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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R.; Wang, Zhiling |
| Abstract: | Using longitudinal data on immigrants in the Netherlands fromthe survey 'Social Position and Use of Public Facilities by Immigrants' (SPVA) for the years 1991, 1994, 1998, 2002, we examined the impacts of social contacts and Dutch language proficiency on adult foreign-born men's earnings, employment and occupational status. On average, social contacts and a good mastery of the Dutch language enhance immigrants'economic performances. The effects are much stronger for immigrants with low-skill-transferability than for immigrants with high-skill-transferability, are stronger for economic migrants than for non-economic migrants, and are stronger for white-collar workers than for blue-collar workers. Contact with Dutch people and Dutch organisations unambiguously enhances all aspects of immigrants' economic performance, however, no evidence is found for a positive effect of co-ethnic contact on employment status. To deal with the endogeneity between Dutch language ability and earnings, an interaction term between age at migration and a dichotomous variable for a non-Dutch-speaking origin is used as the identifying instrument. The selectivity issue of survey respondents was tackled as well to validate the main findings. The study has a strong policy implication for integration policies in the Netherlands, or more broadly in the immigrant receiving countries. |
| Keywords: | immigrants,social capital,Dutch language proficiency,labour market performance,skill transferability,the Netherlands |
| JEL: | J15 J61 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:419&r=all |
| By: | Heise, Sebastian (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Porzio, Tommaso (Columbia Business School) |
| Abstract: | We develop a job-ladder model with labor reallocation across firms and space, which we design to leverage matched employer-employee data to study differences in wages and labor productivity across regions. We apply our framework to data from Germany: twenty-five years after the reunification, real wages in the East are still 26 percent lower than those in the West. We find that 60 percent of the wage gap is due to labor being paid a higher wage per efficiency unit in West Germany, and quantify three distinct barriers that prevent East Germans from migrating west to obtain a higher wage: migration costs, workers' preferences to live in their home region, and more frequent job opportunities received from home. Interpreting the data as a frictional labor market, we estimate that these spatial barriers to mobility are small, which implies that the spatial misallocation of workers between East and West Germany has at most moderate aggregate effects. |
| Keywords: | employment; aggregate labor productivity; labor mobility; migration |
| JEL: | E24 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2019–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:898&r=all |
| By: | Dobbie, Will (Harvard Kennedy School and NBER.); Grönqvist, Hans (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Niknami, Susan (Stockholm University); Palme, Mårten (Stockholm University); Priks, Mikael (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the causal effects of parental incarceration on children’s short- and long-run out-comes using administrative data from Sweden. Our empirical strategy exploits exogenous varia-tion in parental incarceration from the random assignment of criminal defendants to judges with different incarceration tendencies. We find that the incarceration of a parent in childhood leads to a significant increase in teen crime and significant decreases in educational attainment and adult employment. The effects are concentrated among children from the most disadvantaged families, where criminal convictions increase by 10 percentage points, high school graduation decreases by 25 percentage points, and employment at age 25 decreases by 29 percentage points. In contrast, there are no detectable effects among children from more advantaged families. These results suggest that the incarceration of parents with young children may significantly increase the intergenerational persistence of poverty and criminal behavior, even in affluent countries with extensive social safety nets. |
| Keywords: | incarceration; causal effects; childrens outcomes |
| JEL: | J10 |
| Date: | 2019–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2019_024&r=all |
| By: | Hélène Le Forner (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, EHESS, Ecole Centrale, AMSE, Marseille, France.) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the link between parental separation and children's achievement in their adulthood. Using a French dataset "Education-Training-Employment", the differences in age of the children at divorce, within a family, are examined in order to control for divorced families selection. The main interest of the paper lies in three particular outcomes : the number of years of schooling, earnings-weighted education, and social position. The results show that individuals whose parents separated have about one semester of schooling less than the children of non-divorced families, they also have lower quality of education and lower social position associated with wages from 4% to 9% lower than individuals who grew up with their two parents. All these estimated effects remain negative and significant within the family. Parental separation is more harmful for boys, or for individuals whose mother is less highly educated. |
| Keywords: | education, divorce, family economics, family structure, marital dissolution |
| JEL: | I20 J12 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1928&r=all |
