de la zone OCDE, tandis que la probabilité moyenne de trouver un emploi s’établissait à 30 %. L’analyse met en évidence des différences importantes entre les pays et décrit les grandes évolutions des flux de main-d’oeuvre sur le marché du travail en fonction des caractéristiques sociodémographiques et professionnelles des travailleurs ainsi que du cadre institutionnel. Elle révèle ainsi que les femmes, les jeunes, les moins qualifiés et les travailleurs à faible revenu sont les catégories les plus exposées au risque de perdre son emploi, que les jeunes sans emploi ont davantage de chances de trouver du travail que leurs homologues plus âgés, et que, parmi les personnes sans emploi, les femmes, les travailleurs peu qualifiés et les travailleurs à bas revenu présentent une moindre probabilité de retour à l’emploi.
    Keywords: employment transitions, labour market, skills, socio-economic inequality, unemployment
    JEL: J23 J62 J82 J63
    Date: 2016–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1350-en&r=lab
  2. By: Romiti, Agnese (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany])
    Abstract: "Fertility and female labour force participation are no longer negatively correlated in developed countries. Recently, the role of immigration has been put forward as a driving factor among others. Increased immigration affects supply and prices of household services, which are relevant for fertility and employment decisions. This paper analyses the effect of immigration on labour supply and fertility of native women in the UK, with a focus on the role of immigration on household services. Adopting an instrumental variable approach based on the country-specific past distribution of immigrants at regional level, I find that immigration increases female labour supply, without affecting fertility. My results show that immigration increases the size of the childcare sector, and reduces its prices, suggesting that immigrants may ease the trade-off between working and child rearing among native women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
    JEL: D10 F22 J13 J22 J61
    Date: 2016–12–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201640&r=lab
  3. By: José-Ignacio Antón; René Böheim; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer
    Abstract: We analyze the effects of increased immigration of foreign workers on the unionization rates of native workers in Austrian firms over the period 2002–2012. Our results suggest that lower union density of natives’ in firms with more foreign workers is driven not by natives leaving unions, but by the different composition of turnover depending on the share of foreigners in the firm.
    Keywords: migration, unions, turnover, hiring
    JEL: J51 J61 J63
    Date: 2016–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2016_12&r=lab
  4. By: Boris Cournède; Oliver Denk; Paula Garda; Peter Hoeller
    Abstract: Reforms that boost growth by enhancing economic flexibility often meet strong opposition related to concerns that they may imply adverse consequences for categories of workers. This study investigates how making product or labour market regulation more flexible changes workers’ risks of moving out of employment and jobless people’s chances of becoming employed. To do so, it employs specially harmonised micro-level data covering individual workers in 26 OECD countries. The micro-econometric regressions reveal that labour market reforms do not uniformly influence transitions in and out of employment but that their effects vary depending on institutions and other policy settings. For instance, making employment protection of regular contracts more flexible is associated with more transitions into employment in countries that have above-average activation programmes. As for product market reforms, they are found to boost transitions into employment, especially for women, and to have no systematic effect on exits, so that overall they tend to boost aggregate employment, in line with earlier evidence. The micro-data show that workers with low earnings potential, who, already before reforms, experience much higher transition rates in and out of employment than other groups, face particularly strong increases in employment churn when product market regulations become more flexible. Additional micro-econometric analysis focusing on sectors subject to specific product market regulation (energy, transport, communication) reveals that workers employed in tightly regulated sectors typically earn more than their peers with similar characteristics working elsewhere. Taken together, the findings can help enhance reform design, in particular by highlighting the benefits of (a) policy packages drawing on complementarities between product and labour market reforms, (b) active labour market programmes that effectively support more vulnerable workers and (c) broad reforms over narrow compensation schemes. Flexibilité économique : Que faut-il en attendre pour les travailleurs ? Les réformes qui visent à stimuler