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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Constant, Amelie F. |
| Abstract: | This chapter provides a state-of-the-art literature review about research that aims to explain the return, repeat, circular and onward migration of the highly-skilled migrants around the world. After it describes the status quo in the knowledge economy and the international race for talent, it presents the relevant theories and concepts of migration in the social sciences and how these theories accommodate the phenomena of return, repeat and onward migration. A special section is devoted to selection. The chapter then summarizes, evaluates, and juxtaposes existing empirical evidence related to theoretical predictions. Observables such as education, income, gender and home country as well as unobservables such as ability, social capital and negotiating skills play a strong role in influencing return, repeat and onward migration decisions. Yet, there is no consensus on the direction of the effect. The chapter discusses shortcomings and limitations along with policy lessons. It concludes by highlighting holes in the literature and the need for better data. |
| Keywords: | Return,circular,onward,international labor migration,knowledge economy,high-skilled,public policy |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J18 J20 J61 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:411&r=all |
| By: | Nwaobi, Godwin |
| Abstract: | Indeed, the world economy is a complex system that has undergone many different phases in the past century. Particularly, the African economy is undergoing a series of transformations (transitions) that subject the future to considerable uncertainty, complexity and unpredictability. In fact, some transformations are cyclical while others are longer-term and more structural in nature. Yet, these transitions or emergence interact in shaping the future; making extrapolation from the past an increasingly unreliable source for future predictions. Thus unlike the previous revolutions, the fourth industrial revolution is characterized by the emergence of various technologies such as virtual (augmented) realities, nanotechnologies, 3D printing, machine learning, big data, cloud computing, drones, autonomous vehicles, robotics, artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. Again, in this digitization era, work is constantly reshaped by technological progress, while firms adopt new ways of production and markets expand. In other worlds, digital technology brings opportunity, pave the way to create new jobs and increase productivity. Unfortunately, this paper argued that while the digital revolution has forged ahead, its analog complements (regulated entry and competition, new economy skills access and accountable institutions) have not kept pace in Africa. Consequently, African governments should formulate digital development strategies that are much broader than current ICTs strategies. That is, they should create a policy and institutional environment for technology that fosters the greatest benefits to African people of twenty-first century and beyond. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Digitization, Industrial Revolution, Technologies, Disruptions, Development, Old Work, Innovation, Automation, ICTs, E-commerce Robotics, Artificial Intelligence Block Chain, Cryptology, Fintech, Productivity, New Skills, Human Capital, Institutions, Policies, Emergence, Transformations, Economies, Analog Complements, Unemployment, New Jobs, Social Protection |
| JEL: | D80 D83 E24 E60 G10 I2 J10 J40 J6 J60 L50 O10 O30 O31 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2019–10–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:96317&r=all |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S. |
| Abstract: | Many governments extend the coverage of collective agreements to workers and employ- ers that were not involved in their bargaining. These extensions may address coordination issues but may also distort competition by imposing sector-specific minimum wages and other work conditions that are not suitable for some firms and workers. In this paper, we analyse the impact of such extensions along several economic margins. Drawing on worker- and firm-level monthly data for Portugal, a country where extensions have been widespread, and the scattered timing of the extensions, we find that, while continuing workers experience wage increases following an extension, formal employment and wage bills in the relevant sectors fall, on average, by 2%. These results increase by about 25% across small firms and are driven by reduced hirings. In contrast, the employment and wage bills of independent contractors, who are not subject to labour law or collective bargaining, increases by over 1% following an extension. |
| Keywords: | Collective agreements,Worker flows,Labour law |
| JEL: | J52 K31 J23 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:413&r=all |
| By: | Enflo, Kerstin; Karlsson, Tobias; Molinder, Jakob |
