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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Marco de Pinto (IAAEU Trier and Trier University); Jochen Michaelis (University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence suggests that the bargaining power of trade unions differs across firms and sectors. Standard models of unionization ignore this pattern by assuming a uniform bargaining strength. In this paper, we incorporate union heterogeneity into a Melitz (2003) type model. Union bargaining power is assumed to be firm-specific and varies with firm productivity. This framework allows us to re-analyze the labor market effects of (i) a symmetric increase in the bargaining power of all unions and (ii) trade liberalization. We show that union heterogeneity unambiguously reduces the negative employment effects of stronger unions. Firm-specific bargaining power creates a link between unionization and the entry and exit of firms, implying a reduction of the unions' expected bargaining power. Moreover, union heterogeneity constitutes an (un)employment effect of trade liberalization. If unions are most powerful in the high-productivity (low-productivity) firms, trade liberalization will increase (decrease) unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Trade Unions, Bargaining Power, Firm Heterogeneity, International Trade, Unemployment |
| JEL: | F1 F16 J5 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201823&r=lab |
| By: | Blömer, Maximilian J.; Guertzgen, Nicole; Pohlan, Laura; Stichnoth, Holger; van den Berg, Gerard J. |
| Abstract: | We structurally estimate an equilibrium search model using German administrative data and use this for counterfactual analyses of a uniform minimum wage. The model with worker and firm heterogeneity does not restrict the sign of employment effects a priori and allows for different job offer arrival rates for the employed and the unemployed. We find that unemployment is a non-monotonic function of the minimum wage level. Effects differ strongly by labour market segment. Cross-segment variation of the estimated effects is mostly driven by firm productivity levels rather than by search frictions or the opportunity cost of employment. |
| Keywords: | wages,job durations,work,employment,productivity,structural estimation |
| JEL: | J31 J51 J64 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18032&r=lab |
| By: | Joshua M. Congdon-Hohman (Department of Economics and Accounting, College of the Holy Cross) |
| Abstract: | Past literature has established that individuals who have been incarcerated face difculties reentering the work force following their release, while finding and keeping a job can significantly reduce recidivism amongst individuals with prior criminal convictions. In attempt to improve employment outcomes, many local and state governments in the United States have initiated "Ban the Box" regulations. These initiatives delay inquiries regarding criminal history on job applications. Versions of ban the box regulations covering public sector employment have been enacted in 31 states and more than 150 local governments. Ban the box laws have included private employers in eleven states and over 30 metropolitan areas including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. This study uses biennial data from November CPS reports from 2004 through 2016 to estimate the impact of ban the box laws on labor market outcomes using a unique proxy to identify individuals with a criminal record. With a few exceptions, the results do not show the intended improvements in employment and other labor market measures for those with a criminal history. |
| Keywords: | Labor Demand, Labor Market Discrimination, Consequences of Incarceration |
| JEL: | J18 J78 K31 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hcx:wpaper:1808&r=lab |
| By: | Zuazu Bermejo, Izaskun |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of cultural values and family decision-making in the gender distribution of higher education on a panel database of 9 elds of study in 26 OECD countries over 1998-2012. The paper surmises an interplay between family-friendly policies and cultural values that might be associated with gender segregation. Using survey data from the World Value Survey, the results suggest that gender-egalitarian attitudes of females are negatively associated with gender segregation. However, attitudes of males are not associated with signi cant coe cients. Marriage market indicators, such as the age at rst marriage, are positively associated with gender segregation. Finally, family-friendly policies are found to display a positive association with segregation in societies that are attached to traditional gender roles in the labor market. To the contrary, the same policies are negatively associated with segregation in gender-egalitarian societies. These ndings are robust to country and eld-speci c levels of segregation, and remain using alternative speci cations and estimation techniques. |
