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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Karahan, Fatih (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Mitman, Kurt (Stockholm University); Moore, Brendan (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | We develop a method to jointly measure the response of worker search effort (individual effect) and vacancy creation (market-level effect) to changes in the duration of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. To implement this approach, we exploit an unexpected cut in UI durations in Missouri and provide quasi-experimental evidence on the effect of UI on the labor market. The data indicate that the cut in Missouri significantly increased job finding rates by both raising the search effort of unemployed workers and the availability of jobs. The latter accounts for at least a third and up to 100% of the total effect. |
| Keywords: | unemployment insurance, unemployment, vacancies, search |
| JEL: | E24 J63 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12805&r=all |
| By: | Marios Michaelides; Peter Mueser; Jeffrey Smith |
| Abstract: | We present experimental evidence on the effects of four U.S. job search assistance programs for unemployed youth during the Great Recession. Results show that all four programs reduced Unemployment Insurance (UI) duration and the benefit amounts collected by youth participants, with savings exceeding program costs. The three programs that included monitoring activities and services referrals but did not mandate services participation had little or no effects on employment and earnings. This suggests that the primary effect of these programs was to cause the early UI exits of unemployed youth with no loss of earnings. The program that combined monitoring with mandatory job counseling increased employment rates and earnings, suggesting that job counseling can help unemployed youth to improve their job search efficacy. We conclude that, during recessions, job search assistance programs should focus primarily on providing job counseling and provide less emphasis on monitoring activities for unemployed youth. |
| Keywords: | Youth; Great Recession; job counseling; active labor market policies; unemployment; Unemployment Insurance; program evaluation |
| JEL: | J6 H4 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:13-2019&r=all |
| By: | Jason Fletcher; Jinho Kim; Jenna Nobles; Stephen Ross; Irina Shaorshadze |
| Abstract: | The multi-decade growth and spatial dispersion of immigrant families in the United States has shifted the composition of US schools, reshaping the group of peers with whom students age through adolescence. US-born students are more likely to have foreign-born peers and foreign-born students are more likely to be educated outside of enclaves. This study examines the short-term and long-term impact of being educated with immigrant peers, for both US-born and foreign-born students. We leverage a quasi-experimental research design that uses across-grade, within-school variation in cohort composition for students in the Add Health study. We describe effects on a broad set of education, social, and health outcomes. For US-born students, we find little evidence that having immigrant peers affects a wide array of outcomes, either in adolescence or in adulthood. For foreign-born students, attending school with other immigrant students is protective against risky health behaviors and social isolation, relative to native born students. However, foreign-born students’ language skills measured with Picture-Vocabulary Test scores are negatively affected by attending school with a larger share of other immigrant students. The negative effect on vocabulary scores persists through young adulthood but does not translate into reductions in most longer-run socioeconomic outcomes, including earnings or the economic status of their residential neighborhoods. |
| JEL: | I1 I12 I14 I24 J1 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26491&r=all |
| By: | Mikkel Hermansen |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the association between occupational licensing and job hire and job separation rates along with earnings of job stayers and job-to-job movers. In contrast to previous studies, it attempts to provide macro-level estimates by relying on a novel Job-to-Job Flows database from the U.S. Census Bureau, covering the near universe of job transitions. The empirical analysis exploits variation in licensing regulation across states and industries and constructs indicators for both the share of employment subject to licensing (the extensive margin) and the strictness of regulation (the intensive margin). Results show that more extensive and stricter licensing are both associated with lower job mobility. This holds for job-to-job mobility as well as for transitions in and out of nonemployment. The strictness indicator points to lower job-to-job mobility from entry restrictions and renewal requirements to licensing, while education and training requirements may increase job-to-job mobility. The analysis also finds a negative association between licensing restrictions for people with a criminal record and job hire from nonemployment. Further analysis shows that interstate job-to-job mobility tends to be lower towards states with more extensive and stricter licensing regulation. The results from the analysis of earnings are generally mixed and mostly insignificant. However, there is some evidence of lower earnings gains from job-to-job moves to states with more licensing within the same industry, which may reflect lower productivity growth because of weaker reallocation of labour resources and reduced competition. |
