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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Song, Younghwan (Union College) |
| Abstract: | Using matched data drawn from the 2010 and 2012 Displaced Workers Supplements of the Current Population Surveys and the 2010, 2012, and 2013 American Time Use Survey Well-Being Modules, this paper examines the effect of job displacement on various measures of subjective well-being. The results indicate that the effect of job displacement on subjective well-being varies by sex and by measure of subjective well- being: among men job displacement does not affect moment-to-moment subjective well-being but lowers their life evaluation through changes in employment, marital status, and earnings, whereas among women job displacement decreases net affect, mostly by decreasing happiness and increasing pain, sadness, and stress, but does not affect their life evaluation. Among men, those displaced by layoffs, not by plant closings, express lower levels of the Cantril ladder than those not displaced but there is no such difference by cause of displacement among women. The negative effects of job displacement on subjective well-being decrease over time for both men and women. |
| Keywords: | job displacement, subjective well-being, Cantril ladder, net affect |
| JEL: | I31 J63 J65 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10962&r=lab |
| By: | Adrian Chadi; Clemens Hetschko |
| Abstract: | We study the usually assumed trade-off between income and leisure in labor supply decisions using comprehensive German panel data. We compare non-employed individuals after plant closures with employed people regarding both income and time use as well as their subjective perceptions of these two factors. We find that the gain of non-working time translates into higher satisfaction with free time, while time spent on hobbies increases to a lesser extent than home production. Additionally, satisfaction with family life increases, which may be a hidden benefit of being unemployed. In contrast, satisfaction with income strongly declines when becoming jobless. Identity utility from earning a living may play the role of a hidden benefit of employment. Finally, we examine subjective assessments of income and leisure as potential predictors for job take-up. Non-employed people are particularly likely to take up a job soon when they are dissatisfied withtheir income. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, plant closure, leisure, work-family conflict, life satisfaction, income satisfaction, free time satisfaction, family satisfaction |
| JEL: | D01 D13 I31 J22 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp925&r=lab |
| By: | Gavazza, Alessandro (London School of Economics); Mongey, Simon (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis); Violante, Giovanni L. (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | We develop an equilibrium model of firm dynamics with random search in the labor market where hiring firms exert recruiting effort by spending resources to fill vacancies faster. Consistent with microevidence, fast-growing firms invest more in recruiting activities and achieve higher job-filling rates. These hiring decisions of firms aggregate into an index of economy-wide recruiting intensity. We study how aggregate shocks transmit to recruiting intensity, and whether this channel can account for the dynamics of aggregate matching efficiency during the Great Recession. Productivity and financial shocks lead to sizable pro-cyclical fluctuations in matching efficiency through recruiting effort. Quantitatively, the main mechanism is that firms attain their employment targets by adjusting their recruiting effort in response to movements in labor market slackness. |
| Keywords: | Aggregate matching efficiency; Firm dynamics; Macroeconomic shocks; Recruiting intensity; Unemployment; Vacancies |
| JEL: | E24 E32 E44 G01 J23 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2017–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:553&r=lab |
| By: | Alison E. Weingarden |
| Abstract: | This paper studies employment decisions at U.S. companies over the 2007-2012 period, during and after the Great Recession. To this end, I build a panel dataset that matches publicly-listed companies' financial reports to their announced layoff episodes. Using limited dependent variable regressions, I find that layoffs respond to accumulated changes in a company's financial conditions. While recent financial changes have the largest impacts on layoff propensities, financial changes over at least four previous quarters appear to have additional marginal effects. |
| Keywords: | Downsizing ; Employment adjustment costs |
| JEL: | J21 J63 E24 |
| Date: | 2017–08–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2017-88&r=lab |
| By: | Nie, Peng (University of Hohenheim); Sousa-Poza, Alfonso (University of Hohenheim) |
