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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Vansteenkiste, Isabel |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse to what extent the outward shift in the Portuguese Beveridge curve since 2007 has been due to structural or cyclical factors and how likely the outward shift will persist. We do this by empirically estimating the Beveridge curve in a Markov-switching panel setting with time-varying transition probabilities for the US, Portugal and Spain using monthly data for the period 1986m1-2014m12. These time-varying transition probabilities are in turn determined by a set of structural indicators which could affect the matching efficiency in the labour market. The results show that the sharp outward shift in the Portuguese Beveridge curve was to a large extent driven by cyclical factors. However, it was compounded by some structural factors, namely, the relatively high level of employment protection together with the relatively high minimum wage ratio and the relatively generous unemployment benefit system. JEL Classification: C23, C24, J63, J64, J65 |
| Keywords: | Beveridge Curve, Labour market policies, Markov-Switching Model, Panel data |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20172043&r=lab |
| By: | Tommaso Frattini (Università degli Studi di Milano) |
| Abstract: | Integration of immigrants is at the forefront of policy concerns in many countries. This paper starts by documenting that in most European countries immigrants face significant labour market disadvantages relative to natives. Then it discusses how public policies may affect immigrants’ integration. First, we review the evidence on the effectiveness of language and introduction courses. Then, we discuss how different aspects of the migration policy framework may determine immigrants’ integration patterns. In particular, based on a review of the recent literature, we highlight the role of visa length and of predictability about migration duration in shaping migrants’ decisions on investments in country-specific human and social capital. Further, we discuss implications for refugee migration and also review the role of citizenship acquisition rules. The paper ends with an outlook of the consequences for sending countries. |
| Keywords: | migration policy, citizenship, refugee migration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2017–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:427&r=lab |
| By: | Christopher Flinn (New York University); Petra Todd (University of Pennsylvania); Weilong Zhang (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | A model of how personality traits affect household time and resource allocation decisions and wages is developed and estimated. In the model, households choose between two modes of behavior: cooperative or noncooperative. Spouses receive wage offers and allocate time to supplying labor market hours and to producing a public good. Personality traits, measured by the so-called Big Five traits, can affect household bargaining weights and wage offers. Model parameters are estimated by Simulated Method of Moments using the Household Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) data. Personality traits are found to be important determinants of household bargaining weights and of wage offers and to have substantial implications for understanding the sources of gender wage disparities. |
| Keywords: | gender wage differentials, personality and economics outcomes, household bargaining, Time Allocation |
| JEL: | D10 J12 J16 J22 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2017-029&r=lab |
| By: | Shuhei Nishitateno; Masato Shikata |
| Abstract: | Over the past decades, female labor force participation in Japan has continued to expand, accompanied by an improvement in daycare accessibility. This paper quantifies the daycare effects on employment of mothers with preschool children, analyzing newly constructed municipality-level data covering 1,758 municipalities for 2000, 2005, and 2010. The results suggest that 5%-11% of the increase in maternal employment rate during 2000 to 2010 was attributable to the improvement in daycare accessibility. However, the daycare effects on maternal employment are quite limited compared with those on enrollments at licensed daycare centers. Our new evidence suggests that such discrepancy could emanate from the fact that better access to licensed daycare centers encouraged working mothers to switch from kindergartens. |
| Keywords: | maternal employment, female labor market, daycare centers, kindergartens, Japan |
| JEL: | J13 J18 J21 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2017-05&r=lab |
| By: | Dauth, Christine (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Lang, Julia (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Demographic change implies an increasing demand for elderly care and a lower labor force potential at the same time. Training unemployed workers in care occupations might mitigate this problem. This study analyzes the effectiveness of subsidized training in elderly care professions for the unemployed in Germany over 12 years. We find that subsidized further training and retraining in elderly care improves the employment chances of unemployed workers substantially in the long term. Moreover, a high share of these re-employed workers remain in the care sector. A high percentage of parttime work and conditional wage gains for only certain retraining participants indicate shortcomings in the quality of employment. However, subsidized training seems to be an adequate measure to re-employ unemployed workers in the elderly care sector and to narrow the gap between demand and supply in elderly care." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Arbeitslose, berufliche Reintegration, arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahme, Weiterbildung, Altenpflege, Arbeitsmarktchancen, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien |
| JEL: | I11 J24 J68 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201713&r=lab |
| By: | Kate Preston (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Arthur Grimes (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Empirical studies have consistently documented that while married men tend to lead more prosperous careers after moving than before, migration tends to be disruptive for the careers of married women. However, there has been little exploration of the interaction of non-economic outcomes of migration by gender and relationship-status. We explore whether migration is followed by a change in subjective wellbeing (SWB), and how this experience differs by individuals of different gender and relationship-status. These results are compared to wage differences following migration. We further analyse how outcomes differ according to the motivation for moving, including motivations for moving of both partners in a couple relationship. Our empirical estimates use longitudinal data on internal migrants in the Australian HILDA dataset. We show that females have a stronger tendency than males to reach higher levels of SWB after moving, while males have a stronger tendency than females to increase their earnings. These gender differences are mostly not significant for single individuals, but become quite pronounced for couples. Differences tend to narrow, but do not disappear, once we account for motivations for moving of individuals and, where relevant, of their partner. In particular, those who move for work-related reasons experience higher wage incomes after moving, regardless of gender or relationship-status. |
| Keywords: | Migration, gender, relationship-status, subjective wellbeing, wages. |
| JEL: | D13 I31 J16 J22 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:17_08&r=lab |
| By: | Valeria Maggian (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Etienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Antonio Nicoló (Universita degli Studi di Padova, The University of Manchester [Manchester]) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we build a theoretical model to show the role of self-confidence in leading to inefficient job matching equilibria: underconfident highly-qualified workers do not apply for highly-skilled jobs, because mistakenly perceive themselves as having relatively lower abilities with respect to other candidates, and firms are no longer selecting their workers from a pool containing the best fitted ones. Policies to foster underconfident workers to apply for highly-skilled jobs cannot easily be implemented, because under-confidence is not an observable characteristic, and any attempt to elicit this information from workers can be easily manipulated. However, if gender is correlated with this psychological bias, and there more underconfident female workers than male workers, a second best policy based on gender affirmative action may enhance the efficiency of matching in the job market. We show that increasing the gender diversity of the qualified applicants by imposing an affirmative action may positively affect the selection of candidates because it increases the average quality of the pool of candidates for high-qualified jobs. |
| Keywords: | Gender gap, Labor market, Self-confidence, Affirmative action |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01455452&r=lab |
| By: | Peri, Giovanni (University of California, Davis); Yasenov, Vasil (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: | We apply the Synthetic Control Method to re-examine the effects of the Mariel Boatlift, a large inflow of Cubans into Miami in 1980, first studied by David Card (1990). This method improves on previous studies by choosing a control group so as to best match Miami's labor market features before the Boatlift. We also provide reliable standard errors for the inference. Using data from the larger and more precise May-ORG Current Population Survey (CPS) one finds no significant departure of wages and employment of low-skilled workers between Miami and its control after 1979. The result is robust to several checks. |
| Keywords: | immigration, wages, mariel boatlift, synthetic control method, measurement error |
| JEL: | J3 J61 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10605&r=lab |
| By: | Jinkins, David (Copenhagen Business School); Morin, Annaig (CEBR, Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | We measure the contribution of match quality to the wage growth experienced by job movers. We reject the exogenous mobility assumption needed to estimate a standard fixed-effects wage regression in the Danish matched employer-employee data. We exploit the sub-sample of workers hired from unemployment, for whom the exogenous mobility assumption is not rejected, to estimate firm fixed effects. We then decompose the variance of wage growth of all job movers. We find that 66% of the variance of wage growth experienced by job movers can be attributed to variance in match quality. Expected match quality growth is higher for higherskilled occupations. |