la croissance en misant sur une plus grande flexibilité de l’économie rencontrent souvent une forte opposition en raison des retombées négatives qu’elles font craindre pour certaines catégories de travailleurs. Cette étude explore les incidences qu’un assouplissement de la réglementation du marché du travail ou du marché des produits peut avoir sur le risque de perdre son emploi pour ceux qui en ont un et sur les chances de trouver un emploi pour ceux qui n’en ont pas. Pour cela, les auteurs utilisent des microdonnées individuelles spécialement harmonisées portant sur 26 pays de l’OCDE. Les régressions microéconométriques montrent que les réformes du marché du travail n’ont pas toute la même incidence sur les transitions professionnelles, mais que leurs effets varient en fonction du cadre institutionnel et d’autres paramètres de l’action gouvernementale. Par exemple, une protection plus souple des contrats à durée indéterminée va de pair avec une hausse des transitions vers l’emploi dans les pays où les programmes d’activation sont plus développés que la moyenne. Quant aux réformes du marché des produits, on constate qu’elles favorisent les transitions vers l’emploi, surtout chez les femmes, et qu’elles n’ont pas d’effet systématique sur les sorties, ce qui confirme leur aptitude à doper l’emploi global, comme d’autres travaux l’ont déjà démontré. Les microdonnées montrent que les travailleurs à faible potentiel de gains qui connaissent déjà, avant les réformes, des changements de situation beaucoup plus fréquents que les autres catégories sur le marché du travail, sont exposés à une hausse particulièrement forte de leur taux de rotation lorsque la réglementation du marché des produits s’assouplit. Une autre analyse micro-économétrique centrée sur les secteurs faisant l’objet de réglementations spécifiques (énergie, transports, communications) révèle que les travailleurs des secteurs strictement réglementés sont généralement mieux payés, à caractéristiques égales, que les travailleurs des autres secteurs. Considérés dans leur ensemble, les résultats de l’étude peuvent aider à améliorer la conception des réformes en soulignant notamment les avantages que présentent a) des mesures axées sur la complémentarité entre les réformes du marché des produits et du marché du travail, b) des programmes actifs du marché du travail efficaces pour venir en aide aux travailleurs les plus vulnérables, et c) des réformes de grande envergure plutôt que des systèmes de compensation limités à certains secteurs.
    Keywords: employment projection legislation, labour market, marché du travail, micro data, product market regulation, structural reform
    JEL: D04 J08 J63
    Date: 2016–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaab:19-en&r=lab
  5. By: van Landeghem, Bert; Cörvers, Frank (ROA / Human capital in the region); de Grip, Andries (Research Centre for Educ and Labour Mark)
    Abstract: Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) often exclusively target towards the long-term unemployed. Although it might be more efficient to intervene earlier in order to prevent long-term unemployment rather than to cure it, the climate of austerity in Eurozone countries is spreading a tendency to further reduce the basic counselling for those who become unemployed. This study investigates the impact on employment chances of a relatively light and inexpensive intervention. In a field experiment in a public employment office in Flanders, a random selection of clients were invited for a mandatory information session in the first month of the unemployment spell, while the control group were invited after four months of unemployment. Although the average intention-to-treat effect we find is not significant, the early intervention appears to be very beneficial for those with low education.
    Keywords: active labour market policies, unemployment, natural field experiment
    JEL: D04 D61 J64 J68
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2016038&r=lab
  6. By: Doris Weichselbaumer
    Abstract: Germany is currently experiencing a high influx of Muslim migrants. From a policy perspective, integration of migrants into the labor market is crucial. Hence, a field experiment was conducted that examined the employment chances of females with backgrounds of migration from Muslim countries, and especially of those wearing headscarves. It focused on Turkish migrants, who have constituted a large demographic group in Germany since the 1970s. In the field experiment presented here, job applications for three fictitious female characters with identical qualifications were sent out in response to job advertisements: one applicant had a German name, one a Turkish name, and one had a Turkish name and was wearing a headscarf in the photograph included in the application material. Germany was the ideal location for the experiment as job seekers typically attach their picture to their résumé. High levels of discrimination were found particularly against the migrant wearing a headscarf.