| Abstract: | This study uses data from the 2012 China Labor Force Dynamics Survey and 2010–2012 China Family Panel Studies to investigate job satisfaction and job expectations, as well as the association between job satisfaction and job turnover by gender among employees aged 16–65. We find not only that job satisfaction levels are relatively low, with only 46% of workers explicitly satisfied, but also that worker expectations differ significantly from what their jobs actually provide. In particular, many jobs are less interesting than expected, which prevents workers from realizing their perceived potential. This expectation gap is thus a strong determinant of job satisfaction. Men and women have similar levels of job satisfaction, yet based on observables, one would expect women's job satisfaction to be lower than it actually is, thereby lending support to the gender-job-satisfaction paradox encountered in Western studies. In contrast to Western research, we find no link between job satisfaction and job change, an observation we attribute to China's unique Confucian-based work ethic. |
| Keywords: | ob satisfaction, gender, labor turnover, China |
| JEL: | J16 J17 J28 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10963&r=lab |
| By: | Buser, Thomas (University of Amsterdam); Peter, Noemi (University of Groningen); Wolter, Stefan C. (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | Men are generally found to be more willing to compete than women and there is growing evidence that willingness to compete is a predictor of individual and gender differences in career decisions and labor market outcomes. However, most existing evidence comes from the top of the education and talent distribution. In this study, we use incentivized choices from more than 1500 Swiss lower-secondary school students to ask how the gender gap in willingness to compete varies with ability and how willingness to compete predicts career choices along the whole ability distribution. Our main results are: 1. The gender gap in willingness to compete is essentially zero among the lowest-ability students, but increases steadily with ability and reaches 30–40 percentage points for the highest-ability students. 2. Willingness to compete predicts career choices along the whole ability distribution. At the top of the ability distribution, students who compete are more likely to choose a math or science-related academic specialization and girls who compete are more likely to choose academic over vocational education in general. At the middle, competitive boys are more likely to choose a business-oriented apprenticeship, while competitive girls are more likely to choose a math-intensive apprenticeship or an academic education. At the bottom, students who compete are more likely to succeed in securing an apprenticeship position. We also discuss how our findings relate to persistent gender differences in career outcomes. |
| Keywords: | willingness to compete, gender, career decisions, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D03 J01 J16 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10976&r=lab |
| By: | L Rachel Ngai (Reader in Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science; Institute for Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies (IEMS)); Christopher A Pissarides (London School of Economics; Institute for Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies (IEMS)); Jin Wang (Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies (IEMS)) |
| Abstract: | China’s hukou system imposes two main barriers to population movements. Agricultural workers get land to cultivate but run the risk of losing it if they migrate. Social transfers (education, health, etc.) are conditional on holding a local hukou. We show that the land policy is a more important barrier on industrialization. This distortion can be corrected by giving property rights to farmers. Social transfers dampen mainly urbanization. We calculate that the two policies together lead to overemployment in agriculture of 6.7 points, under-employment in the urban sector of 6.3 points and have practically no impact on the rural non-agricultural sector. |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:wpaper:201744&r=lab |
| By: | Christian Schoder (Department of Economics, New School for Social Research) |
| Abstract: | An empirical variant of the Dynamic Stochastic Disequilibrium (DSDE) model proposed by Schoder (2017a) is estimated for the Euro Area using Bayesian inference. Unemployment arises from job rationing due to insucient aggregate spending. The nominal wage is taken as a policy variable subject to a collective Nash bargaining process between workers and rms with the state of the labor market a ecting the relative bargaining power. A consumption function is implied by a precautionary saving motive arising from an uninsurable risk of permanent income loss. Comparing the estimated DSDE model to the corresponding estimated Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model with frictional unemployment yields the following results: (i ) the DSDE model outperforms the corresponding DSGE model empirically according to the Bayes factor. (ii ) The scal multiplier is considerably higher in the DSDE model than in the DSGE model. (iii ) As observed empirically, the DSDE model predicts the real wage to move pro-cyclically with a lag whereas the DSGE model predicts a counter-cyclical movement. (iv ) In the DSDE model, a productivity shock is contractionary in the short run and expansionary in the medium run. (v) Strengthening the worker's bargaining power is expansionary in the short run and contractionary in the medium run. (vi ) Output variation is mainly driven by demand shocks in the DSDE model. Productivity shocks are important only in the DSGE model. (vii ) Unemployment variation is primarily caused by demand and productivity shocks in the DSDE model. Labor supply shocks are essential only in the DSGE model. |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:new:wpaper:1725&r=lab |