| Keywords: | job mobility, fixed-effect wage models, panel data models, assortative matching |
| JEL: | J62 J63 C23 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10601&r=lab |
| By: | Dehos, Fabian; Paul, Marie |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of a massive expansion of after-school programs (ASPs) on the labor market participation of mothers with primary school children in the West German context of relatively low full-time employment rates. Using an instrumental variables approach we exploit regional and temporal variation in the provision of federal ASP starting grants by a nationwide investment program. Results suggest that additional ASP places had no effect on working hours or the employment probability of mothers with primary school children. |
| Keywords: | Maternal employment,after-school programs,instrumental variables |
| JEL: | J13 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:686&r=lab |
| By: | Fabio Cerina; Alessio Moro; Michelle Petersen Rendall |
| Abstract: | WWe document that U.S. employment polarization in the 1980-2008 period is largely generated by women. Female employment shares increase both at the bottom and at the top of the skill distribution, generating the typical U-shape polarization graph, while male employment shares decrease in a more similar fashion along the whole skill distribution. We show that a canonical model of skill-biased technological change augmented with a gender dimension, an endogenous market/home labor choice and a multi-sector environment accounts well for gender and overall employment polarization. The model also accounts for the absence of employment polarization during the 1960- 1980 period and broadly reproduces the different evolution of employment shares across decades during the 1980-2008 period. The faster growth of skill-biased technological change since the 1980s accounts for most of the employment polarization generated by the model. |
| Keywords: | Job polarization, gender, skill-biased technological change, home production |
| JEL: | E20 E21 J16 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:250&r=lab |
| By: | Lamia Kandil (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Hélène Périvier (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this article is to analyse the division of domestic tasks within the couple according to their marital status as well as how this has changed since the 1980s based on three INSEE time-use surveys (1985-86, 1998-99 and 2009-10). The ordinary least squares (OLS) method is complemented by the matching method, which is used to account for the self-selection of the couples in terms of their observable characteristics in different forms of union (marriage, cohabitation and civil partnerships for 2009-10). In 1985-86 and in 1998-99, the degree of the sexual division of labour was higher for married couples than for cohabiting couples. For 1985-1986, this difference is explained by differences in the characteristics of the couples who were cohabiting. However, by the late 1990s cohabiting couples had opted for an organization that was less unequal than that of married couples, all else being equal. For 2009-10, the average amount of domestic work performed by women was about the same whether they were cohabiting or married (72% and 73.5%), but the level was significantly lower for women in civil partnerships (65.1%). These differences are not due to differences in the observable characteristics of the couples based on the type of union. The article shows that this difference is due to a process of the couples’ self-selection based on their values: in 2009-10, civil partnerships attracted more “egalitarian” couples who, prior to the introduction of civil partnerships, had opted to cohabit. |
| Keywords: | Sexual division of labour; Marital status; Family economics; Time-use survey; Matching method |
| JEL: | J12 J22 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5a4jv78s1990ba2jfln7ljq251&r=lab |
| By: | Niimi, Yoko |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the implications of providing care to elderly parents for adult children’s retirement plans using micro data from a Japanese survey. We find no significant effect of caregiving on family caregivers’ planned retirement age if we do not take into account caregiving intensity but find a negative and significant effect onretirement plans for intensive caregivers, particularly among women. These findings suggest that relying on family members to provide elderly care can pose a serious challenge to the ongoing efforts of the government to promote the labor supply of women and the elderly to address the shrinkage of the working-age population in Japan. The estimation results suggest that ensuring access to formal care services can help family members reconcile their paid work with caregiving requirements, thereby alleviating the adverse effect of caregiving on their retirement plans. The results also suggest that the financial burden of formal care services could require caregivers to postpone retirement in some cases. |