    Keywords: Discrimination, Muslim religion, Headscarf, Hiring, Experiment
    JEL: C93 J15 J71
    Date: 2016–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2016_09&r=lab
  7. By: Oliver Denk
    Abstract: Knowing who gains and loses from regulatory reform is important for understanding the political economy of reform. Using micro-level data from 26 countries, this paper studies how regulatory reform of network industries, a policy priority in many advanced economies, influences the labour market situation of workers in network industries. Estimates are identified from changes in a worker’s pay, industry-level employment flows and regulation over time. The main finding is that the regulation of network industries provides workers in this industry with a wage premium and higher employment stability relative to similar workers in other industries. Regulatory reform therefore tends to align labour income and employment stability in the reformed industry with those in other industries. Workers in the reformed industry lose out compared with others, because they no longer benefit from “excess” pay and employment stability. Réglementation des marchés de produits : Quelles conséquences pour le marché du travail dans les industries de réseau ? Pour comprendre l’économie politique d’une réforme réglementaire, il est important de savoir qui seront les gagnants et qui seront les perdants. À partir de microdonnées recueillies dans 26 pays, cet article étudie les incidences que la déréglementation des industries de réseau – une priorité de l’action publique dans de nombreux pays avancés – peut avoir sur la situation des travailleurs employés dans ce secteur. Les effets sont estimés sur la base des variations observées au niveau des salaires, des flux de main-d’oeuvre et de la réglementation. Les principaux résultats de l’analyse montrent que, dans les industries de réseau, la réglementation se traduit par une prime de salaire et une plus grande stabilité de l’emploi que dans les autres secteurs. La déréglementation tend donc à aligner vers le bas les revenus salariaux et le niveau de stabilité de l’emploi des travailleurs concernés, qui sont les perdants de la réforme puisqu’ils ne bénéficient plus du surcroît de salaire et de stabilité dont ils jouissaient auparavant dans leur emploi.
    Keywords: employment stability, labour income, network industries, reform, regulation
    JEL: L52 J31 L98 J63
    Date: 2016–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1349-en&r=lab
  8. By: Boris Cournède; Oliver Denk; Paula Garda
    Abstract: Do flexibility-enhancing reforms imply more employment instability? Using individual-level data from harmonised household surveys for 26 advanced countries, this paper analyses the effects of product and labour market reforms on transitions in and out of employment. Results indicate that reforms making product markets more competitive increase transitions out of employment for less qualified and low-income workers. Less qualified and low-income workers have very high job exit rates to start with, and reforms raise these rates further. On the other hand, more pro-competitive product market regulation generally increases entry rates into employment. The concentration on less qualified and low-income workers of the increase in labour market turnover associated with product market reforms suggests a case for accompanying such reforms with labour market programmes that help the most vulnerable workers transition to new jobs. Easing employment protection for regular or temporary workers has no systematic long-term effect on workers’ probabilities to move in or out of employment. Such reforms can, however, affect employment transitions through their interaction with other policies and institutions. For example, easing employment protection for workers with regular contracts raises the job-finding chances of people out of work in countries that invest a lot in active labour market programmes. Furthermore, employment protection legislation and product market regulation are complementary in that, when either employment protection or product markets are lightly regulated, reforming the other is associated with fewer job exits. Les mesures de flexibilité et leurs effets sur les transitions professionnelles Les réformes visant à accroître la flexibilité des marchés sont-elles porteuses d’instabilité en matière d’emploi ? À l’aide de données individuelles tirées d’enquêtes harmonisées menées auprès des ménages dans 26 pays avancés, cet article analyse les effets que peuvent avoir les réformes du marché du travail et du marché des produits sur les transitions professionnelles. Les résultats montrent que les réformes qui améliorent la compétitivité des marchés de produits augmentent les pertes d’emploi parmi les travailleurs peu qualifiés et à bas salaire, dont les taux de sortie, déjà élevés au départ, le sont encore plus à l’arrivée. D’un autre côté, une réglementation plus favorable à la concurrence sur les marchés de produits se traduit généralement par une hausses des taux d’accès à l’emploi. La concentration sur certaines catégories de travailleurs, en l’occurrence les moins qualifiés et les moins bien rémunérés, de l’augmentation du taux de rotation de la main-d’oeuvre associé aux réformes des marchés de produits plaide en faveur de la mise en place, en complément de ces réformes, de programmes du marché du travail visant à faciliter le retour à l’emploi des travailleurs les plus vulnérables. L’assouplissement des mesures de protection de l’emploi permanent ou temporaire n’a pas d’effet systématique à long terme sur la probabilité de passer du chômage à l’emploi ou inversement. Ce type de réforme peut toutefois avoir une incidence sur les transitions professionnelles de par ses interactions avec d’autres politiques et institutions. On s’aperçoit ainsi qu’une protection moins stricte des contrats à durée indéterminée augmente les chances de trouver un emploi dans les pays où les programmes actifs du marché du travail sont très développés. De plus, la complémentarité de la législation sur la protection de l’emploi et de la réglementation des marchés de produits fait que l’assouplissement de l’une permet de réformer l’autre en réduisant les pertes d’emploi.