| By: | Billari, Francesco C. (Bocconi University); Giuntella, Osea (University of Pittsburgh); Stella, Luca (Bocconi University) |
| Abstract: | The spread of high-speed Internet epitomizes the digital revolution, affecting several aspects of our life. Using German panel data, we test whether the availability of broadband Internet influences fertility choices in a low-fertility setting, which is well-known for the difficulty to combine work and family life. We exploit a strategy devised by Falck et al. (2014) to obtain causal estimates of the impact of broadband on fertility. We find positive effects of high-speed Internet availability on the fertility of high-educated women aged 25 and above. Effects are not statistically significant both for men, low-educated women, and under 25. We also show that broadband access significantly increases the share of women reporting teleworking or part-time working. Furthermore, we find positive effects on time spent with children and overall life satisfaction. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that high-speed Internet allows high-educated women to conciliate career and motherhood, which may promote fertility with a "digital divide". At the same time, higher access to information on the risks and costs of early pregnancy and childbearing may explain the negative effects on younger adults. |
| Keywords: | Internet, low fertility, work and family, teleworking |
| JEL: | J11 J22 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10935&r=lab |
| By: | Faberman, R. Jason (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Mueller, Andreas I. (Columbia University); Sahin, Aysegül (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Topa, Giorgio (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique new survey, we study the relationship between search effort and outcomes for employed and non-employed workers. We find that the employed fare better than the non-employed in job search: they receive more offers per application and are offered higher pay even after controlling for observable characteristics. We use an on-the-job search model with endogenous search effort and find that unobserved heterogeneity explains less than a third of the residual wage offer differential. The model calibrated using various moments from our survey provides a good fit to the data and implies a reasonable flow value of unemployment. |
| Keywords: | job search, unemployment, on-the-job search, search effort, wage dispersion |
| JEL: | E24 J29 J60 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10960&r=lab |
| By: | Adriana D. Kugler; Catherine H. Tinsley; Olga Ukhaneva |
| Abstract: | Recent work suggests that women are more responsive to negative feedback than men in certain environments. We examine whether negative feedback in the form of relatively low grades in major-related classes explains gender differences in the final majors undergraduates choose. We use unique administrative data from a large private university on the East Coast from 2009-2016 to test whether women are more sensitive to grades than men, and whether the gender composition of major-related classes affects major changes. We also control for other factors that may affect a student's final major including: high school student performance, gender of faculty, and economic returns of majors. Finally, we examine how students' decisions are affected by external cues that signal STEM fields as masculine. The results show that high school academic preparation, faculty gender composition, and major returns have little effect on major switching behaviors, and that women and men are equally likely to change their major in response to poor grades in major-related courses. Moreover, women in male-dominated majors do not exhibit different patterns of switching behaviors relative to their male colleagues. Women are, however, more likely to switch out of male-dominated STEM majors in response to poor performance compared to men. Therefore, we find that it takes multiple signals of lack of fit into a major (low grades, gender composition of class, and external stereotyping signals) to impel female students to switch majors. |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23735&r=lab |
| By: | Chakraborty, Tanika (Indian Institute of Management); Mukherjee, Anirban (University of Calcutta); Rachapalli, Swapnika Reddy (University of Toronto); Saha, Sarani (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur) |
| Abstract: | Our study is motivated by two disturbing evidences concerning women in India. On one hand, crime against women is on the rise while on the other, women's labor force participation rate (WLFPR) has been declining over the last three decades. We estimate the extent to which the decline in WLFPR can be assigned to increasing instances of crime against women. We argue that an increase in crime against women, increases the non-pecuniary costs of traveling to work, particularly in a traditional society marked by stigma against victims of sexual crimes. Our findings suggest that women are less likely to work away from home in regions where the perceived threat of sexual harassment against girls is higher. The estimate is robust to various sensitivity checks. Moreover, the deterrence effect of crime responds to the opportunity cost of work on one hand and the stigma cost of sexual crimes on the other. |