| Keywords: | gender, segregation, higher, education, cultural, values, marriage, market, family, policies |
| JEL: | A13 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2018–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehu:ikerla:28186&r=lab |
| By: | Guillaume Claveres; Jan Stráský |
| Abstract: | The discussion about a fiscal stabilisation capacity as a way of providing more fiscal integration in the euro area has strengthened in the aftermath of the European sovereign debt crisis. Among the instruments that can be used for temporary macroeconomic stabilisation in the presence of both asymmetric and area-wide shocks, a euro area unemployment insurance scheme has attracted increased attention. We build a two-region DSGE model with supply, demand and labour market frictions and introduce in it an area-wide unemployment insurance scheme that is entitled to borrow in financial markets. The model is calibrated to the euro area core and periphery data. For a country-specific negative demand shock hitting the periphery, we find the scheme to reduce the drop in Periphery output by about one fifth and the drop in union output by about a third. The scheme is effective when some households are cut from financial markets, and even more so when the national government also loses market access. |
| Keywords: | fiscal union, search and matching, Unemployment insurance, zero lower bound |
| JEL: | E32 E52 E63 J65 |
| Date: | 2018–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1498-en&r=lab |
| By: | Artmann, Elisabeth; Ketel, Nadine; Oosterbeek, Hessel; van der Klaauw, Bas |
| Abstract: | This paper uses administrative data from 16 cohorts of the Dutch population to study the relationship between field of study and family outcomes. We first document considerable variation by field of study for a range of family outcomes. To get to causal effects, we use admission lotteries that were conducted in the Netherlands to allocate seats for four substantially oversubscribed studies. We find that field of study matters for partner choice, which for women also implies an effect on partners' earnings. Fertility of women is not affected and evidence for men is mixed, but we find evidence for intergenerational effects on children's education. This means that field of study does not only affect individual labor market outcomes but also causally influences other important dimensions of a person's life. |
| Keywords: | assortative matching; Higher education; intergenerational mobility; Returns to education; study choice |
| JEL: | J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13033&r=lab |
| By: | Jérôme Gautié (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPREMAP - Centre pour la recherche économique et ses applications); Patrice Laroche (CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine, ESCP Europe) |
| Abstract: | Since it was introduced in 1950, and even more since it was reformed in 1970, the statutory minimum wage has been playing a key role in the French labor market. It has very specific fixing mechanisms, and from the eighties, it has been one of the highest among the OECD countries - both in relative and absolute terms. After presenting the specific features of the minimum wage setting regime in France as well as the minimum wage policies implemented since the 1950s, we provide a comprehensive survey of existing empirical evidence on the impacts of the minimum wage on the French labor market. We use a meta-analysis to draw the lessons from the empirical studies on its effects on employment. We also survey the other potential effects, such as the impact on wage bargaining and other wages, on inequalities, on profit and prices, on working conditions. |
| Abstract: | Depuis son introduction en 1950, et davantage encore depuis sa réforme en 1970, le salaire minimum légal a joué un rôle très important sur le marché du travail en France. Ses modalités de fixation présentent de fortes spécificités. Depuis les années 1980, il est parmi les plus élevés au sein des pays de l'OCDE - aussi bien en termes absolus que relatifs. Après avoir présenté l'institution du salaire minimum et les politiques qui ont été menées depuis les années 1950, nous passons en revue les travaux empiriques sur ses effets sur le marché du travail français. Nous menons une méta-analyse pour tirer les leçons des études sur l'impact du salaire minimum sur l'emploi. Nous présentons aussi les résultats des travaux sur les autres effets potentiels, tels que l'impact sur la négociation salariale et les autres salaires, sur les inégalités, sur les prix et les profits et sur les conditions de travail. |
| Keywords: | Minimum wage,wage bargaining,wage regulation,salaire minimum,France,négociation salariale,réglementation des salaires |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01842434&r=lab |