    Keywords: employment protection legislation, labour market, micro data, product market regulation, structural reform
    JEL: D04 J08 J63
    Date: 2016–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1348-en&r=lab
  9. By: Roberto Basile (Seconda Università di Napoli); Alessandro Girardi (ISTAT, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica); Marianna Mantuano (ISTAT, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica); Giuseppe Russo (Università di Salerno and CSEF)
    Abstract: The role of labour mobility on regional disparities is at the core of a heated debate: while standard competitive models posit that mobility works as an equilibrating device and reduces the unemployment, models featuring externalities lead to opposite conclusions. Against this backdrop, we present a simple two-region model adapted to the main features of the Italian North-South dualism that illustrates the effects of labour mobility with and without human capital externalities. We show that, when externalities are introduced, regional mobility may exacerbate regional unemployment disparities. Using longitudinal data over the years 2002- 2011 for 103 NUTS-3 Italian regions, we document that net outflows of human capital from the South to the North have increased the unemployment rate in the South and decreased the unemployment rate in the North. Our conclusions support the literature that finds an important role of regional externalities, and suggest that reducing human capital flight from Southern regions should be a priority.
    Keywords: Unemployment, Migration, Human capital, Externalities, Italian regions
    JEL: C23 R23 J61
    Date: 2016–12–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:460&r=lab
  10. By: Jorge Luis Garcia (The University of Chicago); James J. Heckman (The University of Chicago); Duncan Ermini Leaf (Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics); Maria Jose Prados (Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research)
    Abstract: This paper estimates the large array of long-run benefits of an influential early childhood program targeted to disadvantaged children and their families. It is evaluated by random assignment and follows participants through their mid-30s. The program is a prototype for numerous interventions currently in place around the world. It has substantial beneficial impacts on (a) health and the quality of life, (b) the labor incomes of participants, (c) crime, (d) education, and (e) the labor income of the mothers of the participants through subsidizing their childcare. There are substantially greater monetized benefits for males. The overall rate of return is a statistically significant 13.0% per annum with an associated benefit/cost ratio of 6.3. These estimates account for the welfare costs of taxation to finance the program. They are robust to a wide variety of sensitivity analyses. Accounting for substitutes to treatment available to families randomized out of treatment shows that boys benefit much less than girls from low quality alternative childcare arrangements.
    Keywords: childcare, early childhood education, gender differences, Health, long-term prediction, quality of life, randomized trials, substitution bias
    JEL: J13 I28 C93
    Date: 2016–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2016-035&r=lab
  11. By: Anna Almosova;
    Abstract: This paper estimates a New Keynesian DSGE model with search frictions and monetary rules augmented with di erent labor market indicators. In accordance with a theoretical literature I nd that a central bank reacts to a labor market tightness, employment or unemployment. Posterior odds tests speak in favor of models with augmented Taylor rules versus a model with a model with a standard rule. The augmented rules were also shown to be more ecient in terms of welfare.
    JEL: E52 E24 C11
    Date: 2016–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2016-054&r=lab
  12. By: Cooper, Daniel H. (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston); Luengo-Prado, Maria Jose (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes household formation in the United States using data from two cohorts of the national Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY)—the 1979 cohort and the 1997 cohort. The analysis focuses on how various demographic and economic factors impact household formation both within cohorts and over time across cohorts. The results show that there are substantial differences over time in the share of young adults living with their parents. Differences in housing costs and business-cycle conditions can explain up to 70 percent of the difference in household-formation rates across cohorts. Shifting attitudes toward co-habitation with parents also play a role.