| Keywords: | crime against women, labor force participation, stigma cost |
| JEL: | E24 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10934&r=lab |
| By: | Pavlina R. Tcherneva |
| Abstract: | This paper examines two key aspects of unemployment--its propagation mechanism and socioeconomic costs. It identifies a key feature of this macroeconomic phenomenon: it behaves like a disease. A detailed assessment of the transmission mechanism and the existing pecuniary and nonpecuniary costs of unemployment suggests a fundamental shift in the policy responses to tackling joblessness. To stem the contagion effect and its outsized social and economic impact, fiscal policy can be designed around two criteria for successful disease intervention--preparedness and prevention. The paper examines how a job guarantee proposal uniquely meets those two requirements. It is a policy response whose merits include much more than its macroeconomic stabilization features, as discussed in the literature. It is, in a sense, a method of inoculation against the vile effects of unemployment. The paper discusses several preventative features of the program. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment; Epidemic; Mortality; Morbidity; Health; Scarring Effects; Crime; Family; Job Guarantee; Labor Market Dynamics; Involuntary Job Loss; Prevention |
| JEL: | E24 E62 H1 H4 I18 I3 J08 J6 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_895&r=lab |
| By: | Eriksson, Tor (Aarhus School of Business); Smith, Nina (Aarhus University); Smith, Valdemar (Aarhus School of Business) |
| Abstract: | The dearth of women in top managerial positions is characterized by a high persistence and insensitivity to changes and differences in institutions and policies. This suggests it could be caused by slowly changing social norms and attitudes in the labor market, such as gender stereotypes and gender identity. This paper examines gender stereotypes and self-stereotyping in a large cross section of (about 2,970) managers at different job levels in (1,875) Danish private-sector firms. The survey data used contain detailed information about the managers as well as their employers. We find significant gender differences between managers with regard to gender stereotyping attitudes. Male managers on average tend to have stronger gender stereotype views with respect to the role as a successful manager than their female peers. However, female CEOs' gender stereotypes do not differ from their male peers' and have significantly more pronounced masculine stereotypes than female managers at lower levels. Female managers have stronger beliefs in their own managerial abilities regarding feminine skills and weaker beliefs in their masculine skills, whereas the opposite is observed for male managers. Gender stereotypes and self-stereotypes vary across types of managerial employees and firms. Beliefs in own ability could explain at most ten percent of the observed gender differential in C-level executive positions. |
| Keywords: | glass ceiling effects, gender, self-stereotypes, stereotypes, managerial labor markets |
| JEL: | J16 D83 D84 M51 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10932&r=lab |
| By: | Steven Bradley; Robert Crouchley |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse the interactions between, and determinants of, test scores, truancy and the risk of youth unemployment and NEET in a simultaneous equations framework. This approach allows us to disentangle the observable direct and indirect effects of truancy and test scores on the risk of unemployment and NEET from their unobserved effects. We use a unique data source, combining the Youth Cohort Study, the School Performance Tables, and the School’s Census, enabling us to control for a large number of personal, family, school, peer group and neighbourhood effects on the three response variables. Our findings suggest that models of the determinants of youth unemployment and NEET that ignore correlation between the unobservables of the determinants test scores and truancy will lead to misleading inference about the magnitude and strength of their direct effects. However, our findings also suggest that truancy has a indirect effect on labour market outcomes via its effect on test scores. Truancy does have an unobserved effect on the risk of unemployment and the risk of NEET insofar as the correlation between latent variables for truancy and labour market outcomes are positive and statistically significant. Test scores have a direct effect on labour market outcomes, and through the estimation of ATTs, we show a good performance in high stakes tests (i.e. GCSEs) can mitigate the effect of truanting from school on labour market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Youth unemployment, truancy, test scores, Simultaneous equations |
| JEL: | I21 J64 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:189398493&r=lab |