| Keywords: | Aging, caregiving, elderly care, informal care, Japan, labor supply, long-term care, parental care, retirement, Aging, caregiving, elderly care, informal care, Japan, labor supply, long-term care, parental care, retirement, D10, J14, J26 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:00000127&r=lab |
| By: | Tyrefors Hinnerich, Björn (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Jansson, Joakim (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Board room quotas have recently received an increasing amount of attention. This paper provides novel evidence on firm performance from an exogenous change in female board participation in Sweden. We use the credible threat, aimed at listed firms, of a quota law enacted by the Swedish deputy prime minister as an exogenous variation. The threat caused a substantial and rapid increase in the share of female board members in firms listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. This increase was accompanied by an increase in different measures of firm performance in the same years, which were related to higher sales and lower labor costs. |
| Keywords: | Gender quotas; Corporate boards; Firm performance |
| JEL: | G34 G38 J16 J48 J78 M12 M51 |
| Date: | 2017–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1165&r=lab |
| By: | James Albrecht (Georgetown University and IZA); Bruno Decreuse (Aix-Marseille Univ. (Aix-Marseille School of Economics), CNRS, EHESS and Centrale Marseille); Susan Vroman (Georgetown University and IZA) |
| Abstract: | When vacancies are filled, the ads that were posted are generally not withdrawn, creating phantom vacancies. The existence of phantoms implies that older job listings are less likely to represent true vacancies than are younger ones. We assume that job seekers direct their search based on the listing age for otherwise identical listings and so equalize the probability of matching across listing age. Forming a match with a vacancy of age a creates a phantom of age a and thus creates a negative informational externality that affects all vacancies of age a or older. The magnitude of this externality decreases with a. The directed search behavior of job seekers leads them to over-apply to younger listings. We calibrate the model using US labor market data. The contribution of phantoms to overall frictions is large, but, conditional on the existence of phantoms, the social planner cannot improve much on the directed search allocation. |
| Keywords: | directed search, information persistence, vacancy age |
| JEL: | J60 D83 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1707&r=lab |
| By: | Wallin, Tina (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Jönköping International Business School, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | Studies from a multitude of countries suggest that women become self-employed after having children to facilitate the work-family balance. In Sweden, generous parental leave and heavily subsided childcare is available, facilitating for parents to hold salaried jobs. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether having children increases the likelihood of individuals being self-employed. One major contribution is that this study covers the whole population, including men, with a quantitative analysis, instead of a sample through interviews and/or surveys. The results suggest that most individuals are less likely to be self-employed after having children, thus contrasting most other studies. |
| Keywords: | self-employment; parenthood; children |
| JEL: | D19 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0453&r=lab |
| By: | Vu, Tien Manh; Yamada, Hiroyuki |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we decompose the gender wage gap along the wage distribution in Vietnam during the period 2002–14 and search for the presence of a glass ceiling/sticky floor in wages using the method proposed by Chernozhukov, Fernandez-Val, and Melly (2013). We focus on the formal sector and further divide the sample by educational level, age profile, occupational type, and industry. We find evidence for a total gender wage gap with the price of skills (the price gap) being the main contributor. There are also findings of increases and decreases in equality along the gender wage gap distribution and the formation of a sticky floorand a glass ceiling in 2014 in some of the data. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, inequality, wage distribution, Vietnam, J31, J71, J16, J21 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:00000124&r=lab |
| By: | Daron Acemoglu; Leopoldo Fergusson; Simon Johnson |
| Abstract: | Medical and public health innovations in the 1940s quickly resulted in significant health improvements around the world. Countries with initially higher mortality from infectious diseases experienced greater increases in life expectancy, population, and - over the following 40 years - social conflict. This result is robust across alternative measures of conflict and is not driven by differential trends between countries with varying baseline characteristics. At least during this time period, a faster increase in population made social conflict more likely, probably because it increased competition for scarce resources in low income countries. |
| JEL: | J01 O11 O15 Q56 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23322&r=lab |