    JEL: D10 J11 R20
    Date: 2016–11–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:16-17&r=lab
  13. By: Nicola Barban (University of Oxford); Elisabetta De Cao (University of Oxford); Sonia Oreffice (University of Surrey); Climent Quintana-Domeque (University of Oxford and St Edmund Hall)
    Abstract: We study assortative mating using a stochastic linear bi-dimensional matching model, where individuals match on an additive index of overall marital attractiveness that has two components: an observable component (education) and a non-observable (to the econometrician) component, the latter being an index of other homogeneously assessed attributes. This setting allows us to investigate whether exogenous shocks to the observable component satisfy the exclusion restriction, and if so, to use them to identify the degree of assortative mating on the observable component, and incidentally on the unobservable index of overall marital attractiveness. In particular, we exploit genetic variation in polygenic scores controlling for population stratification as individual exogenous shocks to education: combining them with our model structure we can test the validity of the exclusion restriction. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that polygenic scores satisfy the exclusion restriction and are relevant instruments, and cannot reject that the estimated degree of assortative mating on education is the same using OLS and IV. Our study illustrates how to combine quasi-experimental variation in spouses' characteristics with parsimonious matching models to investigate assortative mating.
    Keywords: matching models, college, exclusion restriction, instrumental variables, polygenic scores, schooling, HRS
    JEL: D10 J10 J12
    Date: 2016–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2016-034&r=lab
  14. By: Elzbieta Antczak; Ewa Galecka-Burdziak; Robert Pater
    Abstract: We analyse the extent to which spatial interactions affect the labour market matching process. We apply spatial econometrics methods, including spatial panel Durbin models, which are rarely used in labour market matching analysis. We use the data on stocks and inflows of unemployed individuals and vacancies registered at public employment offices in Poland. We conduct the analysis at the NUTS-3 and NUTS-4 levels in Poland for the period 2003-2014. We find that (1) spatial interactions affect the matching processes in the labour market; (2) workers commute long distances, and many of these commutes involve crossing only one administrative border; (3) spatial indirect, direct, and total spillover effects determine the scale of outflows from unemployment in the focal and adjacent areas; and (4) spatial modelling is a more appropriate approach than classical modelling for the matching function.
    Keywords: spatial interaction; spillover effect; matching function; region;
    JEL: C23 J61 J64
    Date: 2016–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp578&r=lab
  15. By: Di Pace, Frederico (Bank of England); Mitra, Kaushik (University of Birmingham); Zhang, Shoujian (Addiko Bank)
    Abstract: The standard search and matching model with rational expectations is well known to be unable to generate amplification in unemployment and vacancies. We document a new feature it is unable to replicate: properties of survey forecasts of unemployment in the near term. We present a parsimonious model with adaptive learning and simple autoregressive forecasting rules which provide a solution to both of these problems. Firms choose vacancies by forecasting wages using simple autoregressive models; they have greater incentive to post vacancies at the time of a positive productivity shock because of overoptimism about the discounted value of expected profits.
    Keywords: Adaptive learning; bounded-rationality; search and matching frictions
    JEL: E24 E32 J64
    Date: 2016–12–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:0633&r=lab
  16. By: Frédéric Docquier (FNRS, UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) and FERDI (France)); Riccardo Turati (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Jérôme Valette (CERDI, University of Auvergne (France)); Chrysovalantis Vasilakis (Bangor Business School (United Kingdom))
    Abstract: This paper empirically revisits the impact of multiculturalism (as proxied by indices of birthplace diversity and polarization among immigrants, or by epidemiological terms) on the macroeconomic performance of US states over the 1960-2010 period. We test for skill-specific effects of multiculturalism, controlling for standard growth regressors and a variety of fixed effects, and accounting for the age of entry and legal status of immigrants. To identify causation, we compare various instrumentation strategies used in the existing literature. We provide converging and robust evidence of a positive and significant effect of diversity among college-educated immigrants on GDP per capita. Overall, a 10% increase in high-skilled diversity raises GDP per capita by 6.2%. On the contrary, diversity among less educated immigrants has insignificant effects. Also, we find no evidence of a quadratic effect or a contamination by economic conditions in poor countries.