| Abstract: | There is a wide-spread concern that technical change may spur social conflicts, especially if workers are replaced with machines. To empirically analyze whether job destruction drives protests, we study a historical example of a revolutionary new technology: the adoption of electricity. Focusing on the gradual roll-out of the Swedish electricity grid between 1900 and 1920 enables us to analyze 2,487 Swedish parishes in a difference-in-differences framework. Proximity to large-scale water-powered electricity plants is used to instrument for electricity adoption. Our results confirm that the labor saving nature of electricity was followed by an increase of local conflicts in the form of strikes. But displaced workers were not likely to initiate conflicts. Instead, strikes were most common in sectors with employment growth. Similarly, we find that the strikes were of an offensive rather than a defensive nature. Thus, electrification did not result in rebellions driven by technological anxiety. It rather provided workers with a stronger bargaining position from which they could voice their claims through strikes. |
| Keywords: | electrification; infrastructure investments; Labor conflicts; labor demand; strikes; Technological change |
| JEL: | N14 N34 N74 O14 |
| Date: | 2019–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13986&r=all |
| By: | Christine L. Exley; Judd B. Kessler |
| Abstract: | In job applications, job interviews, performance reviews, and a wide range of other environments, individuals are explicitly asked or implicitly invited to assess their own performance. In a series of experiments, we find that women rate their performance less favorably than equally performing men. This gender gap in self-promotion is notably persistent. It stays just as strong when we eliminate gender differences in confidence about performance and when we eliminate strategic incentives to engage in self-promotion. Because of the prevalence of self-promotion opportunities, this self-promotion gap may contribute to the persistent gender gap in education and labor market outcomes. |
| JEL: | C91 D90 J16 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26345&r=all |
| By: | Stéphane Dupraz; Emi Nakamura; Jón Steinsson |
| Abstract: | In standard models, economic activity fluctuates symmetrically around a “natural rate” and stabilization policies can dampen these fluctuations but do not affect the average level of activity. An alternative view—labeled the “plucking model” by Milton Friedman—is that economic fluctuations are drops below the economy’s full potential ceiling. If this view is correct, stabilization policy, by dampening these fluctuations, can raise the average level of activity. We show that the dynamics of the unemployment rate in the US display a striking asymmetry that strongly favors the plucking model: increases in unemployment are followed by decreases of similar amplitude, while the amplitude of the increase is not related to the amplitude of the previous decrease. We develop a microfounded plucking model of the business cycle. The source of asymmetry in our model is downward nominal wage rigidity, which we embed in an explicit search model of the labor market. Our search framework implies that downward nominal wage rigidity is consistent with optimizing behavior and equilibrium. In our plucking model, stabilization policy lowers average unemployment and thereby yields sizable welfare gains. |
| JEL: | E24 E32 E52 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26351&r=all |
| By: | Guglielmo Barone (University of Padova and RCEA); Helena Kreuter (FiFo Institute for Public Economics, University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | The surge of populism in many advanced countries calls for the analysis of its causes. In this paper, we empirically study the role of trade globalization in shifting the electoral base toward populism. We proxy trade shock with swiftly rising import competition from China and compare the voting pattern at the parliamentary national elections from 1992 to 2013 in about 8,000 Italian municipalities differently exposed to the trade shock. We instrument import competition with Chinese export flows to other high-income countries and estimate the model in first differences. Our results show that trade globalization increases support for populist parties; they are robust to a large number of sensitivity checks. Moreover, we show that voters’ protest reaction also takes the form of an increase in invalid ballot papers and a drop in turnout. To rationalize these findings, we further offer evidence that import competition worsens labor market conditions – higher unemployment and lower income – and is associated with a rise in inequality, as predicted by trade theory. |
| Keywords: | trade globalization, populism, inequality |
| JEL: | D72 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0241&r=all |
| By: | Rossi-Hansberg, Esteban; Sarte, Pierre-Daniel; Schwartzman, Felipe |