| Keywords: | earnings, entry restrictions, job mobility, occupational licensing, regulation |
| JEL: | E24 J30 J44 J61 K20 L51 |
| Date: | 2019–12–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1585-en&r=all |
| By: | Cheung, Maria (Swedish Public Employment Service); Egebark, Johan (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Forslund, Anders (IFAU and UCLS, Uppsala University); Laun, Lisa (IFAU); Rödin, Magnus (Swedish Public Employment Service); Vikström, Johan (IFAU and UCLS, Uppsala University) |
| 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 reduced government spending. |
| Keywords: | Vacancy referrals; Counseling; Job search; Randomized experiment |
| JEL: | C93 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2019–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1307&r=all |
| By: | Brecht Neyt; Stijn Baert; Jana Vynckier (-) |
| Abstract: | Research exploiting data on classic (offline) couple formation has confirmed predictions from evolutionary psychology in a sense that males attach more value to attractiveness and women attach more value to earnings potential. We examine whether these human partner preferences survive in a context of fewer search and social frictions. We do this by means of a field experiment on the mobile dating app Tinder, which takes a central place in contemporary couple formation. Thirty-two fictitious Tinder profiles that randomly differ in job status and job prestige are evaluated by 4,800 other, real users. We find that both males and females do not use job status or job prestige as a determinant of whom to show initial interest in on Tinder. However, we do see evidence that, after this initial phase, males less frequently begin a conversation with females when those females are unemployed but also then do not care about the particular job prestige of employed females. |
| Keywords: | job prestige, partner preferences, dating apps, online dating, Tinder |
| JEL: | J12 J16 J13 C93 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:19/981&r=all |
| By: | Gidehag, Anton (Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut)) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants have long faced great challenges in European labor markets, and policymakers in many countries are struggling to improve immigrants’ labor market integration. This paper evaluates whether a Swedish youth payroll tax cut had the unintended effect of promoting employment of nonwestern immigrants. The reform generated firm-level labor cost savings, which were proportional to the number of young employees at the time of the reform implementation. Utilizing matched employer-employee data, this study investigates the effect of these labor cost savings on the recruitment of nonwestern immigrants. The findings suggest a strong and positive link between firms’ labor cost savings and their subsequent hiring of first-generation nonwestern immigrants, which is largely driven by increased employment of older immigrants who were not targeted by the reform. Within the analyzed sample of firms, 1,100 jobs were created for this group, which corresponds to a net job creation that is more than proportionate to the group’s population share. The youth payroll tax reform thus had employment-promoting effects outside its target group, illustrating that general labor cost reductions can lower barriers against immigrant employment and enhance the labor market opportunities for non-western immigrants. |
| Keywords: | labor market integration; labor costs; payroll tax cut; non-western immigrants; employment |
| JEL: | H32 J23 J30 J61 L25 |
| Date: | 2019–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hfiwps:0005&r=all |
| By: | Bredemeier, Christian (University of Wuppertal) |
| Abstract: | The gender gap in inter-firm mobility is an important contributor to the gender pay gap but is as yet unexplained. In a structural model of workplace choice, I show that the gender mobility gap can be understood as a consequence of women's typical roles as secondary earners in most households which induces households to put more weight on the non-pay dimensions of women's workplaces. I provide direct empirical evidence for this explanation by documenting that the sensitivity of quits to wages is weaker the less an individual contributes to household earnings. Furthermore, gender differences are small once differences in earner roles are accounted for. My quantitative model evaluations show that ignoring the influence of earner roles on inter-firm mobility leads to substantial biases in wage-gap decompositions and predicted policy effects. |
| Keywords: | labor-market monopsony, gender gaps, job mobility, discrimination |
| JEL: | J42 J16 J62 J71 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12785&r=all |
| By: | Jäger, Simon (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Schoefer, Benjamin (University of California, Berkeley); Heining, Jörg (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effects of a mandate allocating a third of corporate board seats to workers (shared governance). We study a reform in Germany that abruptly abolished this mandate for certain firms incorporated after August 1994 but locked it in for the older cohorts. In sharp contrast to the canonical hold-up hypothesis – that increasing labor's power reduces owners' capital investment – we find that granting formal control rights to workers raises capital formation. The capital stock, the capital-labor ratio, and the capital share all increase. Shared governance does not raise wage premia or rent sharing. It lowers outsourcing, while moderately shifting employment to skilled labor. Shared governance has no clear effect on profitability, leverage, or costs of debt. Overall, the evidence is consistent with richer models of industrial relations whereby shared governance raises capital by permitting workers to bargain over investment or by institutionalizing communication and repeated interactions between labor and capital. |