    Keywords: Immigration, Culture, Birthplace Diversity, Growth
    JEL: F22 J61
    Date: 2016–12–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2016028&r=lab
  17. By: Marcén, Miriam; Molina, Jose Alberto; Morales, Marina
    Abstract: This paper examines whether culture plays a role in the number of children born. To explore this issue, we use data on immigrant women who arrived in the United States under 6 years old. Since all these women are resident in the same country from their early lives, and grew up under the same laws, institutions, and economic conditions, then the differences between them by country of origin may be due to cultural differences, as the epidemiological approach suggests. Following that approach, we identify the cultural effect, exploiting variations in the mean number of children born by country of origin, using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series International that allows us to measure more precisely the cultural proxy by age, education level, and employment status. Results show that the home-country mean number of children born has a positive and statistically significant relationship to the number of children born of immigrants living in the US, suggesting that culture is important. Our findings are robust to the introduction of several home country variables, and to the use of different subsamples. Our results are maintained when we control for unobservable characteristics by country of origin. Additionally, we extend this work to an analysis of both the decision to have children and the number of children born, finding again that culture appears to play a significant role.
    Keywords: Culture, Immigrants, Number of children born
    JEL: J13 Z13
    Date: 2016–12–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:75511&r=lab
  18. By: Michael Bates (Department of Economics, University of California Riverside)
    Abstract: Informational asymmetries between employers may inhibit optimal worker mobility. However, evidence is limited because researchers rarely observe shocks to employers' information. I exploit two school districts' adoptions of value-added (VA) measures of teacher effectiveness—informational shocks to some, but not all, employers—to provide direct tests of asymmetric employer learning. I develop a learning model and test its predictions for teacher mobility. I find that adopting VA increases within-district mobility of high-VA teachers, while low-VA teachers move out-of-district to uninformed principals. These patterns evidence asymmetric employer learning. This sorting from widespread VA adoption exacerbates inequality in access to effective teaching.
    Keywords: asymmetric employer learning, value added, teachers
    JEL: D83 I24 J63
    Date: 2016–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucr:wpaper:201616&r=lab
  19. By: Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut); Zhentao Shi (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
    Abstract: Studies that can distinguish between exogenous and endogenous peer effects of social interactions are relatively rare. One recent identification strategy exploits partial overlapping groups of peers. If a student has two groups of separated peers, the peer choices are correlated through that specific student's choice, but one group's attributes are assumed to directly influence neither the other peer group's attributes nor the choices. In the context of academic performance in higher education, however, the evidence of peer effects on academic outcomes has been mixed, creating a potential for weak instruments. We utilize a period of transition when students were being reassigned to dormitories from a new campus to an old campus. Many groups of roommates were broken up at the end of freshman year, and then combined with other groups of students from the same school in the sophomore year. We find reduced-form evidence that information about a student's previous year roommates can explain the current test scores of their new roommates. However, due to weak instruments, the estimated endogenous effects appear unreasonably large. We draw on weak-IV robust tests, namely the Anderson-Rubin-type S-test (Stock and Wright, 2000) and Kleibergen's Lagrangian multiplier test (Kleibergen, 2005), to provide properly-sized tests for the endogenous effects between the test scores of current roommates and to calculate lower bounds of such effects. These tests strongly reject the null hypothesis of no endogenous effects. JEL Classification: C26, C51, I23, J00 Key words: academic performance, hypothesis testing, endogenous peer effects, random assignment, weak instruments
    Date: 2016–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2016-37&r=lab
  20. By: Giorgio Calcagnini (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo"); Germana Giombini (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo); Giuseppe Travaglini (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo)
    Abstract: Theoretical and empirical models provide ambiguous responses on the relationship among labor regulation, innovation and investment. Labor regulation tends to raise frms' adjustment costs. But, also labor regulation stimulates firms to make innovations and investments to recover productivity in the long-run. In this paper we present a neo- Schumpeterian endogenous growth model, which explains how these opposite forces operate over time, and why a stricter labor regulation may positively affect innovation and investment.
    Keywords: Endogenous growth model; Labor regulation; Innovation; Investment
    JEL: O4 J5
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:16_04&r=lab

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