| By: | Marco Fongoni (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | In the last two decades advances in the theory of labour market fluctuations have emphasised the role of new hires' wage rigidity - rather than wage rigidity of existing workers - to explain the large volatility of unemployment observed in the data. However, recent evidence suggests that wages paid to newly hired workers are substantially pro-cyclical. By considering the effect that wage changes can have on workers' effort, and therefore on output, this paper provides two novel theoretical results. First, it is shown that the anticipation by firms of the effort response of new hires to wage changes can amplify the magnitude of shocks to the extent that, in contrast with the existing literature, the cyclicality of the hiring wage becomes irrelevant for their decision to hire new workers, and hence for the volatility of job creation. Second, it is shown that firms' expectation of existing workers' downward wage rigidity - and the anticipation of their negative reciprocity response to future wage cuts - does matter for the expected value of posting a new vacancy, and under certain conditions it may even reduce firms' incentive to hire. |
| Keywords: | reciprocity, wage cyclicality, job creation, unemployment volatility |
| JEL: | E24 D91 J41 J64 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1809&r=lab |
| By: | Alan B. Krueger; Orley Ashenfelter |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the role of covenants in franchise contracts that restrict the recruitment and hiring of employees from other units within the same franchise chain in suppressing competition for workers. Based on an analysis of 2016 Franchise Disclosure Documents, we find that "no-poaching of workers agreements" are included in a surprising 58 percent of major franchisors' contracts, including McDonald's, Burger King, Jiffy Lube and H&R Block. The implications of these no-poaching agreements for models of oligopsony are also discussed. No-poaching agreements are more common for franchises in low-wage and high-turnover industries. |
| JEL: | J08 J23 J41 J42 J47 J53 J62 J63 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24831&r=lab |
| By: | Aaron Chatterji; Solène Delecourt; Sharique Hasan; Rembrand M. Koning |
| Abstract: | Why do some entrepreneurs thrive while others fail? We explore whether the advice entrepreneurs receive about people management influences their firm's performance. We conducted a randomized field experiment in India with 100 high-growth technology firms whose founders received in-person advice from other entrepreneurs who varied in their managerial style. We find that entrepreneurs who received advice from peers with an active approach to managing people–instituting regular meetings, setting goals consistently, and providing frequent feedback to employees–grew 28% larger and were 10 percentage points less likely to fail than those who got advice from peers with a passive people-management approach two years after our intervention. Entrepreneurs with MBAs or accelerator experience did not respond to this intervention, suggesting that formal training can limit the spread of peer advice. |
| JEL: | M1 M12 M13 O32 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24789&r=lab |
| By: | Cabrales, Antonio; Güell, Maia; Madera, Rocío; Viola, Analía |
| Abstract: | In Europe, the need for additional funding coming from either budget cuts and/or increased costs due to increased competition has reopened the debate on the financing of university systems. An attractive alternative to the current general-tax financed subsidies are Income Contingent Loans (ICL), a flexible scheme that puts more weight on private resources while enhancing progressivity. One challenge of the viability of ICL systems is the functioning of the labor market for university graduates. This paper offers a general analysis of the economics of ICL, followed by an application to Spain. We set up a loan laboratory in which we can explore the distributional effects of different loan systems to finance tertiary education at current costs as well as to increase university funding to improve in its quality. We use simulated lifetime earnings of graduates matching the dynamics of employment and earnings in the Spanish administrative social security data to calculate the burden of introducing ICL for individuals at different points of the earnings distribution and for the government. We find that (1) our proposed structure is highly progressive under all specifications, with the top quarter of the distribution paying close to the full amount of the tuition and the bottom 10% paying almost no tuition; and (2) the share of total university education subsidized by the government is between 16 and 56 percentage points less than under the current system. |
| Keywords: | Income contingent loans; progressivity; university quality |
| JEL: | I22 I23 I24 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13038&r=lab |