| Keywords: | industrial relations, corporate governance, codetermination, investment |
| JEL: | J0 J53 J54 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12799&r=all |
| By: | Aksoy, Cevat Giray (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development); Poutvaara, Panu (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | We analyze self-selection of refugees and irregular migrants and test our theory in the context of the European refugee crisis. Using unique datasets from the International Organization for Migration and Gallup World Polls, we provide the first large-scale evidence on reasons to emigrate, and the self-selection and sorting of refugees and irregular migrants. Refugees and female irregular migrants are positively self-selected with respect to human capital, while male irregular migrants are negatively self-selected. These patterns are similar when analyzing individually stated main reason to emigrate, country-level conflict intensity, and sub-regional conflict intensity. Migrants respond to economic incentives and border policies. |
| Keywords: | international migration, refugees, irregular migrants, self-selection, human capital, gender differences in migration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J16 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12800&r=all |
| By: | Fan, Yi (London School of Economics); Yi, Junjian (National University of Singapore); Zhang, Junsen (Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents an increasing intergenerational income persistence in China since economic reforms were introduced in 1979. The intergenerational income elasticity increases from 0.390 for the 1970–1980 birth cohort to 0.442 for the 1981–1988 birth cohort; this increase is more evident among urban and coastal residents than rural and inland residents. We also explore how changes in intergenerational income persistence is correlated with market reforms, economic development, and policy changes. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational income persistence, economic transition, great gatsby curve |
| JEL: | E24 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12804&r=all |
| By: | Ricardo Dahis; Emily Nix; Nancy Qian |
| Abstract: | This paper documents that many black males experienced a change in racial classification to white in the United States, 1880 – 1940, while changes in racial classification were negligible for other races. We provide a rich set of descriptive evidence on the lives of black men “passing” for white, such as their patterns of marriage, children, the passing of spouses and children, migration and income. |
| JEL: | J1 J15 N3 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26465&r=all |
| By: | Abdurrahman B. Aydemir (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Orhanlı, Tuzla 34956, Istanbul); Murat Güray Kırdar (Department of Economics Bogazici University 34342 Istanbul, Turkey); Huzeyfe Torun |
| Abstract: | We take advantage of a major compulsory school reform in Turkey to provide novel evidence on the causal effect of education on both the incidence and timing of internal migration. In addition, for the first time in literature, we provide causal effects of education on migration by reason for migration. We find that while education substantially increases the incidence of migration among men, there is no evidence of an effect among women. Women, however, become more likely to migrate at earlier ages and their migration reasons change. Revealing the empowering role of education, women become more likely to move for human capital investments and for employment purposes and less likely to be tied-movers. |
| Keywords: | education, internal migration, incidence and timing of migration, reason for migration, 2SLS, regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | J61 I2 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1914&r=all |
| By: | Vieira, José António Cabral (University of the Azores) |
| Abstract: | Researchers and human resource practitioners are nearly unanimous that satisfied and committed employees can play a major positive role in business performance. There is, however, a need for further evidence on what determines satisfaction at the workplace and how it can be promoted. In other words, do managers have access to specific satisfaction-enhancing variables, or are the determining factors more intrinsic to workers, such as their demographics or even religious beliefs and practices? Furthermore, is employee commitment totally explained by satisfaction, or do further factors promote it? This paper addresses these topics using an extensive sample of employees from a large number of countries. For this purpose, we use a semi-nonparametric estimator for a series of generalized models that nest the conventional ordered probit model, thus relaxing the distributional assumption in that model. The main results indicate that not all determinants of employees' satisfaction can be fostered by management, although some managerial instruments are available. Moreover, promoting workplace satisfaction helps increase employees' commitment (and consequently business success) but does not fully exhaust the explanation of such behavior. The findings of this study can motivate further study among researchers and illuminate helpful practices for human resource managers and practitioners. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, organizational commitment, worker characteristics, job characteristics, ordered probit, semi-nonparametric estimation |