| By: | Idriss Fontaine (Universite de La Reunion); Ismael Galvez-Iniesta (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Pedro Gomes (Birkbeck, University of London; Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM)); Diego Vila-Martin (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | For the period between 2003 and 2018, we document a number of facts about worker gross flows in France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States, focussing on the role of the public sector. Using the French, Spanish and UK Labour Force Survey and the US Current Population Survey data, we examine the size and cyclicality of the flows and transition probabilities between private and public employment, unemployment and inactivity. We examine the stocks and flows by gender, age and education. We decompose contributions of private and public job-finding and job-separation rates to fluctuations in the unemployment rate. Public- sector employment contributes 20 percent to fluctuations in the unemployment rate in the UK, 15 percent in France and 10 percent in Spain and the US. Private-sector workers would forgo 0.5 to 2.9 percent of their wage to have the same job security as public-sector workers. |
| Keywords: | Worker gross flows, Job-finding rate, Job-separation rate, Public sector, Public-sector employment |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J21 J45 J60 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfm:wpaper:1919&r=all |
| By: | Cheung, Maria; Egebark, Johan (Swedish Public Employment Service); Forslund, Anders (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Laun, Lisa (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Rödin, Magnus (http://www.ifau.se); Vikström, Johan (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a large-scale two-level randomized experiment to study direct and displacement effects of job search assistance. Our findings show that the assistance reduces unemployment among the treated, but also creates substantial displacement leading to higher unemployment for the non-treated. By using detailed information on caseworker and job seeker behavior we show that vacancy referrals passed on from caseworkers to job seekers is the driving mechanism behind the positive direct effect. We also examine explanations for the displacement effect and show that displacement is not due to constrained resources, but arises in the labor market. A comparison between different meeting formats suggests that face-to-face meetings and distance meetings are more effective than group meetings. Despite the existence of displacement effects, when we incorporate our results into an equilibrium search model we find that a complete roll-out of the program would lead to lower unemployment and slightly reduced government spending. |
| Keywords: | vacancy referrals; counseling; job search; randomized experiment |
| JEL: | C93 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2019–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2019_025&r=all |
| By: | Tuzemen, Didem (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) |
| Abstract: | I study the effect of disappearing routine occupations on the decline in the labor force participation rate of prime-age individuals since the 1990s. I use multiple data sources and empirical models to study this relationship. First, I exploit state-level variation and show that the long-term trends of declining routine employment and prime-age labor force participation are highly correlated. Second, I narrow the geographic unit to local labor markets and quantify the causal effect of declining routine employment on the labor market outcomes of prime-age individuals. My results imply that the decline in routine employment was an important contributor to the declines in the labor force participation rate and employment-to-population ratio since the 1990s, especially for prime-age individuals without a bachelor's degree. Additionally, I show that the decline in routine employment was not limited to prime-age men in the manufacturing industries, but was observed across most major industries and affected women as well. More strikingly, disappearing routine employment had a larger negative effect on the labor force participation rate of prime-age women without a bachelor's degree than their male counterparts. |
| Keywords: | Job Polarization; Labor Force Participation; Prime-age Individuals; Skills |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J21 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2019–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:rwp19-03&r=all |
| By: | van den Berg, Gerard J.; Dauth, Christine (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Homrighausen, Pia (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Stephan, Gesine (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "We analyze a labor market program that subsidizes skill-upgrading occupational training for workers employed in small and medium sized enterprises. The program covers a substantial share of training costs. Nonetheless, take-up has been low. In an experimental setup, we mailed 10,000 brochures to potentially eligible workers, informing them about the importance of skill-upgrading occupational training in general and about the subsidy program in particular. Using combined survey and register data, we analyze the impact of receiving the brochure on workers' knowledge of the program, on take-up of subsidized and unsubsidized training, and on job characteristics. The survey data reveal that the brochure more than doubled workers' awareness of the program. We do not find effects on program take-up or short-run labor market outcomes in the register data. However, the information treatment positively affected participation in other (unsubsidized) training among employees under 45 years." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Klein- und Mittelbetrieb, Weiterbildungsförderung, Subvention, arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahme, Projekt WeGebAU, Informationsangebot - Auswirkungen, Weiterbildungsbeteiligung, Beschäftigungseffekte, Niedrigqualifizierte, ältere Arbeitnehmer, IAB-Betriebspanel, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien |
| JEL: | J24 J65 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201922&r=all |
| By: | Takaoka, Sumiko; Etzo, Ivan |
| Abstract: | Human talent will be (or is already) scarce. We view international students as the source of high-skilled labour force, which satisfies the skill and task requirement of firms, particularly those anticipating overseas expansion, and argue whether the international student stock in a country is an indication of positive future prospect for the acquiror country in cross-border mergers. Using the international students’ stocks between pairs of acquiror countries of origin and target firms’ countries for bilateral mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, we exploit the within variation of both bilateral M&A activities and bilateral international student stocks between G20 countries. The formation of human capital signals that potential acquirors can access skilled workers and boosts the bilateral M&A activities. Results further indicate that the marginal effect of international students from target country in acquiror country has larger impact than that from acquiror country in target country. |
| Keywords: | FDI, G20, International students mobility |
| JEL: | F21 F22 G34 |
| Date: | 2019–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:96746&r=all |
| By: | Jarmila Botev; Balázs Égert; Zuzana Smidova; David Turner |
| Abstract: | This paper calculates new measures of human capital. Contrary to the existing literature, they are based on realistic rates of return to education, which are allowed to vary substantially across countries and to some extent over time. The new measures perform well in regression analysis explaining productivity across OECD countries and over time. In OECD samples, coefficient estimates are broadly consistent with the private returns underlying the construction of the new measures of human capital. In a wider sample of countries, most estimates imply additional positive social returns. |
| Keywords: | human capital, mean years of schooling, OECD, productivity, returns to education |
| JEL: | E24 I20 I26 |
| Date: | 2019–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1575-en&r=all |
| By: | Roberto Bonilla; Francis Kiraly |
| Abstract: | We present an equilibrium model with inter-linked frictional labour and marriage markets. Women’s flow value of being single is treated as given, and it captures returns from employment. Single unemployed men conduct a so-called constrained sequential job search, and can choose to improve their labour market returns as well as their marriage prospects by under-taking a costly ex-ante investment in schooling. We establish the existence of market equilibria where a fraction of men get educated, and show that this fraction decreases if women’s labour market returns increase. We also examine the robustness of such equilibria. |
| Keywords: | frictional markets, constrained search, male returns to education |
| JEL: | D83 I26 J12 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7901&r=all |
| By: | Ludovica Gambaro; Guido Neidhöfer; C. Katharina Spieß |
| Abstract: | Devising appropriate policy measures for the integration of refugees is high on the agenda of many governments. This paper focuses on the social integration of families seeking asylum in Germany between 2013 and 2016. Exploiting differences in services availability across counties as an exogenous source of variation, we evaluate the effect of early education attendance by refugee children on their parents’ integration. We find a significant and substantial positive effect, in particular on the social integration of mothers. The size of the estimate is on average around 52% and is mainly driven by improved language proficiency and employment prospects. |
| Keywords: | asylum seekers, refugees, childcare, early education, integration |
| JEL: | I26 J13 J15 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1828&r=all |
| By: | Bozani, Vasiliki; Drydakis, Nick; Sidiropoulou, Katerina; Harvey, Benjamin; Paraskevopoulou, Anna |
| Keywords: | Workplace Guide,Positive Actions,Self-Esteem,Gender Identity |
| JEL: | K31 J11 D03 H11 H5 I18 J15 I31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:417&r=all |
| By: | Patralekha Ukil (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Much of the literature providing causal evidence of parental economic conditions on infant health has focused on the impact of positive economic or income shocks, as opposed to negative ones. The concept of loss aversion makes it clear that individuals react differently when facing potential losses compared to potential gains, and that losses tend to be twice as psychologically powerful as gains. Moreover, long-term and persistent negative shocks such as those arising through increasing import competition could have different effects on health compared to reasonably temporary shocks such as lay-offs, recessions or business cycle fluctuations. This paper examines the effect of parental or household economic shocks on infant health by exploiting the increasing import competition from China between 1990 and 2000 on U.S. local labor markets as a plausibly exogenous source of variation in economic conditions. It also utilizes additional variation stemming from parental age within the local labor markets, thereby controlling for local labor market trends and allowing the analysis of heterogeneous impacts. Results indicate that commuting zones in the U.S. which experienced increased import penetration over time also experienced an increased incidence of low birthweight and a decrease in average birthweight. Further analyses show that the above results are driven by relatively younger parents as opposed to older parents. |
| Keywords: | Infant health; Birthweight; Parental Income; International Trade; Income Inequality; Import Competition; Manufacturing Decline |
| JEL: | F14 F16 F61 I14 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2019-18&r=all |