| By: | Shusen Qi (Xiamen University); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich, Swiss Finance Institute, KU Leuven, and Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)); Hua Cheng (University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: | We study discrimination against female entrepreneurs. We analyze bank lending to 6,422 firms in 22 transition countries, both at the extensive and intensive margin. We find that gender discrimination occurs only if a firm is both managed and owned by females, especially in localities where gender bias is acute or more domestic banks are present. In contrast if either the top manager or owner is male, we find no evidence of discrimination. Importantly, these results are not driven by females having inferior skills to males. |
| Keywords: | Access to credit, gender, discrimination, entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | G21 J16 L26 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1801&r=lab |
| By: | Mark Heil |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews empirical research on finance and labour markets. Preliminary themes in the literature follow. Finance may interact with labour market institutions to jointly determine labour outcomes. Highly leveraged firms show greater employment volatility during cyclical fluctuations, and leverage strengthens firm bargaining power in labour negotiations. Bank deregulation may have mixed impacts on labour depending upon the state of bank regulations and labour markets. Leveraged buyouts tend to dampen acquired firm job growth as they pursue labour productivity gains. The shareholder value movement may contribute to short-termism among corporate managers, which can divert funds away from firm capital accumulation toward financial markets, crowd out productive investment and fuel unemployment. Declining wage shares in OECD countries may be driven in part by financial globalisation. The financial sector contributes to rising concentration near the top of the income distribution. Finance is linked to increased reallocation of labour, which may either enhance or impede productivity growth. Finally, there is limited evidence that rising interest rate environments and homeowners with mortgage balances that exceed their home’s value may reduce labour mobility rates. |
| Keywords: | bank lending, capital structure, corporate finance, deregulation, employment, Financial integration, financial regulation, inequality, labour mobility, unemployment, wage differential, wages |
| JEL: | F3 G18 G21 G30 J3 J6 |
| Date: | 2018–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1495-en&r=lab |
| By: | David A. Jaeger; Theodore J. Joyce; Robert Kaestner |
| Abstract: | Evaluating policy changes that occur everywhere at the same time is difficult because of the lack of a clear counterfactual. Hoping to address this problem, researchers often proxy for differential exposure using some observed characteristic in the pre-treatment period. As a cautionary tale of how difficult identification is in such settings, we re-examine the results of an influential paper by Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine, who found that the MTV program 16 and Pregnant had a substantial impact on teen birth rates. In what amounts to a difference-in-differences approach, they use the pre-treatment levels of MTV viewership across media markets as an instrument. We show that controlling for differential time trends in birth rates by a market’s pre-treatment racial/ethnic composition or unemployment rate causes Kearney and Levine’s results to disappear, invalidating the parallel trends assumption necessary for a causal interpretation. Extending the pre-treatment period and estimating placebo tests, we find evidence of an “effect” long before 16 and Pregnant started broadcasting. Our results highlight the difficulty of drawing causal inferences from national point-in-time policy changes. This paper was motivated by an earlier NBER working paper . The authors of that paper have posted a response to this paper . Another NBER working paper addresses issues in both of these papers. |
| JEL: | J13 L82 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24856&r=lab |
| By: | Drydakis, Nick |
| Abstract: | Using a data set that contains information on retrospective school-age bullying, as well as on workplace bullying in the respondents’ present job, the outcomes of this study suggest that bullying, when it is experienced by sexual orientation minorities tends to persist over time. According to the estimations, it seems that school-age bullying of LGB people is associated with victims’ lower educational level and occupational sorting into non-white-collar jobs, especially for gay/bisexual men. In addition, the outputs suggest that for both gay/bisexual men and lesbian/bisexual women, school-age bullying is positively associated with workplace bullying and negatively associated with job satisfaction. Additional results suggest a negative association between workplace bullying and job satisfaction. However, the outcomes show a positive association between the existence of an LGBT group in the workplace and job satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | School-age bullying,workplace bullying,job satisfaction,sexual orientation |
| JEL: | J16 J28 J70 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:237&r=lab |