| JEL: | J50 J53 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12787&r=all |
| By: | Coate, Patrick (National Council on Compensation Insurance); Mangum, Kyle (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | Declining internal migration in the United States is driven by increasing home attach-ment in locations with initially high rates of population turnover. These “fast” locations were the population growth destinations of the 20th century, where home attachments were low, but have increased as regional population growth has converged. Using a novel measure of attachment, this paper estimates a structural model of migration that distinguishes moving frictions from home utility. Simulations quantify candidate explanations of the decline. Rising home attachment accounts for most of the decline not attributable to population aging, and its effect is consistent with the observed spatial pattern. |
| Keywords: | declining internal migration; labor mobility; home attachment; rootedness; local ties; conditional choice probability estimation |
| JEL: | C50 J61 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:19-49&r=all |
| By: | Giulia Bettin (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali - Universita' Politecnica delle Marche); Isabella Giorgetti (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali - Universita' Politecnica delle Marche); Stefano Staffolani (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali - Universita' Politecnica delle Marche) |
| Abstract: | We analyse how the availability of immigrant workers in the elderly care sector affects the labour force participation of Italian females aged between 45 and 65. We estimate a selection bias correction model and exploit an IV strategy based on the role of migration networks in determining the geographical distribution of immigrants over time. Our main findings show that the local availability of foreign–born caregivers has a positive impact on the number of hours worked by Italian women, especially those with high–educational levels and living in the Northern regions. The effect on participation rates are instead positive and significant only for low–educated women and for women living in Central Italy. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: immigration, female labour supply, elderly care services |
| JEL: | F22 J22 J61 C26 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:444&r=all |
| By: | Rinne, Ulf (IZA); Sonnabend, Hendrik (Fern Universität Hagen) |
| Abstract: | This study examines gender differences in risk-taking behavior among managers in a female-dominated industry. Using data from international top-level women's soccer, we provide evidence that male coaches show a lower level of risk-taking than female coaches on average. We also find a U-shaped age effect that is independent of gender, meaning that young and more mature individuals tend to take riskier decisions. Our main results therefore strongly contrast with the majority of previous studies on gender differences in risk preferences, and thereby emphasize the importance of considering the industrial environment. Underlying selection processes may play an important role. We find no correlation between the gender gap in risk-taking and female empowerment defined by national gender equality scores. |
| Keywords: | gender, risk-taking, leadership, management, female empowerment |
| JEL: | D81 J16 J4 M12 Z29 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12726&r=all |
| By: | Stuart, Bryan (George Washington University); Taylor, Evan J. (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how birth town migration networks affected long-run location decisions during historical U.S. migration episodes. We develop a new method to estimate the strength of migration networks for each receiving and sending location. Our estimates imply that when one randomly chosen African American moved from a Southern birth town to a destination county, then 1.9 additional black migrants made the same move on average. For white migrants from the Great Plains, the average is only 0.4. Networks were particularly important in connecting black migrants with attractive employment opportunities and played a larger role in less costly moves. |
| Keywords: | migration networks, location decisions, social interactions, Great Migration |
| JEL: | J61 N32 O15 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12709&r=all |
| By: | David C. Maré (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | We measure the rate of occupational change in New Zealand between 1976 and 2018. We use measures of occupational drift reported by Atkinson and Wu (2017) for the United States and by the Australian Office of the Chief Economist (2018) for Australia. This supports the comparison of occupational change between countries as well as over time. We find that occupational change in New Zealand is broadly similar to that in the US or Australia, and that all three countries experienced a slowing in the rate of occupational change over recent decades. In New Zealand, occupational change was particularly strong between 1986 and 1991 and was historically low between 2006 and 2013, coinciding with the GFC. Current levels of occupational change are similar to those experienced between 1991 and 2006. Employment growth in professional occupations has been particularly strong, growing from 11% of employment in 1976 to 23% in 2018. There has also been pronounced growth and change in the mix of occupations within the 'community and personal services' occupation group and within 'clerical and administrative' occupations. |
| Keywords: | Occupational change, New Zealand |
| JEL: | J01 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:19_22&r=all |