| Abstract: | In the U.S., cognitive non-routine (CNR) occupations associated with higher wages are disproportionately represented in larger cities. To study the allocation of workers across cities, we propose and quantify a spatial equilibrium model with multiple industries that employ CNR and alternative (non-CNR) occupations. Productivity is city-industry-occupation specific and partly determined by externalities across local workers. We estimate that the productivity of CNR workers in a city depends significantly on both its share of CNR workers and total employment. Together with heterogeneous preferences for locations, these externalities imply equilibrium allocations that are not efficient. An optimal policy that benefits workers equally across occupations incentivizes the formation of cognitive hubs, leading to larger fractions of CNR workers in some of today's largest cities. At the same time, these cities become smaller to mitigate congestion effects while cities that are initially small increase in size. Large and small cities end up expanding industries in which they already concentrate, while medium-size cities tend to diversify across industries. The optimal allocation thus features transfers to non-CNR workers who move from large to small cities consistent with the implied change in the industrial composition landscape. Finally, we show that the optimal policy reinforces equilibrium trends observed since 1980. However, these trends were in part driven by low growth in real-estate productivity in CNR-abundant cities that reduced welfare. |
| JEL: | E23 E24 H23 H71 J61 R13 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14000&r=all |
| By: | Naomitsu Yashiro; Caroline Klein; Olga Rastrigina; Ania Thiemann |
| Abstract: | Latvia’s productivity growth is held back by weak innovation and inefficient resource allocation. The shortage of skilled workers which constrains innovation and the adoption of digital technologies must be addressed through further alignment of vocational and tertiary education with labour market demand. Strengthening the innovation ecosystem by improving the quality of research and collaboration between firms and research institutions would help to diffuse digital technologies more widely across the economy. Fighting widespread informality, improving the low debt recovery through a more efficient insolvency regime, and reducing substantial state ownership would improve the allocation of resources. Latvia also relies heavily on EU funds to finance its important structural policies. The continuity of the most effective EU funded policy instruments needs to be ensured in the medium term, by integrating them into the national budget.This Working Paper relates to the 2019 OECD Economic Survey of Latvia(http://www.oecd.org/economy/surve ys/latvia-economic-snapshot/) |
| Keywords: | Access to credit, Competition, EU Structural funds, Informality, Innovation, Latvia, Productivity, Skills shortage |
| JEL: | G28 I28 J08 L30 O17 O20 O38 O43 O52 |
| Date: | 2019–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1571-en&r=all |
| By: | Dhaval M. Dave; Muzhe Yang |
| Abstract: | We provide some of the first empirical evidence of maternal and fetal health effects of working during pregnancy by using a unique dataset from the New Jersey Department of Health that includes information not only on pregnancy and birth outcomes but also on maternal employment. We match the mother’s occupation with the Metabolic Equivalent of Task, provided by the Census Occupational Classification System and used as a measure for the strenuousness of the work activities performed. We find robust evidence that working in a relatively more strenuous job during pregnancy raises the likelihood of fetal macrosomia by about 1.5 percentage points. There are no statistically or economically significant effects on other birth outcomes. Our study further indicates an under-studied link between gestational diabetes (a known risk factor for fetal macrosomia) and intensive physical activities at work during pregnancy, potentially mediated by disrupted sleep due to greater work intensity. |
| JEL: | I12 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26343&r=all |
| By: | Edith Aguirre |
| Abstract: | In this paper I analyse the effect of domestic violence on women’s earnings, when the levels and the frequency of abuse are considered. An index for domestic violence is designed to capture the variation observed, challenging the traditional use of a dichotomous variable within this context. In addition, to conduct a causal analysis, an instrument indicating the husband’s random irritability is created. Findings show that women exposed to higher levels of domestic violence, economic, emotional or physical, struggle with lower salaries. Physical violence is the type of abuse with the largest negative incidence on earnings, followed by economic and emotional violence, respectively. |
| Keywords: | Earnings, female labor-force participation, marriage, omitted variable bias, violence against women. |
| JEL: | B54 J12 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:19/16&r=all |